One of the most powerful novels about the experience of war, first published in 1985
Captured by Hirohito's soldiers at the fall of Hong Kong and transferred to a Japanese slave camp outside Hiroshima, Captain Joe Sandingham was present when the bomb was dropped. Now a shell of a man, he lives in a cheap Hong Kong hotel, scrounging for food and the occasional bar girl. The locals call him "Hiroshima Joe" with a mixture of pity and contempt. But Joe-haunted by the sounds and voices of his past, debilitated by illness, and shattered by his wartime ordeal-is a man whose compassion and will to survive define a clear-eyed and unexpected heroism.
Industry Reviews
"Engrossing...unflinchingly graphic." --The New York Times
"A brilliant achievement." --Daily Telegraph (UK)
"A carefully controlled study of man's beastliness to man, vividly observed." --Financial Times
"Fashion[s] a moving drama from the cruelties and pathologies of modern warfare and some moral meaning from the terrible travail of a man who survived, and even transcended it." --Publishers Weekly Engrossing...unflinchingly graphic. "The New York Times"
A brilliant achievement. "Daily Telegraph (UK)"
A carefully controlled study of man's beastliness to man, vividly observed. "Financial Times"
Fashion[s] a moving drama from the cruelties and pathologies of modern warfare and some moral meaning from the terrible travail of a man who survived, and even transcended it. "Publishers Weekly"" "Engrossing...unflinchingly graphic." --"The New York Times"
"A brilliant achievement." --"Daily Telegraph" (UK)
"A carefully controlled study of man's beastliness to man, vividly observed." --"Financial Times"
"Fashion[s] a moving drama from the cruelties and pathologies of modern warfare and some moral meaning from the terrible travail of a man who survived, and even transcended it." --"Publishers Weekly" "Engrossing...unflinchingly graphic." -"The New York Times"
"A brilliant achievement." -"Daily Telegraph" (UK)
"A carefully controlled study of man's beastliness to man, vividly observed." -"Financial Times"
"Fashion[s] a moving drama from the cruelties and pathologies of modern warfare and some moral meaning from the terrible travail of a man who survived, and even transcended it." -"Publishers Weekly" " Engrossing...unflinchingly graphic." -- "The New York Times"
" A brilliant achievement." -- "Daily Telegraph" (UK)
" A carefully controlled study of man' s beastliness to man, vividly observed." -- "Financial Times"
" Fashion[s] a moving drama from the cruelties and pathologies of modern warfare and some moral meaning from the terrible travail of a man who survived, and even transcended it." -- "Publishers Weekly"
