EMPIRE OF THE SUN

When the Japanese invade Shanghai in 1941, Jim's privileged childhood comes crashing to a close. Separated from his parents, Jim tries living in his own empty house and then in the houses of his friends and neighbors. Eventually, he is sent to Lunghua prison camp. Narrator Gerard Doyle wisely chooses not to sound boyish. Instead, his intelligent reading allows Ballard's writing to delineate characters and events. Doyle's performance highlights Jim's childish thrill as planes fly overhead and deftly conveys his seeming imperviousness to piles of decaying corpses and inhumane prison conditions. This chilling child's-eye view of war comes of the author's personal experiences in Lunghua from 1942 to 1945. As an intrepid, imaginative 11-year-old, he befriended cooks, guards, camp commanders--anyone who might help him survive. Fascinating listening. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 04]