J.G. Farrell
1978
Around 560 pages
I keep thinking I will like J.G. Farrell. Given the context of his novels, he had the opportunity to be the English Tolstoy. Maybe if he hadn't died so young, he would have been, but I've never been fully satisfied with the works we've had.
Farrell once said to George Brock, "the really interesting thing that's happened during my lifetime has been the decline of the British Empire." And he really explores that here, with the Blackett family. Walter Blackett, the British head of Singapore's oldest firm, is trying to squash the constant strikes from the natives, while remaining blind to the political and class changes around him.
His juggling of real life events with his characters was skillful, but I never seem to care very much about his characters, who are meant to represent the short-sightedness of the British colonists. So I get why they are written that way, but it's a pretty obnoxious group.
I've been waiting for Farrell to have a big drop the mic moment in vain for a while now, but it never happened. I see his appeal if you want to explore historical conflicts that don't get much coverage in a fresh way, but it never feels like the execution is there.
Only six more to go until the big 700!
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
Interesting Facts:
Adapted into a television series in 2020.
UP NEXT: The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
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