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The Singapore Grip

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About this listen

A classic novel by a Booker Prize-winning author.

Singapore just before the Japanese invasion in the Second World War: the Blackett family's prosperous world of tennis parties, cocktails and deferential servants seems unchanging. But it is poised on the edge of the abyss. This is the eve of the fall of Singapore and, as we know, of much else besides.

Not only are the Blacketts caught up in the events - their friends, enemies and many individuals are, too. Singapore at this historical watershed has never been so faithfully and passionately re-created.

©2010 J. G. Farrell (P)2018 Orion Publishing Group Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction Singapore Imperial Japan China
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Mr Farrell does not admire the English. In this wonderful book he gives a deeply detailed picture of several instantly recognisable English types and flatters none of them. Even the hero, the soft, idealistic blabbermouth Matthew Webb, is so unengaging that we feel when he is facing one of his many dilemmas and perils that the threatened outcome is perhaps no more than he deserves. This story encompasses the fall of Singapore, and if you have ever wondered how an army of not more than 40,000 Japanese drove more than 100,000 British before them down the Malay Peninsula, corralled them all in Singapore and accomplished their surrender in a few short days, this book makes it very clear that the reason lay in the British character. Muddled, driven by a blind belief in their natural superiority and constantly preoccupied with what others are thinking of them, they are totally outclassed by short, yellow men that they had written off from the get-go as no match for 'proper soldiers'.
The only consolation that a British reader can draw from these pages is that at least the Aussies were worse, depicted here as a bunch of drunken outlaws deserted at the last by the cowardly commander (which actually happened, like pretty much everything else in the book) The Singapore Grip is gripping from start to finish. Only critique - the slightly leaden pace and poor Malay pronunciation of the narrator.
Ironically this book provides a perfect understanding of the dire situation this country faces in 2020. After all, most of those leading us off the cliff right now went to the same schools as the fools who lost Singapore and those schools, and their ethos, have not changed one iota, still turning out the same class of privileged, muddled, often lazy Jingoistic fools.

Challenging reading for our times.

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Had hoped for a happy romantic ending. For such a long book, surprised it didn't tie up, or inform the reader about the characters.

Disappointing ending

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a very well researched history of the fall of Singapore woven around a story of colonial families and their attitude to the local population. very well narrated and of course beautifully written

Brilliant in every way

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Mike Grady does this fantastic book such rightous justice - his narration is superb; he affects such a wide range of voices for each character in the story (of which there are plenty) it has to be noted. The story is as you would expect from J.G. Farrell - a rich and detailed exploration of the idiosyncrasies of various interesting and inscrutable characters set against the colonial backdrop Farrell paints so well in his writing. I really enjoyed this book - the narration topped it all off and thus it was a great way to wrap up "the Empire trilogy" of whose first two books I had read rather than listened to.

Enthralling story and superbly narrated

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A great sideways swipe at the last days of the empire. Toes the line between being a comedy, but also very realistic, very well. Narrator does so well with the various accents, though occasionally it takes him a couple of words to find the biting point

Good performance, good story

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