Hiroshima Joe: A Novel

Front Cover
Picador, 2013 M10 8 - 304 pages

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.

From inside the book

 

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Page 13
... ingham understood this local dialect and he knew a strange accent when he heard one . The manager's height and intonation indicated clearly that he was from northern China . Since the Communist take - over vast numbers of well - to - do ...
Page 16
... ingham boarded the bus and sat down on a wooden slat seat . The conductor pulled twice on the thin cord rope that ran the length of the vehicle and the bell dinged by the driver . He paid the ten - cent fare and received a flimsy ticket ...
Page 22
... ingham's enemies as well . The guard remained in the shadows as he made his way towards the safety of Hong Kong proper . Within a few minutes , he was once more standing at a bus stop . A ragged queue formed behind him . Several old men ...
Page 34
... ingham's nerves , but he managed to suppress his longing to shout at them . The sultry boy requested a strawberry ice , his words a near monologue . ' You know you can't have an ice - cream , Jeremy , ' the mother retorted . ' It will ...
Page 65
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Hiroshima Joe: A Novel
Martin Booth
Limited preview - 2003

Common terms and phrases

asked barrack blood building bunk camp Cantonese centre Chinese cloth dark dead deck door eyes face feet felt ferry fingers fire floor front Garry glass guards hancho hand head hear heard Hideo Wada Hiroshima Ho Man Tin Hong Kong Imperial Japanese Army ingham jacket Japanese Kempetai Kowloon lance-corporal Leung lifted light Lisbon Maru lorry Macau machine-gun minutes Mishima morning moved Nathan Road night officer once opium papaya Peak Tram Pedrick pocket prisoners pulled realised replied rice rifle road roof roomboy round Sand Sandingham knew Sandingham looked Sandingham saw Sandingham watched Sham Shui Po ship shouted side skin smoke soldier spoke standing steward stood stopped street tenko timber yard took tram tree trousers truck turned voice walked wall Wan Chai window wire wooden

About the author (2013)

Martin Booth (1944-2004) was the bestselling author of novels including Hiroshima Joe, Islands of Silence, and The Industry of Souls, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Another novel, A Very Private Gentlemen, was adapted into the 2010 movie, The American, starring George Clooney. He also wrote several nonfiction books, including Cannabis: A History and the memoir Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood. Booth was born in England, but spent much of his childhood in Hong Kong, a location that would deeply inspire his writing. He moved back to England at the age of 20, and started his literary career as a poet. He worked as a schoolmaster, a job he held until 1985, when the success of Hiroshima Joe allowed him to devote himself full-time to his writing. At the time of his death in 2004, he was living in Devon, England.

Bibliographic information

TitleHiroshima Joe: A Novel
AuthorMartin Booth
Editionreprint
PublisherPicador, 2013
ISBN1466853980, 9781466853980
Length304 pages
  
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