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Christian Bale played the lead role in the movie of Empire of the Sun, the 1984 novel by J.G. Ballard. |
Empire of the Sun (1984)
by J.G. Ballard
Empire of the Sun is a fictionalized version of Ballard's actual experience in World War II, as a child separated from his parents at the beginning of World War II in China. Captured by the Japanese, he is confined to a prison camp outside of Shanghai where he probably had the mildest experience of being interned in a Japanese prison camp of anyone. He probably benefited from being close to Shanghai. If you read other depictions of life in a World War II Japanese prison camp, like say, the ones in A Town Like Alice, the camp in Empire of the Sun sounds like a summer camp.
There is no doubt that Empire of the Sun is a ripping yarn and a compelling narrative. It's hard to say much more than that.