Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Like J.G. Ballard's Empire of the Sun, this affecting memoir recounts the saga of one family during WWII through the eyes of a young boy. Hillen was just eight in 1942 when his Dutch-born father and several other men who worked for a tea plantation on the island of Java were taken away in a truck by Japanese soldiers. Soon thereafter, the author, his older brother, Jerry, and their Canadian-born mother were interned in a prison camp on the island. Through Hillen's clear, honest voice, readers follow his journey from a privileged world of European domination to the hellish conditions of the Bloemankamp prison camp, where daily life was defined by random brutality, fear and unending hunger. Too young to be part of the work force of women and older children who swept streets, cleaned sewers or moved furniture, Ernest was left alone to wander around the camp, sleep or stare into space. When the Japanese decided that the older boys were a danger to the state, 13-year-old Jerry was sent away. There are more harrowing tests before the end of the war, and a brief epilogue describes the fate of many of the people named in the book. Acclaimed in Canada, where it was first published in 1993, this poignant story of war and human survival deserves a wide readership. Photographs. (Sept.)
The Way of a Boy: A Memoir of Java
by Ernest HillenView All Available Formats & Editions
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9780140179750
- Publisher:
- Penguin Publishing Group
- Publication date:
- 09/01/1995
- Edition description:
- REPRINT
- Pages:
- 208
- Product dimensions:
- 5.10(w) x 7.72(h) x 0.56(d)
Meet the Author
Customer Reviews
Average Review: