---
product_id: 260332658
title: "The Singapore Grip: NOW A MAJOR ITV DRAMA (W&N Essentials)"
price: "€ 43.12"
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---

# The Singapore Grip: NOW A MAJOR ITV DRAMA (W&N Essentials)

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## Description

Buy The Singapore Grip: NOW A MAJOR ITV DRAMA (W&N Essentials) by Farrell, J.G. from desertcart's Fiction Books Store. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction.

Review: A remarkable and beautiful work - This is a substantial and remarkable book in which Farrell documents the colonial years just before, and during the Japanese invasion of Singapore. Rich in characters and full of colour and texture, he describes the life and times of the Patriarch of one of the old rubber firms, and his aspirations for the next generation. Progressively, his world falls apart - as the business seems to have missed major opportunities, but then the war takes over, and all else is unreal. The new generation fails to conform to his wishes, as the world is rapidly turned upside down. Most of the action is described from the points of view of the two main characters, Walter and Matthew Blackett; it is their lives and hopes that are explored - both rich in reminiscence and dreams. The amazing variety in Malaya and Singapore is vividly brought to life through the various social groupings from the comfortable colonials, and the military clubs, to the sordid Chinese "dying house", and the tenements. Each scenario is accompanied by the characters appropriate to each, increasingly intermingling as the war proceeds and forces all the races and social classes together. At the end the Europeans are separated out and taken to Changi, and on the way they are jeered at by some Indian shopkeepers -reminding Matthew of the King Williams response to a boatman who asks "who won the battle?" - he replied "what is it to you, you will still be the boatman". Finally, there is some hope - Matthew receives an indication that his Chinese friend, Vera, is still there somewhere, and Walter's daughter, Kate is shown in a tantalisingly "possible" scenario in her middle age in 1976 married to someone - possibly the American Ehrendorf - in her Chelsea home. Extensively researched, beautifully written, and skilfully crafted.
Review: Better on the screen than on the page - Back in the days when my enthusiasm for literary fiction was unbounded, and I read all the Booker prize winners when they came out, I read Farrell’s The Siege of Krishnapur and admired it immensely. A number of years later, my husband read it and was very ambivalent; I reread it and found I didn’t like it quite as much. I’ve never read anything else by him, but sparked by my initial enthusiasm for that book, embarked on the TV series. With some trepidation – the obligatory shrieking and wailing about the evils of the Empire was of course in evidence. Apart from the appalling miscasting, I enjoyed it more than the book. Other than Charles Dance and the American actor playing Ehrendorf in a slightly Catch 22 manner, most of the actors looked as if they hadn’t a clue what they were doing there and didn’t begin to approximate the assurance, accents, posture or anything else of the privileged of Singapore at the time. I decided though that there was a good story in there and started reading the book more or less simultaneously. Hats off to the screenwriter (who got some flack, of course) for picking out the story whilst leaving out the pages and pages and pages on the history of Malayan rubber plantations, the League of Nations and other less than riveting topics. To say this book was discursive was an understatement. It was positively Shavian in its desire to preach; characters such as Matthew spouted and spouted ad nauseam. The characterisation was Dickensian – very black and white and slightly grotesque. The author made it unusually clear which characters he liked and disliked. Walter Blackett was a straightforward villain – there was nothing remotely likeable about him, and most of his cronies and associates were also painted as pantomime baddies. His wife was vapid, silly and snobbish, his son (not the near adolescent of the TV series, but apparently 30 odd,) was thoroughly unlikeable. Daughter Joan was less bitch than witch, so unpleasant was she. The book did not imply the rather creepy quasi-incestuous relationship displayed on the series. For some reason little daughter Kate was a goody. Matthew Webb was depicted as appallingly boring in the book, and more of an anti-hero than hero. He bored everyone, even his friends, witless with his prattling on, although we are shown that his heart was in the right place. He was also described as very physically unattractive. We are told that Vera was attracted to him only because of years of conditioning for Chinese girls to find scholarly, stooping and bespectacled men attractive because of their intelligence and the likelihood of them obtaining good occupations. Which doesn’t read that well today. Vera was not nearly as likeable in the book – very lovely, yes, but almost certainly a hardened liar, and with a closer acquaintanceship with dubious groups and prostitution than was portrayed on screen. Having got her claws into old Webb, she entranced Matthew pretty effortlessly. His affection was clearly genuine, hers probably venal. The three male characters that O’Farrell obviously liked were the Major (not the buffoon depicted on TV) but clever, thoughtful, reflective and resourceful. (Albeit a bit prone to ruminating lengthily on the evils of the Empire). It is revealed that he and Dupigny (a bit of a stock philosophical Frenchman) had known each other for years, meeting in the trenches of WWI. Ehrendorf is a “good” Henry James American, so educated, suave, well-tailored and well-mannered that everyone likes him. The military top brass were deservedly portrayed as hopeless en masse, although his portrait of the (real) Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham was quite sympathetic in its way, showing a man promoted well beyond his ability, totally unqualified for his post and vaguely aware of his unsuitability and overall inadequacy. There’s a lot of heroic firefighting, and Matthew and the Major show themselves in a good light – the baddies all make an undeserved get away and the noble trio of Matthew, the Major and Dupigny resign themselves to being captured and interned. And there it rather peters out. We assume, but are not told, that they all survive, and Vera smuggles them a food parcel consisting of a sugar cube and some white mice, so she clearly made it out of the ruins of Singapore, as one surmised she would. There’s a rather strange epilogue, which only added to the feeling that it lacked an ending. The major highlight of the book for me though, was how funny it was. Occasionally it was laugh out loud amusing, which did serve to lighten the endless preaching somewhat. And when not preaching, the writing was of a very high order, effortlessly conjuring up the sights, sounds and smells of Singapore. I’ve downloaded a couple of other of J G Farrell’s books and until I’ve read them, I’m not going to say whether I consider this to be not one of his finest. I can’t say I hugely enjoyed it though and kept going more out of a sense of duty than anything else.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | 91,279 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 5,033 in Literary Fiction (Books) 5,802 in Contemporary Fiction (Books) 7,568 in Historical Fiction (Books) |
| Book 3 of 3  | Empire Trilogy |
| Customer reviews | 4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars (1,366) |
| Dimensions  | 12.9 x 4.47 x 19.8 cm |
| ISBN-10  | 1474610250 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-1474610254 |
| Item weight  | 480 g |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 704 pages |
| Publication date  | 27 Aug. 2020 |
| Publisher  | W&N |

## Images

![The Singapore Grip: NOW A MAJOR ITV DRAMA (W&N Essentials) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/812D+CUIprL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A remarkable and beautiful work
*by T***Y on 6 March 2011*

This is a substantial and remarkable book in which Farrell documents the colonial years just before, and during the Japanese invasion of Singapore. Rich in characters and full of colour and texture, he describes the life and times of the Patriarch of one of the old rubber firms, and his aspirations for the next generation. Progressively, his world falls apart - as the business seems to have missed major opportunities, but then the war takes over, and all else is unreal. The new generation fails to conform to his wishes, as the world is rapidly turned upside down. Most of the action is described from the points of view of the two main characters, Walter and Matthew Blackett; it is their lives and hopes that are explored - both rich in reminiscence and dreams. The amazing variety in Malaya and Singapore is vividly brought to life through the various social groupings from the comfortable colonials, and the military clubs, to the sordid Chinese "dying house", and the tenements. Each scenario is accompanied by the characters appropriate to each, increasingly intermingling as the war proceeds and forces all the races and social classes together. At the end the Europeans are separated out and taken to Changi, and on the way they are jeered at by some Indian shopkeepers -reminding Matthew of the King Williams response to a boatman who asks "who won the battle?" - he replied "what is it to you, you will still be the boatman". Finally, there is some hope - Matthew receives an indication that his Chinese friend, Vera, is still there somewhere, and Walter's daughter, Kate is shown in a tantalisingly "possible" scenario in her middle age in 1976 married to someone - possibly the American Ehrendorf - in her Chelsea home. Extensively researched, beautifully written, and skilfully crafted.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Better on the screen than on the page
*by C***L on 6 November 2020*

Back in the days when my enthusiasm for literary fiction was unbounded, and I read all the Booker prize winners when they came out, I read Farrell’s The Siege of Krishnapur and admired it immensely. A number of years later, my husband read it and was very ambivalent; I reread it and found I didn’t like it quite as much. I’ve never read anything else by him, but sparked by my initial enthusiasm for that book, embarked on the TV series. With some trepidation – the obligatory shrieking and wailing about the evils of the Empire was of course in evidence. Apart from the appalling miscasting, I enjoyed it more than the book. Other than Charles Dance and the American actor playing Ehrendorf in a slightly Catch 22 manner, most of the actors looked as if they hadn’t a clue what they were doing there and didn’t begin to approximate the assurance, accents, posture or anything else of the privileged of Singapore at the time. I decided though that there was a good story in there and started reading the book more or less simultaneously. Hats off to the screenwriter (who got some flack, of course) for picking out the story whilst leaving out the pages and pages and pages on the history of Malayan rubber plantations, the League of Nations and other less than riveting topics. To say this book was discursive was an understatement. It was positively Shavian in its desire to preach; characters such as Matthew spouted and spouted ad nauseam. The characterisation was Dickensian – very black and white and slightly grotesque. The author made it unusually clear which characters he liked and disliked. Walter Blackett was a straightforward villain – there was nothing remotely likeable about him, and most of his cronies and associates were also painted as pantomime baddies. His wife was vapid, silly and snobbish, his son (not the near adolescent of the TV series, but apparently 30 odd,) was thoroughly unlikeable. Daughter Joan was less bitch than witch, so unpleasant was she. The book did not imply the rather creepy quasi-incestuous relationship displayed on the series. For some reason little daughter Kate was a goody. Matthew Webb was depicted as appallingly boring in the book, and more of an anti-hero than hero. He bored everyone, even his friends, witless with his prattling on, although we are shown that his heart was in the right place. He was also described as very physically unattractive. We are told that Vera was attracted to him only because of years of conditioning for Chinese girls to find scholarly, stooping and bespectacled men attractive because of their intelligence and the likelihood of them obtaining good occupations. Which doesn’t read that well today. Vera was not nearly as likeable in the book – very lovely, yes, but almost certainly a hardened liar, and with a closer acquaintanceship with dubious groups and prostitution than was portrayed on screen. Having got her claws into old Webb, she entranced Matthew pretty effortlessly. His affection was clearly genuine, hers probably venal. The three male characters that O’Farrell obviously liked were the Major (not the buffoon depicted on TV) but clever, thoughtful, reflective and resourceful. (Albeit a bit prone to ruminating lengthily on the evils of the Empire). It is revealed that he and Dupigny (a bit of a stock philosophical Frenchman) had known each other for years, meeting in the trenches of WWI. Ehrendorf is a “good” Henry James American, so educated, suave, well-tailored and well-mannered that everyone likes him. The military top brass were deservedly portrayed as hopeless en masse, although his portrait of the (real) Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham was quite sympathetic in its way, showing a man promoted well beyond his ability, totally unqualified for his post and vaguely aware of his unsuitability and overall inadequacy. There’s a lot of heroic firefighting, and Matthew and the Major show themselves in a good light – the baddies all make an undeserved get away and the noble trio of Matthew, the Major and Dupigny resign themselves to being captured and interned. And there it rather peters out. We assume, but are not told, that they all survive, and Vera smuggles them a food parcel consisting of a sugar cube and some white mice, so she clearly made it out of the ruins of Singapore, as one surmised she would. There’s a rather strange epilogue, which only added to the feeling that it lacked an ending. The major highlight of the book for me though, was how funny it was. Occasionally it was laugh out loud amusing, which did serve to lighten the endless preaching somewhat. And when not preaching, the writing was of a very high order, effortlessly conjuring up the sights, sounds and smells of Singapore. I’ve downloaded a couple of other of J G Farrell’s books and until I’ve read them, I’m not going to say whether I consider this to be not one of his finest. I can’t say I hugely enjoyed it though and kept going more out of a sense of duty than anything else.

### ⭐⭐⭐ Interesting but long
*by J***M on 3 December 2018*

After a while I became very involved with the characters and the place and time. The evocation of the turbulent times is very powerful, and I found lots of the background regarding the businesses and then the war manoeuvres very interesting. I did however skip over some of the bits that sounded more like a history book. Some of the characters seemed more like stereotypes than real people, although I did like some of them. The story rather fizzled out at the end, so that one had the sense that he just made up a story in order to weave his researches into a framework.

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*Last updated: 2026-03-04*