Group Read, December 2019: The Singapore Grip

Our last group read for 2019 is The Singapore Grip by J.G. Farrell. Please join the read and post any comments on this thread.

I've read the first two of these (loved Troubles by didn't connect to Siege of Krishnapur). I might get to this, but it's such a long book and I'm not sure I'm in the mood for that! But it's tempting since it's been sitting on my shelf for quite a while.

>2 japaul22: Thanks for the heads up! I had not researched the book yet but now see it is the final book in the Empire trilogy. I better read the other two first!

>3 JayneCM: It's not necessary. There are no common characters between the books; they are a "trilogy" in theme only and can be read in any order.

>3 JayneCM: From what I remember, they are only loosely related by theme. I don't think there are any characters, and certainly no plot, that carry from one to the other.

>4 ELiz_M: >5 japaul22: Thanks! But I'm not sure if my brain will now let me read them 'out of order'! I'm weird like that!

I'm through the first section. There is a lot more careful mapping of history in this book than I remember in the other two. His writing style is so pleasant that I don't really mind, but I know a lot more about the economic history of the Maylay peninsula and about the rubber business than I ever thought I wanted to. The way Farrell embeds the racist, colonialist attitudes of his characters into this history is fascinating, although of course quite depressing.

I am through the first 21 chapters and enjoying this lot more than I had expected. I read Troubles last summer and did not like it, at all. I was dreading Farrell's other works on the list. The writing style here is delightful!

I'm almost half way through and finding it slow going. I loved the other books in the trilogy but this one feels over-researched. There is a bit too much musing about consequential and very complicated factors in the history and economics of Singapore. Farrell manages to carry it off because the characters doing the musing are so vivid and entertaining, and the various subplots are often quite funny.
I was also impressed by the way the first section, from Walter's point of view, showed us a kind of lovable colonial family & their friends, and then with the coming of Matthew in the second part you suddenly saw, through his eyes, how unbearably racist they all were.