What a fascinating place India is and, as this novel makes clear, almost as fascinating are the westerners who go there and misread the way that the country seems to work. Farrell's Booker Prizewinning novel is based on events in what has been called by the British the 'Sepoy' or 'Indian Mutiny' and by Indians the 'National Uprising' or the 'First War of Independence' of 1857. In particular, as the title suggests, it deals with a siege in a small town called Krishnapur from the point of view of the besieged British colonials. While the reader feels an extraordinary amount of sympathy for the suffering that they obviously undergo, it is tempered somewhat by the attitudes that Farrell critiques, even among the more enlightened (from a modern perspective) characters.

Whether it be the topics of theology, science and pseudo-science, relationships between the sexes, colonialism, or the way that we respond to extreme circumstances, all are handled intelligently. To my delight Farrell didn't try to give characters modern attitudes or feelings (the bane of much historical fiction) in order to make them more 'appealing' to the reader. Instead, what is most fascinating about the story is to think about how the individual reacts to change, and especially change arising from terrible events. The changes that particular characters undergo are simultaneously humorous and absolutely believable. This is an excellent read if you already have an interest in India, or in the impact that westerners have had upon other cultures. If you haven't when you begin, you may well find that you have before you finish.

"The first sign of trouble at Krishnapur came with a mysterious distribution of chapatis, made of coarse flour and about the size and thickness of a biscuit; towards the end of February 1857, they swept the countryside like an epidemic." When I was a young teacher living in China in 1984, an English colleague traded me his well-worn copy of The Siege of Krishnapur for my stack of back issues of The New York Times. Set during the British Raj, Krishnapur is the story of a slow-brewing sepoy rebellion and yearlong siege at a remote hill station, loosely based on the Indian Mutiny of 1857. (The sepoys comprised the native Indian regiments of the British army.) The late novelist J. G. Farrell perfectly captures the beauty of the Indian landscape. With deft irony, he tweaks the complacent, insular attitudes of the British ex-patriots, who are bewildered by the rage directed at them by the native population. More suspenseful and less sentimental than other famous epics about the Raj, Krishnapur is a wry, funny book. Incidentally, Farrell wrote two other comic novels about hapless Englishmen caught up in the sweep of history: Troubles, set in Ireland, and The Singapore Grip, set in Malaya on the eve of the Japanese invasion.

I had never heard of J.G. Farrell or The Siege of Krishnapur until one day I was scanning a list of winner of England's Booker Prize and I noticed that Siege was out-of-print in America. I was so intrigued I sent off to England for it, but it is now also available in the U.S.

The novel narrates the story of the British community at Krishnapur during the Indian Mutiny of 1857, when the entire community holed up in the Residency (like a governor's palace) for months under siege. Farrell's style is highly cinematic, reminiscent of great movie epics about that era, such as "The Man Who Would Be King," - lots of scope, majesty, explosions, and bright-red uniforms, added to the day-to-day domestic squabbles of the community. Farrell's take is not a shallow war novel though; he is witty, ironic, inspired, and sad in turn.

The book features remarkable turns of fortune and engaging details on every page, all of which were dramatically motivated and apt. (Examples: When the besieged run out of ammunition, they create canister shot by stuffing ladies' stockings with silverware. There's a sudden infestation of flying bugs that will make you jump right out of your chair. Two doctors have an argument about the cause of cholera with dramatic consequences. A lucky shot by a Lieutenant....well I won't spoil it for you.)

The main character, the Collector, seems to stand in for all of Britain as he is transformed by his Indian experience: first arrogance and a passion for bringing British 'civilization' to the uncivilized, then bravado as he stands up to the initial assaults, then despair as he watches the failure of mere ingenuity to overcome the natives. In a wonderful little coda at the end of the book you can see how he has been utterly transformed by the experience.

A wonderful find, a 'must read'! I'm off to read the rest of Farrell's novels!

This is one of my favorite historical-fiction novels with masterful story-telling on a grand scale. J.G. Farrell has succeeded in creating a realistic impression of colonial Singapore and the effects of the war on the "Gibraltar of the East." My favorite part is the one chapter that takes palce on the night of Dec. 7, 1941, the night before the invasion. Here we see Brooke-Popham, trying to reach a decision whether to launch Operation Matador or not, Sir Thomas, the Governor of Singapore, sleeping quietly before the phone would shriek with news of the invasion, LT. Gen. A.E. Percival, asleep too, trying to wrestle with his inner self, Lt. Sinclair watching the events in the Operations Room at GHQ, Maj. Gen. Gordon Bennett sitting quietly in his room in the Strand Hotel in Rangoon, a Private Kikuchi on one of the Japanese landing crafts heading for the Malay shores, and, ending the chapter, a young Malay fisherman starts to hear the drone of aircraft, heading south...
A fine story with Farrell at his best, he writes in his usual style with which many have become familiar with, it is sure not to disappoint fans of "The Siege of Krishnapur." A classic that should be on every book shelf in every home.

If you were to select a subject for a droll and howlingly funny novel, it is doubtful that the fall of Singapore would be high on your list. Nevertheless, that's what you have here! The action centers on the British expat community who, intent on their usual trivial rounds of partying and copulating, are completely oblivious to the fact that the Japs are inexorably creeping down the Malay Peninsula. The novel properly darkens in tone as the city's situation becomes obviously desperate, but it maintains its ironic tone throughout. The result is an absolute masterpiece, and I don't use that term lightly.

An excellent novel about the plight of the British and Chinese before and during the fall of Sinapore. Meticulously researched, it fits under the genre of a non-fiction novel. Comparable in quality to Gore Vidal's "Lincoln" and Mailer's "The Executioner's Song." Simply brilliant.