The Naked Island

by Russell Braddon

English, published in 1953

106,975 words (300 pages)

Categories: War, Biography, Non-fiction, Post-1930

The experiences of an Australian solidier imprisoned in Changi for four years during World War II.

Excerpt

upted by a curt order to bend over. All around the room at that moment recruits were bending over and very unsightly it was, too.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because," said the publican, with quite unwarranted impatience, "I want to see if you've got piles."

"I haven't." I told him firmly and remained vertical.

"Bend over," he bellowed. "You can't expect me to take your word for it--got to see for myself."

"You didn't want to see my grandparents," I argued.

"I am not," he hissed, "examining your grandparents for piles, Now bend over."

"You asked me," I pointed out, "whether my grandparents were cracked. I said, No. You didn't say, Show me your uncracked grandparents! Now, you ask, have I got piles and I say, 'No,' and you say, Bend over. It doesn't make sense."

With a look of undisguised hostility, he straightened up in his chair.

"All right," he capitulated, "you have not got piles. Now, for God's sake," and he said the words very slowly and with not much g

ReviewsAdd a review for this title.

2008.04.20
Wen Chang

A excellent & interesting read about the life of a Australian POW in Malaya during War World 2.
In the book the author talks about how he came to join the army, the battle of Malaya & all the way to the surrender of the Japanese in 1945.

The author also include satire about the incompetency of the British war administration before & during the invasion.
There are some Australian slang used occasionally which might be a bit hard to understand but that does not detach from the story's plot or pace of reading.