Cover image for Naked Island, The

The Naked Island

Author Russell Braddon
Categories War, Biography, Non-fiction, Post-1930
Language English
Published 1953
Notes

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

Approx. 106,975 words.

Excerpt

however, completely disrupted 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

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.