''The Singapore Grip'' is a novel by

J. G. Farrell James Gordon Farrell (25 January 1935 – 11 August 1979) was an English-born novelist of Irish descent. He gained prominence for a series of novels known as "the Empire Trilogy" (''Troubles'', ''The Siege of Krishnapur'' and ''The Singapore Gri ...

. It was published in 1978, a year before his death. In 2015, '' The Straits Times Akshita Nanda selected ''The Singapore Grip'' as one of ten classic Singapore novels. She wrote, "Neatly weaving in snappy, comic summaries of Singapore history as well as the commercial and cultural forces that shaped the trajectory of World War II in South-east Asia and China."

Synopsis

''The Singapore Grip'' is a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

book about events following Japan's entry into the Second World War by invading South East Asia and swiftly occupying Singapore. The story centres on a British family who control one of the colony's leading trading companies. The title derives from a slang phrase for a sexual technique also known as

pompoir Pompoir is a sexual technique in which the woman uses her vaginal muscles to stimulate the man's penis.Suzie Heumann, Susan M. Campbell, ''The Everything Great Sex Book: From Sensuous to Sizzling, the Hottest Tips, Tricks, and Techniques for S ...

or Kabzah.

Reception

"A brilliant, complex, richly absurd and melancholy monument to the follies and splendours of Empire, " wrote Hilary Spurling for '' The Times Literary Supplement''. In 2015, Akshita Nanda, writing for '' The Straits Times'', chose ten novels which describe Singapore in the past five decades, ''The Singapore Grip'' among their number.

Television adaptation

The Singapore Grip ''The Singapore Grip'' is a novel by J. G. Farrell. It was published in 1978, a year before his death. In 2015, ''The Straits Times Akshita Nanda selected ''The Singapore Grip'' as one of ten classic Singapore novels. She wrote, "Neatly weaving ...

'' has been adapted as a series for Britain's ITV Television. The series debut was on BBC First in Australia on 26 July 2020.

Luke Treadaway Luke Antony Newman Treadaway''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 10 September 1984) is a British actor and singer. He won an Olivier Award for Best Leading Actor for his performance as Christ ...

, David Morrissey and Elizabeth Tan star in the "epic and ambitious" TV adaptation of Booker Prize winner J.G. Farrell's 1978 novel.

References

External links

''The Singapore Grip''
from

New York Review Books Classics New York Review Books (NYRB) is the publishing division of ''The New York Review of Books''. Its imprints are New York Review Books Classics, New York Review Books Collections, The New York Review Children's Collection, New York Review Comics, N ...

1978 British novels British Empire in fiction Novels by J. G. Farrell Novels set in Singapore Postcolonial novels Novels set during World War II Weidenfeld & Nicolson books {{postcolonialism-stub