The last book I read was called The Railway Man by Eric Lomax.
The beginning was good, you got involved and interested in real TRAINS (surprisingly). I had really high hopes. Unfortunately you cannot keep yourself from comparing the book with King Rat by James Clavell, after all the topic was similar- P.O.W.s in Japanese camps during the second world war.
Sad to say, but the best parts of the book were the Introduction, by the screenplay writers Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Paterson, and the first 40 pages where Eric Lomax talks about his passions for trains and railways.
I think only 3 occasions of my book-reading passions had put me in a situation where I did not FINISH the books. First time was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. I just could not bring myself to finish the books, for the sole reason of being bored. I think I stopped reading The Railway Man 30 pages before the end. I just skipped to the last 2 pages, and the ending was not surprising.
However, I recognise the fact that Eric Lomax is not a writer, his book was based on his personal experience and horrors during the WW2, so sitting here and judging his writing style would not be appropriate knowing that the reason behind the book is the sole desire to LET those horrors out on a piece of paper.
All in all, the story was good, but as a reader I was not grabbed by the writing as much as I would have wanted.
I hope watching the film would change my mind. :)
