The Railway Man

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Then comes the surrender of Singapore and imprisonment by the Japanese, an event that the reader feels approaching with a sense of dread and which, when it happens, feels like tumbling into the abyss. This is the memories and nightmares of a man that faced the horrors and madness of war while a prisoner of a ruthless enemy and lived to tell of it. Along with other POW officers a radio was found in their hut and with that began his appalling ordeal.

The consensus reads: "Understated to a fault, The Railway Man transcends its occasionally stodgy pacing with a touching, fact-based story and the quiet chemistry of its stars. In his book, Eric states that Patti, portrayed by Nicole Kidman in the movie, had been in a marriage that was as reduced as his own.

Unlike Colin Firth's character in the film (left), the true story behind The Railway Man movie reveals that the real Eric Lomax (right) had been married for 37 years and had 3 children prior to meeting Patti (Nicole Kidman's character). The Japanese discover the radio on a raid of the POW camp and the officers are taken away and beaten and tortured repeatedly. Eric Lomax's second wife Patricia "Patti" Wallace, portrayed by Nicole Kidman in the film, encouraged him to seek help for his nightmares, rages and feelings of isolation ( The Railway Man book). Curiously though, and despite some horrific personal experiences at the hands of his captors, Eric Lomax's account is most memorable as an inspiring, humbling and remarkable reminder of much that is good about humanity.

However, with regard to the book, Finlay seems to most likely resemble Jim Bradley, a fellow POW who had been in the bed next to Eric's in Changi, Singapore in 1944. But it is the final passages of this book which document the author's determination to come face to face with one of his torturers, that make this extraordinary book so moving, compelling and ultimately uplifting. His meeting with one of his interrogators from the year 1943 might just have been an act of final closure for him as he knew he had to start making peace with his past if he were to carry on with his life.However, The Railway Man true story reveals that, unlike the film, the real Eric Lomax's intention was more about finding closure rather than seeking revenge.

The jungle being too dense for the enemy to cross but the Japanese do cross the jungle and take them from behind.The hardships of these POWs are detailed on these novels and I can't fathom on how the oppressors could easily torture them.

E’ stata una lettura molto interessante, anche se la scrittura non è particolarmente brillante, ma sicuramente precisa e, spesso, sconvolgente. As powerful as various scenes in the movie are, they can't compete, in my humble opinion, with words on the page. Our resources are crucial for knowledge lovers everywhere—so if you find all these bits and bytes useful, please pitch in.Also, unlike the other three POW accounts I've read, "The Railway Man" has a very substantial part dedicated to telling what happened after the war ended. His childhood and early interests (particularly his love for trains) are recounted vividly, as is his early career and entry into the army with the outbreak of war. Lomax finally took an unprecedented move in the 1990s to seek out some of those people who were responsible for his torture (he initially planned revenge for them). A keen railway enthusiast and transport photographer, Lomax joined the Stephenson Locomotive Society in 1937, [12] and his enthusiasm for railways stayed with him to his death. L’azione si colloca negli anni della II Guerra Mondiale e si occupa di un aspetto forse meno noto di quel tragico periodo, ossia le condizioni dei prigionieri di guerra, ma anche dei civili, nei campi di lavoro e nelle carceri giapponesi, tra la Birmania e la Thailandia, una delle tante pagine poco onorevoli che costellano la nostra storia.