A Gift for Rain

 

What an amazing book. I loved this so much and I feel so sad that I have finished it. Everything about it was beautiful from the cover, to the story; the setting to the poetic language. It was the story of 16 year old Philip Hutton, who was born in Penang , Malaysia to an English Dad and Chinese mum. He is an outsider and just before the war an enigmatic Japanese man comes into his life who teaches him aikido. (Aikujitsu, as it was called then.) and changes his perception on life. They become good friends/ soul mates/ lovers and of course this Japanese guy ultimately is a major force behind the military assault on Malaysia in the Second World War. Both Philip and Endo-San, his friend, have to come to terms with being pawns in this awful war and Philip has to accept that Endo-San has betrayed his confidences and deceived him. 

I felt like I had been transported to Penang Malaysia for the period before, during and after the  Japanese invasion. I honestly felt like I was back in SE Asia with the smells, the sound of the sea, the people, the buildings, the food, the descriptions of the land. This book portrayed so clearly what it was like to live under the Japanese in Malaysia during the Second World War.  How brutal was it?! Bloody hell. The Japanese invaders were ( mostly) highly cultured, barbaric monsters.  I always thought the ingenuity of the Japanese torture methods were figments of people's imagination, until I read this.  But yet , the human stories in this book and the ties between families and friends were totally enthralling and I was hooked on the beauty of  this book completely! 

Philip's English family were amazing. They never left Penang even though the majority of Brits fled Malaysia on boats as soon as the Japanese started to advance through the jungle. All of his family were supported by the local Indian, Malay and Chinese communities apart from Philip who decides that in order to keep his family safe he must work for the Japanese invaders. How Philip squares his duplicitous life working for both sides is extremely interesting. I loved trying to work out how he could live with himself and also how he could have done anything different.  I also loved Endo -San, just like everyone else does in this book.. What a dude he is! a dangerous, powerful, enigmatic, spiritual martial arts expert...

Endo-San and Philip's Chinese Grandfather have a kind of spiritual understanding. They both seem to know and accept that what happens on this Earth is part of a bigger continuing cycle and that we will meet our closest friends, lovers and family members again in another adventure the next time we battle/love each other on earth.  I loved these references to reincarnation. For me it is so refreshing and comforting to read about reincarnation when it is talked about with such strength.  I think this is rare in many English language books. 

A huge story told with a lot of compassion. Yes, a gem of a book and one I will not forget quickly.