Book Review: The Bridge on the River Kwai

I have several thoughts about this. What I will say is that this book is a great work of fiction. Which it most certainly is in every sense of the word. Because this is pure fiction. True, British and allied POWs were engaged in slave labour by the Japanese during WWII to build the Burma-Thai railway, and it is also true that there is a river Kwai and there is a bridge over it which was built by POWs. The rest is complete and utter fiction. Almost insultingly so. One could almost say it was controversial, as the real story compared to this work of fiction wouldn't see a Commanding Officer of the British Army colluding with the enemy to build a damned bridge. But here we are.

So I think you can tell, I have some thoughts on the whole book. I do see why it is a classic and a classic war novel. It really plays on the hubris of officers in an army, particularly the pride of Colonel Nicholson. He belonged to a world that was effectively killed off after World War 2 II. He was an officer stationed in India for almost all of his life. He believed in British military might and prided himself and his country on doing everything the right way and not the “savage” way. Pride then turns irrevocably to madness. And, I will give it to Pierre Boulle; it is brilliantly done.

It is a deeply problematic book as it champions the West of the ‘savageries’ of the Far East, particularly the Japanese. Now, one could argue that the conduct of the Japanese on the Burma-Thai railways was particularly savage to both the POWs and the native populations that they’d conquered. But there were subtle undertones of colonial supremacy which made me cringe. I am, after all, reading a book very much of its time. But times have, mercifully, changed.

I did like the fact that there were two separate story lines with opposite motives. Both from the viewpoint of the allied forces, but with different desired outcomes. On the one hand, you have Nicholson, who wants the bridge built as a lasting reminder of British engineering that would last hundreds of years, vs. A military commando unit tasked with blowing up the bridge. A beautiful piece of tension marking the sacrifice made by the POWs who were forced to build the bridge, and the need to sabotage enemy operations. This happened in real life, might I add, probably the most truthful bit of the book. This tension was the best part of the book, and the climax was spectacular. The explosive culmination of pride, duty and hubris was brilliantly written

I read this book because I have a keen interest in East Asian history, particularly around World War 2. As someone who is of asian descent, knowing that part of my history is important, seeing as a lot of the rhetoric in the West focuses on the European theatre of war (equally important and just as devastating). I will say that this is probably the best work of fiction I have read this year. I think the atmosphere, setting and characters are brilliantly nuanced and deeply evocative - almost as if you are there.