VVMBookBlog

There’s an old movie on TV every once in a while and it’s called “The Bridge Over the River Kwai.” It takes place in Thailand during World War II after the Japanese have invaded. The Japanese are forcing the British prisoner-of-war soldiers to build the Thailand-Burma Railway, all while keeping them in horrible living conditions, usually in cages placed out in the stifling sun.

So now here’s Elephant Run about World War II with the Japanese threatening to invade Burma. Nick, 14-years-old, was living with his mother in London, but the Germans were bombing London and it was decided that Nick would be safer living with his dad on the family teak plantation in Burma. [Teak is a type of tropical hardwood and Burma is now called Myanmar.]

As soon as Nick arrived at the plantation, called Hawk’s Nest, Nick’s dad wasn’t around much and Nick could sense that something was wrong. And while out exploring a little on his first day there, trying to find out what was going on, Nick had a run-in with Hannibal, one of the elephants that are used on the plantation to harvest lumber. Because of the imminent danger, Nick’s dad was determined to get Nick and Mya, the daughter of one of the plantation workers, out of Burma to safety. And then the adventure begins!

Because Burma had been under British rule, some of the native Burmese people sided with the invading Japanese and turning against Nick’s father. He was taken prisoner by the Japanese and Hawk’s Nest became a headquarters building for the Japanese. Now what has going to happen to Nick, the loyal people in the village, and the elephants, including Hannibal, that had worked so hard for the plantation.  Burmese people were forced to work on airstrips and railways for the Japanese, as were the British prisoners-of-war (just like the movie!) but they were forced to live in horrible, and very unhealthy, living conditions.
Lots of twists and turns and surprises that kept me reading to the end. Again, I learned more about a time and place in history than I knew before, and it made the events in the “River Kwai” make even more sense. World War II truly was a “world” war when we realize just how many countries were affected by events during and after the war.