return to home  
Join   |  Gift   |  Member Login   |  Library Login
BookBrowse Mobile
twitter Bookmark and Share mail to a friend Email
   Summary and Book Reviews

The King's Rifle: Summary and book reviews of The King's Rifle by Biyi Bandele, plus links to an excerpt from The King's Rifle and a biography of Biyi Bandele.

The King's Rifle

The King's Rifle
A Novel
by Biyi Bandele
Paperback: Apr 2009,
224 pages.

Publication information
Author Information
Critics' Opinion:   
Readers' Rating:    Not Yet Rated
About BookBrowse Rankings
Buy This Book

BOOK SUMMARY

It's winter 1944 and the second World War is entering its most crucial state. A few months ago Ali Banana was a blacksmith's apprentice in his rural hometown in West Africa; now he's behind enemy lines, trekking through the Burmese jungle. He is fourteen years old. Led by the unforgettably charismatic Sergeant Damisa, the unit has been given orders to go behind enemy lines and wreak havoc. But Japanese snipers lurk behind every tree - and if they manage to escape the Japanese, infection and disease lie in waiting. As torrential rains turn the landscape into a muddy death trap, the losses mount up. Homesick and weary, the men of D-Section Thunder Brigade refuse to give up.

Taut and immediate, at once somber and exhilarating, The King's Rifle is the first novel to depict the experiences of black African soldiers in the Second World War. This is a story of real life battles, of the men who made the legend of the Chindits, the unconventional, quick strike division of the British Army in India. Horrific and always brilliantly executed, this vividly realized account details the madness, the sacrifice and the dark humor of that wars most vicious battleground. It is also the moving story of a boy trying to live long enough to become a man.

First published in the UK as Burma Boy.
BookBrowse

Overall, The King's Rifle is an exceptional work that gains depth as it progresses toward its compelling and unforgettable dénouement. Bandele's writing style may not appeal to all readers, but those interested in the story of this mostly unheralded band of soldiers will want to put The King's Rifle high on their lists.  (Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).

Full Review Members Only (1256 words).

Media Reviews

  Publishers Weekly
Bandele favors a straight-ahead style fueled by imagery and wordplay, and his perspective on heavily traveled literary territory is refreshing and even endearing.

  Kirkus Reviews
Starred Review. A revelation of unsung heroism, distinguished by love of language and lightness of touch.

The New Statesman - Dinaw Mengestu
While, as a writer, I know better than to believe narrative alone can change the way our nations respond to each other, I do believe, however irrationally, that it's harder to say that our lives are "hell" and that our conflicts are unavoidable when the truth is sitting right in front of you.

  The Financial Times - Jonathan Gibbs
As war novels go, it's a departure from the norm, leavening the gruesome depictions of combat with jokes, proverbs and stories from the lives the soldiers left behind.

  The Guardian - Giles Foden
It would spoil the ending of this short, powerful book (rarely does one wish a novel longer) to say what happens. ... Burma Boy is all the stronger for keeping its presentation of racial politics implicit rather than explicit.

  The Guardian - Robert Collins
The absurdity of war has been done before, of course, but what's invigorating about Bandele's novel is his fine detail, and the fresh perspective of the Africans who took part.

  The Independent - Tony Gould
[A] taut, tense and utterly riveting tale of comrades-in-arms undergoing conditions of such adversity as to defy belief.

  The Times - David Grylls
Although racial tension is only lightly touched on, the author’s sharp awareness of ethnic identity is what makes the book original and moving. Highlighting the heroism and absurdity of war, it also illuminates a forgotten byway of African experience.

Recent Reader Reviews

The Chindits

Major General Orde Charles Wingate was a controversial figure in the British military during WWII. He was abrasive and opinionated, with ideas about warfare that struck those around him as either idiotic or sheer genius. Many of his superiors were impressed by him; others thought him a madman.

Wingate was born in India in 1903. He gained a commission in the Royal Artillery in 1922, beginning a lifelong career in the military. During the years that followed he served in the Sudan and later in Palestine. In 1940-41 he formed a commando unit, "Gideon's Force," which operated on the Ethiopian-Sudanese border, where it was very successful against the Italian Army. He was sent to Burma in 1942 to form a force to combat the Japanese. These soldiers became the Chindits (named after the Burmese word for a mythical winged lion – " chinthe").

The Chindits were the largest of the allied Special Forces in World War II. They were an international force including British Infantry, Royal Engineers, Burma...

Continued...  Beyond the Book (members only)

Readalikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked The King's Rifle, try these:


A Long Way Gone
by Ishmael Beah

The devastating story of war through the eyes of a child soldier. Beah tells how, at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and became a soldier.

After the Fire, a Still Small Voice
by Evie Wyld

Set in the haunting landscape of eastern Australia, this is a stunningly accomplished debut novel about the inescapable past: the ineffable ties of family, the wars fought by fathers and sons, and what goes unsaid.


These are 2 of the 6 readalike suggestions for The King's Rifle. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.


Become a Member
The Leftovers
Editor's Choice
  •  May 24 
  •  May 22 
  •  May 20 
Luminarium
Alex Shakar

Luminarium Jacket

Do you feel... Your life is without purpose? Your days are without meaning? There's something about existence you're just not getting?
Lehrter Station
David Downing

Lehrter Station Jacket

WWII has ended… But the danger has just begun for a spy caught between political superpowers.
All Woman and Springtime
Brandon W. Jones

All Woman and Springtime Jacket

This spellbinding debut, reminiscent of Memoirs of a Geisha, depicts, with chilling accuracy, life behind North Korea's iron curtain.
Birdseye
Mark Kurlansky

Birdseye Jacket

The first biography of Clarence Birdseye, the eccentric genius inventor whose fast-freezing process revolutionized the food industry and American agriculture.
A Land More Kind Than Home
Wiley Cash

A Land More Kind Than Home Jacket

A mesmerizing literary thriller about the bond between two brothers and the evil they face in a small western North Carolina town.
Click Here
   Most Recent Blog Entries
Why "Fifty Shades of Grey" Is So Successful
Summer 2012: Movies Based on Books
Following the Thread - Great Book Design
rss  RSS   rss  subscribe
The Butterfly Cabinet
  Latest BookBrowse News
BookExpo America will broadcast live author appearances for the first time (May 24 2012)
For the first time, BookExpo America is making author appearances at the show available for viewing online live or on demand, via Livestream. It is... Full Story
rss RSS feed More...
BookBrowse Poll
Q: Have you bought a book in any of these stores in the last 3 months?
Walmart
Costco
Sam's Club
Any other warehouse store
Any other bricks & mortar location that isn't a bookstore
None of these
Select Any That Apply
Search: Title or Author
Free Newsletters

Online Book Club
More about
Next to Love
Join the discussion!

BookBrowse Showcase
visit showcase now!
Advertise Here

First Impressions
Members Recommend:
A Simple Murder
by Eleanor Kuhns
Four Stars
A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar
by Suzanne Joinson
Four Stars
Afterwards
by Rosamund Lupton
4.5 Stars
The Secrets of Mary Bowser
by Lois Leveen
Five Stars
The Voluntourist
by Ken Budd
3.5 Stars
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake
by Anna Quindlen
4.5 Stars
more...


Win This Book!
Beneath The Shadows

Beneath the Shadows jacket

A thrilling gothic debut - publishing June 5

Enter To Win Now!

wordplay
Solve this clue:
"S T Pass I T N"

and be entered
to win....
frame top
New Author
Interviews
Isabel Allende
Alice Hoffman
Richard Ford
Mark Seal
frame bottom
HOME Submissions | Advertising | Libraries | Media Inquiries | Reviewers | Contact Us