And the war is over cover

And the war is over

by Ismail Marahimin

The final days of World War II serve as the backdrop for this novel by Ismail Marahimin. Fighting has not reached the small Sumatran village of Taratakbuluh, but the quiet, tradition-bound way of life in this remote outpost on the jungles edge has nonetheless been transformed, for the Japanese have chosen it as the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Dutch internees. *And the War is Over* is the tensely drawn story of the people of Taratakbuluh and of the Japanese soldiers, Dutch prisoners, and Javanese workers who become, briefly but significantly, a part of their lives. The novel centers on a plot by some of the Dutch prisoners to escape into the jungle but the drama of this planned escape yields to the even more dramatic tension of the human relationships that punctuate the novel.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?