Nevil Shute Books

Peter O'Toole starred in the 1990 TV film version with Mare Winningham and it was titled "Crossing to Freedom." I remember really enjoying the movie although I have yet to read the book. I checked, but this movie doesn't appear to be on DVD or VHS.

This is a very well written story that shows how amidst war and destruction there are still people who can keep their humanity. The author also demonstrates that advanced age is no barrier to good deeds and perilous undertakings.

Nevil Shute describes the surroundings and characters with such detail it is hard not to see exactly what he wants the reader to imagine. Unlike any other book I have read, I was entranced. I have always been intriqued by stories about WWII, and this is a good one. When elderly Englishman takes a holiday in France trying to get over his sons death, he finds himself the leader of a band of children trying to escape the German invasion.

I was amazed that the movie has not been put on VHS or DVD. The movie follows the book fairly closely. Monty Woolley plays the elderly man, and Roddy McDowall and Anne Baxter play two of the children. Otto Preminger is a German Major. Made in 1942 it is both dramatic and comedic. I highly recommend you try to catch it on TV.

I have been a Nevil Shute fan for a long time. Many have never heard of this author. This is one of my favorites along with "A Town Like Alice" and "Trustee From the Toolroom". I'm glad to find it in print again so I can replace my very tattered copy and get my 16 year olds to read it!

I first read this book as a child when, identifying with the children who could have been my compeers, I saw the movie at least five times. I loved the book then, and I love it now. The story is simply told, from the point of view of an elderly Englishman, whom we first meet in his London club during the Blitz. Too exhausted to move to a shelter, he begins to tell his tale to a stranger, who has also decided to sit out the raid, while the Luftwaffe's incendiary bombs fall closer and closer. The old man's story unfolds slowly as tells of a fishing holiday in the Jura--the mountains that border France and Switzerland--in the early months of 1939. The story may, in fact, unfold a bit too slowly for some modern readers who have been exposed to the terse squibs that proliferate novels nowadays, but Nevil Shute is such a skillful storyteller that he draws the reader almost unawares into the narrative, rather in the manner of an expert angler reeling in his fish.

Even though I know the story well, I could not put the book down until the very end. I was, after all these years, inextricably hooked.

I have 3 favorite novels which I reread every couple of years. Like old friends, I know that I can always turn to them and be sure of several hours of deep pleasure. This is one of those novels. PASTORAL was written during World War 2 and concerns two young people who are serving in the military, but as the title indicates, this is not your typical war novel. Peter Marshall is a veteran pilot of an RAF Wellington bomber, even though he is still a very young man. The flying scenes are excellent, filled with suspenseful atmosphere and excitement. But when he is not in the air, he is the kind of person who takes delight in the simple pleasures of life, rambling over the countryside and fishing with his crew. And after he meets a lovely WAAF officer, Gervase Robertson, who has just joined the signals staff at his airbase, it doesn't take him long to fall in love for the first time. The love story of these two rather innocent and ordinary young people is as real as you'll find in literature, perfectly tracing the progress of their attraction and growing feeling for each other, all intensified by the immense conflict in which they play their small part. True to that time, this does not mean that they are in bed by the second date--no, these are typical, decent youngsters who accept the idea that that sort of thing must wait until marriage. Gervase does not want to give up her part in the war effort to get married, and the tension begins to affect Peter's flying and his relationship with his crew. As one of the senior officers complains exasperatedly, "The great adventure on this station isn't bombing Germany. They don't think anything of that. Falling in love is the big business here." Eventually we see that maybe falling in love is the big business after all, as the young people come to exemplify all that is best, all that is worth fighting to preserve. Nevil Shute wrote several excellent novels, but I believe that this is his best. It is a shame that it is so hard to find, but used copies are available--and well worth the hunt.

Nevil Shute seems to be a very underrated author. After his On the Beach and A Town Like Alice, the rest of his works are almost totally ignored by both the critics and the public, which is a pity as almost all of his works are finely written and have something worthwhile to say.

Pastoral was written during WWII, and from a purely British viewpoint, unlike so many of the war books that were written long after the conflict by so many Americans. As such there is a totally different atmosphere to this book, a quietness, an acceptance of the conditions and requirements of the war as just something that is there, part of the daily routine. And it is within this atmosphere that Neville constructs a fine love story between the very experienced bomber pilot Peter Marshal (at age 22!) and a W.A.A.F signals officer, Gervase Robertson.

As perhaps is typical for war-time love stories, the war itself provides the conflict, the friction between the lovers, as Peter is duty-bound to continue flying bombing missions, and Gervase believes her own duties are important to the course of the war, and should not be given up merely to get married. Her decline of Peter's offer of marriage sends Peter into a mental tail-spin, seriously impacting his efficiency as a flyer. How this conflict is resolved and the events that happen because of this conflict form the main portion of this book. Before reaching that point, however, we are treated to a view of English morality and customs of the day, a code that says one mustn't go off alone with a member of the opposite sex, that married woman are expected to keep house, not have jobs, where the woman must defer to the man. A view that might seem dreadfully stifling and old-fashioned to a reader of today's world, but it shown in such a non-obtrusive way that the reader can accept it without question. Until, that is, the reader finishes the book, and realizes that Neville has been quietly showing (and mildly satirizing) both the good and bad qualities of such a code. This is typical of Nevil's writing - his points are made far more by showing, rather than telling, always a mark of a fine writer. Also noteworthy is the attitude towards the war that is displayed by all the characters here - that death is an everyday happening, but it won't happen to me, it only happens to someone else. An attitude that seems to belong to every young person.

Nevil's prose style tends towards the descriptive, especially of the countryside and everyday actions. His dialogue in this book is loaded with English slang, very typical of actual speech patterns of the day, but this does at times make it somewhat hard for the poor modern American reader to decode what is being said. And some of Nevil's expertise as an avionics engineer shows in his descriptions of the aircraft and the functioning of various parts of these machines, at times obviously assuming that reader knows more about aircraft than is normally the case. These, however, are very minor negatives, almost totally subsumed by the engagement of the reader in the story of these two very well realized characters.

One decided negative that has nothing to do with Nevil's writing ability is the production quality of the hardbound reprint edition. The typeface used is very close to an old typewriter font, with thin serifs and a fairly small point size, and the printing press seemed to have severe difficulty with maintaining an even ink flow - at places the print fades to near illegibility. This all makes for a very rough impact on your eyes. A pity that this fine work has such a botched job of production.

Regardless of the quality of the printing, however, this book deserves a look, if nothing else just to see how a romance really should be written, as opposed to the material that passes for 'romance' on the book racks of today.

What is most remarkable about Pastoral is the way it manages to blend love and tragedy in an almost seamless manner. What would have been a rather conventional love story is transformed into something very different by the ever-present risk of death. RAF pilot Peter Marshall and WAAF signals officer Gervase Robinson go through an awkward and sometimes amusing courtship seemingly unconcerned about the fact that each one of his bomber missions over Germany could very easily be his last - indeed, some of the characters we meet during the story are lost over Germany. That they are able to function in a reasonably normal manner in the most terrifyingly abnormal of circusmstances is a tribute to the strength of the human spirit. In a way, this foreshadows Nevil Shute's much later book On the Beach, in which people are able to function day-to-day despite knowing that the world is soon coming to an end. A lesser writer than Shute probably would have made Pastoral heavy-handed and preachy, but there is almost none of that. All in all, a superb book, a truly timeless story despite its setting.
As an aside, the last few paragraphs of the story make me wonder whether it is based on true events.

... and bringing it to the flight station marks the unusual beginning of an exquisite and delicate love story between RAF pilot Peter Marshall and flight officer Gervase Robertson.

The story takes place in the midst of world war II terror and describes, in spellbinding detail, the flight missions over Germany, the dangers of cross fire and courage, during times when others have fear.

Peter's cockiness (not always at the right times), competence (in dodging enemy fire and bringing his crew home), and courage (in face of danger) win the reader's heart and make him a hero at his home station, even though he comes very close to losing is all: his aircraft, his crew and Gervase.

A marvelous story, despite its unusual start: catching a fish!

Perhaps this is Nevil Shute's best; his detail about the cold technicalities of cockpit war activity, set against the depths of an unforgettable love story makes "Pastoral" stand out above anything to be imagined. He just never ceases to surprise his readers!

This is, in my opinion, Nevil Shute's best book, surpassing even such justifiably popular titles as "On the Beach" and "A Town like Alice". With restraint and a simple, moving style Nevil Shute brings out the best in human spirit by telling this story of young people rising to the dangers and challenges of war and prevailing through dedication, comradeship and love. Why is a book like this out of print when bookstore shelves are full of stories about addicts, perverts and criminals? We desperately need more people like Nevil Shte's characters to serve as role models.

I've been a fan of Nevil Shute since seeing and reading On The Beach many years ago. I thought I'd read every one of his books but recently checked my library against a list and found I'd missed Landfall. As with everything he wrote it's a warm, kind human story entwined with the aircraft, ships, and the sea. His technical acumen is always apparent. Just a fine, pleasant read.

I have just reread this book after many years, and it was just as charming and engrossing as the first time. Nevil Shute's work never fails to bring to life the characters and make real the settings, generally of young people trying to make their way in a world fraught with the upheaval of World War II. "Landfall" is a simple story built upon heartfelt emotion and the edginess of danger. It sets the cold technical and strategic details of war against the fumbling confusion of young people trying to find their way through the wilderness of first love. The plot is absorbing and suspenseful, the characters appealing, and the style first rate.

A romantic adventure novel that takes place at the height of world war II. A British air reconnaissance officer persues a local pub waitress, only to have his live upheaved when he accidently bombs a British u-boat, mistaking it for a German sub. A relationship that begins as a romantic fling is suddenly tested by sincere trust and devotation as Mona fights to make the Royal British Navy listen to the evidence she has discovered about this tragedy that may absolve Lt. Chambers. A twisting, spine-bending climax leaves the reader on the edge of their seat as fate almost seperates the two forever. This is a story about the strength of true love and how it can overcome any obstacle ... even a world war.

A romantic adventure novel that takes place at the height of World War II. A British air reconnaissance officer pursues a local pub waitress, only to have his life thrown into chaos when he accidentally bombs a British U-boat, mistaking it for a German sub. A relationship that begins as a romantic fling is suddenly tested by sincere trust and devotion as Mona fights to make the Royal British Navy listen to the evidence she has discovered about this tragedy that may absolve Lt. Chambers. A twisting, spine-bending climax leaves the reader on the edge of their seat as fate almost separates the two forever. This is a story about the strength of true love and how it can overcome any obstacle ... even a world war.

A romantic adventure novel that takes place at the height of World War II. A British air reconnaissance officer pursues a local pub waitress, only to have his life thrown into chaos when he accidentally bombs a British U-boat, mistaking it for a German sub. A relationship that began as a romantic fling is suddenly tested by sincere trust and devotion as Mona fights to make the Royal British Navy listen to the evidence she has discovered about this tragedy that could absolve Lt. Chambers. A twisting, spine-bending climax leaves the reader on the edge of their seat as the lieutenant's attempt to amend his actions nearly separates the two forever. This is a story about the strength of true love and how it can overcome any obstacle ... even a world war.

Before he became a world famous novelist, Nevil Shute Norway started an aircraft company and built it up to over 1,000 staff. This was a company started in 1932 - the Great Depression.

How he did that and the types of issues he faced are fascinating. His thoughts on why he choose possibly inflated figures for some of his company's assets and risked going to jail as a way to obtain financing and prevent the lay off of 500 people during the depression are very memorable.

A great read.

This book is a great read. It's Nevil Shute's non-fictional account of his years as an airplane designer prior to becoming a full time author. Over a third of the book relates his experiences as a junior engineer on the R.100 zeppelin construction project. Led by Barnes Wallis, the R.100 was built as a commercial project, simultaneously with the infamous government-designed R.101 which crashed with much loss of life on it's maiden voyage. This disaster put paid to the R.100 as well as it was never flown again.

After that, he helped found the Airspeed airplane company. His tales of keeping the start-up afloat are reminiscent of many of the dot-coms during recent years.

Shute writes very smoothly, and the book has the feel of a long conversation. If there's a flaw, it's that he doesn't talk much about the other people he met. It would be nice, for example, to see a few sentences on Barnes Wallis, designer of the R.100, the Lancaster bomber, and the dam busting bombs used in WW2.

That said, there's plenty to read here and this is one of those books you can't put down once you start.

This is a fascinating autobiography of the early life of one of Britain's premier aeronautical engineers (and adventure novelists!). Nevil Norway was closely involved in pioneering work in the airship industry (a fascinating technological dead-end) and writes with verve and authority on his experiences of starting his own airplane works (no threat to Boeing!).

However, the story ends with his resignantion from Airspeed (his company) as the clouds of World War 2 are gathering. Shute Norway's later life seems to have been equally adventurous and I would dearly loved to have been able to read of his wartime experiences and his solo flight to Australia in the late 1940's.

Nevertheless, this is a well written and smooth reading work which is as well crafted and entertaining as any of his novels.

Nevil Shute's autobiography is an extraordinary work, and captures the flavor and pace of early aeronautical development, as well as the challenges of trying to gain support for the burgeoning aircraft industry in the early 1920's-late 1930's. As well, it captures the dualism of the industry: the rivalry between proponents of large airships and proponents of airplanes for the future of air transportation. It is best remembered for its frank and merciless critique of the R-100 and R-101 airship programs, and the differences between the "capitalist" R-100 (which worked) and the "socialist" R-101 (which crashed disastrously, killing almost all on board). Shute writes with authority as an insider, and with the grace that characterizes his novels. In addition to this work, I would recommend that readers also read J. P. Morpurgo's biography of Barnes Wallis (entitled simply BARNES WALLIS). Shute worked for Wallis on the R-100, and Morpurgo's book offers its own very useful insights into the great British airship rivalry. As well, readers of this work should read Shute's posthumous novel STEPHEN MORRIS which is itself a surprisingly good work (it was his first attempt at a novel), and which carries on many of the themes he explores in his autobiography SLIDE RULE. In sum, SLIDE RULE belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in the history of flight, and, particularly, anyone involved in the design and development of aircraft for commercial or military purposes. An excellent read!!!

Nevil Shute's gentle and very clever way of telling a story really shines here. This one sneaks up on you as you slowly find yourself caught up in the emotions of the characters, all of whose lives have been forever shaped and scarred by their experiences in WWII. Masterfully told in partial flashback, the mystery of the suicide of a parlourmaid at an Australian sheep station turns out to have profound implications for everyone involved in her life. A deeply moving and haunting novel, Mr. Shute deftly shows us how "Like some infernal monster, still venemous in death, a war can go on killing people for a long time after it's all over."

This is a stunning novel by a master storyteller. Highly recommended.

NOTE: This is also published as 'Requiem For A Wren'

The story of Alan Duncan begins with his homecoming to Coombargana, a sheep farming station in the Western District of Australia. On the day before his return, the trusted parlor maid on the station, of whom his parents were very fond, died in her room unexpectedly; coincidence?

Beginning with the pursuit of a law degree at Oxford University, the years of Alan's absence from family and homeland taught him much, very quickly. Not surprising: he is drawn into the World War-II effort as a fighter pilot, risking all he has in life, just like his younger brother Bill.

Also like his brother, he is attracted to the English girl, Janet Prentice, a WREN on active duty, assigned to maintenance of ordinance used in preparation of the D-Day invasion. The terrible war has left each one with terrible losses, of which the consequences carry the reader through Alan's quest to find Janet in the years that follow its end in 1945.

Janet's friend, Viola Dawson, is Alan's greatest source of information to lead him towards the end of his search but is she successful? Where will he ultimately find Janet in this world where distance both separates and binds together those on opposite sides of the globe?

Nevil Shute is one of the most wondrous storytellers I've ever read. He uses such simple premises, he gives you details you'd never think of, his books are peopled with ordinary people who do extraordinary things. This book begins at the end of WWII and continues through the early 50's. A Leading Wren who loses everyone she loves. A man who searches for her in vain only to find her in a most unusual place when it's too late. Shute uses a most unusual style in telling this story, but he manages to still keep it straightforward and entertaining. What a great read!

The Breaking Wave is set in the aftermath of World War II, the story of a British Wren and an Australian airman. Nevil Shute, as usual, draws one in with his subtle character development and outstanding descriptions. The twist in the way the story is laid out was deftly handled leaving me in awe of the author's skill by the conclusion. The story moved me as few others I have ever read.

"On the Beach" was one of the first novels to describe what the aftermath of a nuclear war would be like, although the genre of post-apocalyptic novels goes back at least to Robert Cromie's "The Crack of Doom" in 1895. Edgar Rice Burroughs's Martians used radium bullets in 1912's "A Princess of Mars" and Upton Sinclair's 1924 novel "The Millennium: A Comedy of the Year 2000" involved atomic weapons. J.B. Priestly's "The Doomsday Men" in 1938 used radioactive material to disrupt the earth's crust. There was a nuclear war in the background of George Orwell's "1984," and the same can be said for the Ray Bradbury collection of short stories, "The Martian Chronicles."

Nevil Shute's "On the Beach" was published in 1957, which was the same year that the Soviets launched Sputnik and Nikita Khrushchev boasted of a super bomb that could melt the polar icecaps. That might explain why this became the most prominent nuclear war novel of the decade, if not for that entire generation. Shute quotes T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men" on the title page with the famous lines "This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper," and indeed the novel is not about surviving the war but awaiting the end of the world. Given what we now know about nuclear winter, Shute's pessimism is actually somewhat understated, but that does not make it any the less disturbing.

"On the Beach" is set in Australia, two years after the war of which all anybody knows is that it put so much radioactive fallout into the atmosphere that there are eight months left before it reaches Down Under, where humanity is making its last stand. Unlike books like "Alas, Babylon" by Pat Frank in 1959, which deal primarily with how people try to keep on living civilized lives in the wake of an all-out nuclear exchange, "On the Beach" is about facing the inevitable end. Jonestown was still a couple of decades away and the story of the mass suicides at Massada was a minor historical footnote, so when the book was published there was nothing to color the horror of a continent of human beings choosing to end their lives with pills rather than succumb to the slow death by radiation poisoning (for that matter, there was not an active cultural debate on euthanasia either). There might not be anything more unrealistic in the novel than the idea that the scientific inevitable of the coming radiation is universally accepted. Yet that is a major factor in creating the depressing nature of the novel.

The focus of the novel is on a group of characters. Scientist John Osborne provides the necessary scientific details while tuning his racing car for the world's last Grand Prix. Peter and Mary Holmes are spending their final days taking care of their baby daughter and planning a garden they will never live to see. Their friend Moira Davidson chooses to sedate herself by constantly drinking, until she meets Dwight Towers, captain of the U.S.S. Scorpion, which makes him the highest ranking officer in what is left of the U.S. Navy. The two are able to provide some comfort for each other, but Towers still heeds the call to duty. When a mysterious message is received, being transmitted from Seattle where it is assumed every one is dead, Towers takes his submarine back to see if there is still reason to hope as time runs out.

Part of the problem with this novel is that most readers come to it after seeing the powerful 1959 film made by director Stanley Kramer, with its haunting use of the song "Waltzin' Matilda" and its insistent warning that "It's Not Too Late, Brother!" Shute's characters are much less compelling on the page and the screenwriters were remarkably faithful to many of the key elements of the novel so you do not really get the sense of reading it to get more of the story. There are those who complain that what little Shute has to saw about the war and its weapons of mass destruction does not make sense, but as was the case with the television movie "The Day After" such concerns are negligible because both narratives need the war to allow them to tell their stories. Paying attention to the details definitely misses the larger picture here.

Ultimately, "On the Beach" is more important historically than it is critically. This is not great literature, but it inspired many of the post-nuclear war novels that followed, such as Peter Bryant's "Two Hours to Doom" (which later became "Dr. Strangelove"), Helen Clarkson's "The Last Day," and John Brunner's "The Brink." If you have to choose between the two, watch the movie rather than read the book. But if you are a student of this genre, then you have to read this book simply because of its impact in this field. It is for that reason that I round up on this one.

The basic story is that Albania sends a plane with another country's markings to bomb the U.S. and we retaliate. However this is not a pacifist (don't build bombs book). This is not a sci-fi book. It could be a speculative fiction or just speculative.

The story begins after the war is completed and radiation is now covering the world. Australia is the last place to be covered. You read how different people are about to meat their end, some with hope, others with reckless abandon. Still there are those like the US sub commander Dwight Towers is loyal to his country to the end by not allowing U.S. property in the end to fall into the hands of the Aussies.

The book was written in the Cold War Era environment. So many people think that it is about countries and war; others think this story is some anti war story. The reality is that it is a study of people meeting a sure end and how they react. Other readers will balk at the actions of the people in this story; yet when they meet the same situation we will see how realistic the characters are. Still others will balk at the predictability of the characters. Still this is how many people get over a crisis by being predictable. It is these characteristics that make this novel timeless. Someone else must think so or they would not have made an updated version for our not too distant future.

I read all of Nevil Shute's books, except this autobiography, at a much earlier time. I've periodically searched for this book for the last twenty years, and now I'm so glad to have read it. It helps to explain why I enjoyed the man's novels so much.

I was aware that Mr. Shute worked in aeronautical engineering, but had no idea he played such an important role in the industry. I had pictured his early engineering work much like his character in "No Highway in the Sky", a task oriented almost 'nerd-like' man with no interest beyond the laboratory. In an age when people seem to do all possible to elevate their public persona it is refreshing to look at a man who possessed humility.

I realize now how Mr. Shute could develop such wonderful characters in his novels, people with a full range of foibles but also the quiet courage that perserveres through struggles. He had his own life and his own dignity to build upon.

The detailed account of the design and transatlantic flight of the dirigible R-100 is the most fascinating part of this book. The description of the pre-computer work of a large roomfull of engineers calculating and recalculating the stresses (iterative calculation) on the framework of the airship is amazing.

jesus is lab oratory rodenta?

yes... in a sense phan

one who thanks wahyeh only for favors received after
being diverted from atheism by malachi constant

krc ups?

ong tall next day

perhaps phan seeminglly

chip?

yes... the puke green chip rob smiling breifly

gentle centurions?

af.cbp erdos shine


?

maybe

preocupation of attention spanning cognition

like trix?

i wouldn't list trix without prionic insomnia diverimento

is classical music they know

pogonip in dictionary


we're equzal on that

you are barber in navy?

genetically at least, by demeanor of ballot box freak.. genetic i suppose

box genetic information... the passing of script by assent in placve or mail


alt.mindcontrol smrc af?

dog already bit your ear off on the pen in the ear...

you fast mf... josh and i wrestle against you if you not
have pens

pencil... not pen


yes... geometry striking the dreadnaught of am strand

dark now

pogonip was a lark to them... then they gd'd ong through ft meade who that

world bank chairman...

we list his credit card numbers, black default... he make
interest on our borrow

and you would pay your own stock exchange back

one hand wash other

"The Legacy" is the American publication title for "A Town Like Alice." This love story takes place during and after WWII, and is set in England, Malaysia, and Australia. The story is told via an interesting use of "flashbacks." The idea for the story was derived, in part, from a true incident involving Dutch women who were taken prisoner by the Japanese. There have been at least two movie versions made of this book. We favor the MasterPiece Theater version starring Bryan Brown.