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A Town Like Alice
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I know I have gone on a bit about Neville Shute recently, but I finished
"A Town like Alice" at about midnight last night, and I had forgotten what a bloody good book it is !
Its my 3rd reading of it since I first encountered it when I was 15 in 1968.
It gets better every time ! We lost a good writer when Shute died in 1960. He was only 60 years old and obviously had a few good books left in him, if his last work "Trustee from the Toolroom" is anything to go by. This was published after he died.
I have now read most of his books, although I still have 2 left to go.
I just wish there was more !
"A Town like Alice" at about midnight last night, and I had forgotten what a bloody good book it is !
Its my 3rd reading of it since I first encountered it when I was 15 in 1968.
It gets better every time ! We lost a good writer when Shute died in 1960. He was only 60 years old and obviously had a few good books left in him, if his last work "Trustee from the Toolroom" is anything to go by. This was published after he died.
I have now read most of his books, although I still have 2 left to go.
I just wish there was more !
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I read most of Neville Shute's books as a teenager, I'm nearly 66 now, I think 'On The Beach' was the most profound to me, I still remember the ending where the Heroine commits suicide in her car.
He wrote a lot of stuff, list here
http://
Did you know he was an aeronautical engineer by trade? He worked on the R101 and also worked with Barnes Wallis of bouncing bomb fame.
His real name was Neville Shute Norway , he used his full name as a engineer and an abbreviation as a pen name.
'Trustee from the Toolroom' shows his knowledge of engineering .
He wrote a lot of stuff, list here
http://
Did you know he was an aeronautical engineer by trade? He worked on the R101 and also worked with Barnes Wallis of bouncing bomb fame.
His real name was Neville Shute Norway , he used his full name as a engineer and an abbreviation as a pen name.
'Trustee from the Toolroom' shows his knowledge of engineering .
Tony...Eddie has it right here tonight !
"Trustee" is a slim book, compared to "Alice" Shute was having severe heart problems in the last few months of his life, and its a wonder it got finished at all ! The plot is as Eddie says, but if you are an ex-engineer, like myself, you will enjoy the premise of the book even more....there is a nice little twist in the end, which I won't give away !
Shute is an accomplished author and needs no help in providing images that will explain what he is saying. he developed a deep love of Australia in the 40's and 50's and it shows better in the romantic love affair in "Alice" than any other book he wrote.
Eddie....you are indeed correct about the film....its a pale shadow of the book, like most films made from literary source. In my experience, the original book is always preferable to the film.
My worse experience of a disappointing film being made, from an excellent book is "East of Eden" by Steinbeck. Like most people I guess, I was familiar with the film of the same name, mainly because of its star James Dean. It was OK in its way, and Dean was bloody marvellous of course, but when I then read the book in my early 20's, I realised that the vast majority of the story had been left out by the film-makers.
Anything by Steinbeck is to be recommended as well !
I can recommend other Shute books from his OZ period. Second only to "Alice" is "The Far Country".....and also "In the Wet" , "Requiem for a Wren" and "Beyond the Black Stump"
I run the risk of repeating myself here but I can't recommend Neville Shute too highly.......Not to have "Alice" in a lifetime seems to me a terrible waste of a life !
"Trustee" is a slim book, compared to "Alice" Shute was having severe heart problems in the last few months of his life, and its a wonder it got finished at all ! The plot is as Eddie says, but if you are an ex-engineer, like myself, you will enjoy the premise of the book even more....there is a nice little twist in the end, which I won't give away !
Shute is an accomplished author and needs no help in providing images that will explain what he is saying. he developed a deep love of Australia in the 40's and 50's and it shows better in the romantic love affair in "Alice" than any other book he wrote.
Eddie....you are indeed correct about the film....its a pale shadow of the book, like most films made from literary source. In my experience, the original book is always preferable to the film.
My worse experience of a disappointing film being made, from an excellent book is "East of Eden" by Steinbeck. Like most people I guess, I was familiar with the film of the same name, mainly because of its star James Dean. It was OK in its way, and Dean was bloody marvellous of course, but when I then read the book in my early 20's, I realised that the vast majority of the story had been left out by the film-makers.
Anything by Steinbeck is to be recommended as well !
I can recommend other Shute books from his OZ period. Second only to "Alice" is "The Far Country".....and also "In the Wet" , "Requiem for a Wren" and "Beyond the Black Stump"
I run the risk of repeating myself here but I can't recommend Neville Shute too highly.......Not to have "Alice" in a lifetime seems to me a terrible waste of a life !
I recently read The Far Country having seen you recommend it mikey .Having never read a Neville Shute book I thought I'd give it a whirl .It was a lovely book.I really enjoyed it so may read some more .Funnily enough my late brother's name was Jack and his wife's name is Jane and he emigrated to Australia many years ago !
I loved the books by Howard Spring too and read them all as a girl.
I loved the books by Howard Spring too and read them all as a girl.
Samuraisan....Yes, "Pied Piper" was published in 1942, and accurately portrayed the situation at that time.
What is amazing about Shute's writing, is how he was able to predict the situation at the time. "What Happened to the Corbetts" foretells the German bombing of Southampton early in WWII. and this was written in 1938 !
There are parts of the book where its really quite harrowing, and very realistic indeed. My Mum told me years ago, that when she read it in the 50's, that it was exactly like that during the worst of the Blitz in London....completely terrifying.
For the record, I wasn't able to finish "Marazan"......................his 3rd book
( I think ! ) For me, it just got bogged down in Italy. But don't let that put anybody else off !
I wouldn't be put of by "On the Beach" either. It was written in 1957, and the basic premise of a post-nuclear war world wouldn't have been in any way far-fetched to people back then. The story is entirely plausible, so please, at least, give it a go.
In my local Co-op, there is a second-hand book stall, to help raise money for a local charity. There was a copy of "Fame is the Spur" by Howard Spring and I when I went back for it, it had gone ! I will keep looking.
What is amazing about Shute's writing, is how he was able to predict the situation at the time. "What Happened to the Corbetts" foretells the German bombing of Southampton early in WWII. and this was written in 1938 !
There are parts of the book where its really quite harrowing, and very realistic indeed. My Mum told me years ago, that when she read it in the 50's, that it was exactly like that during the worst of the Blitz in London....completely terrifying.
For the record, I wasn't able to finish "Marazan"......................his 3rd book
( I think ! ) For me, it just got bogged down in Italy. But don't let that put anybody else off !
I wouldn't be put of by "On the Beach" either. It was written in 1957, and the basic premise of a post-nuclear war world wouldn't have been in any way far-fetched to people back then. The story is entirely plausible, so please, at least, give it a go.
In my local Co-op, there is a second-hand book stall, to help raise money for a local charity. There was a copy of "Fame is the Spur" by Howard Spring and I when I went back for it, it had gone ! I will keep looking.
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