The more one reads about Nevil Shute the more one is fascinated. On the one hand, this author comes out rather bland both as a person and as a writer. No passions run too high. And the reviews keep raving about technical aspects of planes!
However, there is hardly a reader who has not broached the books and remained immune to their charms. Let us continue our sequential look at Nevil Shute's novels:
Shute wrote the first draft of The Seafarers in 1946–47, and rewrote it shortly afterwards, but he apparently put it aside; in 1948 he rewrote it again as Blind Understanding (unpublished), but left that manuscript incomplete. Some of the themes in The Seafarers and Blind Understanding emerged later in Requiem for a Wren, published in 1955
This is another of his books that is not so freely available. There are sites which offer downloads but I am not sure of their credentials. I hope that what I share here will help you decide to take the step of buying the book or choosing to read it some other way. There is, perhaps, a thread running through the works that would make it worth the while to read them all.
A rather comprehensive review highlights another characteristic of Nevil Shute's books
The joy of purposeful work, to be sure, is fundamental to Shute. It underlies not only his own experience as an engineer- novelist with two careers, but also many of his other books, notably RUINED CITY (1938) and ROUND THE BEND (1951). ON THE BEACH (1957) spotlights the power of purposeful work to give meaning to life even when all human life is coming to an end.THE SEAFARERS is shorter than Shute's published novels. It is uncomplicated by the twists, mysteries, and subplots that enrich his other books. But its simple directness is no defect. Shute gives Jean and Donald, or allows them to give themselves, the only paradise worth having: one joint project after another, in their burgeoning business. They pursue, together, a meaningful life. The dignity of the book eloquently crystallizes the dignity possible to a human being.In THE SEAFARERS, Nevil Shute celebrates the tenacity, intelligence, and drive--in Jean, in Donald, in human nature-- that make possible the world of work.
The Chequer Board 'A dying man looks up three wartime comrades, one of which sees Burma during Japanese occupation and in its independence period after the war. The novel contains an interesting discussion of racism in the US and in the US Army stationed in Britain: British townsfolk prefer the company of black soldiers.'- Wikipedia
Here, at least, you have the Amazon preview -
Now comes one which you can access and read - click on the title - and, what is more, you simply must see the film based on it.
No Highway 'Set in Britain and Canada, an eccentric "boffin" at RAE Farnborough predicts metal fatigue in a new airliner, but is not believed.' - Wikipedia
In a nutshell:
It documents the travails of an eccentric and socially inept scientist who struggles to convince his peers that the newly launched aircraft, popularly known as the ‘Reindeer’ are not safe and could crash dramatically in a matter of minutes on account of destruction of the ‘Tail Wing’ that balances the aircraft.
He is ably backed by his boss, Dr. Scott who is passionate about ensuring customer safety.But undoubtedly it is Honey,the ultimate underdog blessed with a precocious daughter, who is the hero. He even attracts the attractions and amours of two beautiful ladies – the ageing actress, Monica Teasdale, and the young conscientious air hostess, Marjorie Corder.
The best part of this book is that there is a brilliant film based on it. The suspense is excellent and the whole experience is well worth the trouble of finding such an old film. You will thank me for it, I promise.
Based on aircraft engineer Nevil Shute's novel No Highway(the film's UK title), the tight yet sensitive script is by an illustrious trio of writers, all Oscar-nominated for different projects: R.C. Sherriff, Oscar Millard, and Alec Coppel. Judging by the novel's summary on Wikipedia, they made sensible changes to the book's final act by dropping mystical elements.
Once again, we find Nevil Shute mentioned for technical reasons:
Although Shute was a talented engineer whose contributions to aviation include such useful innovations as retractable landing gear, he is more widely known for his literary achievements... Although his first novel, Marazan, was published in 1926 he did not turn to writing full-time until the 1940s, and always thought of himself not as an author but as "an engineer who writes books." Many of his novels drew heavily on Shute's own real-life experiences and engineering knowledge: several of his main characters are aviators or engineers, and he predicted the problems of metal fatigue in No Highway(1948), several years before the fledgling commercial airline industry began to encounter it, and the global horrors of nuclear war in On the Beach (1957).
All in all, it's a case where both book and film charm:
a short book about people who are doing theoretical research into aeroplanes for the British government in the late forties and who discover that there’s a potential problem with a plane that’s recently gone into service. It’s a story about science, and engineering, and people who take both seriously, and that makes it more like SF than anything else—also the actual theory of metal fatigue seems very speculative. (Not to mention wrong.) It’s also a sweet romance, of a very typical Shute kind, a character study, and also a tense thriller about planes crashing, or not crashing.
With James Stewart at his usual charming best, the movie will make a wonderful present, especially combined with the novel or audiobook. Yes, in fact, any Nevil Shute would do nicely for me, thank you very much, all wrapped up in cheerful wrapping paper or not.
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