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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Not bad really, but simply not up to the standards he set with On The Beach, A Town Called Alice and to an extent The Trustee of the Toolroom. Deceptive, as it isnt just a romance , as its a statement of how the war can effect and be effected by the normal aspects of life.
Though it has been many years since I read A Town Like Alice, I think I enjoyed it much more than Pastoral. This is a very quiet, old fashioned story of two young people at a bomber station in WWII. Perhaps a bit blokey, with lots of detail about the planes and fishing. A sweet story, published in 1944 and seemingly very much of that time.
Another of my string of Nevil Shute, World War II love stories. In this one, World War II pilot Peter Marshall leads the most successful bombing crew at his airbase, having survived an unusual number of extremely dangerous missions over Germany. But when he can't convince the WAAF officer of his dreams to marry him, his crew and missions are threatened by his distraction and disappointment. Again, the atmosphere is what grabs me. The characters are pretty stereotyped. My favorite of Shute's is THE PIED PIPER.
I found this novel less compelling than Shute's other works, mainly because it lacked a certain complexity of character and narrative. Shute writes simple books, generally speaking, but this one was just a bit too simple for my liking.
A really enjoyable and easy read. I was finding it difficult to put the book down for the last quarter of the book.
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Intentionally optimistic wartime -- as in set in <i>and</i> written during WWII -- novel, about an RAF pilot and a signals operator who fall gently and realistically in love at their camp outside Oxford. Beyond the well-characterized relationships, which extend to the pilot's crew and other workers in the camp, Shute also delivers some very intense battle scenes.
I dumped my copy of [book:The Moving Toyshop|831916] at a hotel in Inverness in exchange for this; huge upgrade.
I dumped my copy of [book:The Moving Toyshop|831916] at a hotel in Inverness in exchange for this; huge upgrade.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A great book from Nevil Shute. A gentle love story set in WW2. I love the way that Shute portrays his characters. You just get drawn into the story and you find that you can’t put the book down. I have read a lot of Shute’s books but this one I discovered by chance in a second hand book shop. I am glad I did!
I suppose in a way this was a bit silly, but I rather liked it. It was a bit calmer then most of the other stuff I'd been reading. We have a WWII bomber pilot, Peter Marshall. His bomber mates get him interested in fishing. One day, he catches a "big one", a pike. He wants to show it off, but no one is much interested in seeing the amazing fish, except for a young WAAF, Section Officer Gervase Laura Robertson. She's in the signaling corps. She likes the fish, and gets Peter to show her where he caught it. She's a country girl from Yorkshire and likes out doorsy kinds of things. Naturally, she and Peter begin to fall in love, especially after he takes her out one day to see a badger hole...or something.
Well, there are problems, of course, the airmen and WAAFs aren't supposed to consort on base. Then too, Gervase is not sure she could contemplate marriage because she has a job to do helping to defeat the Germans. Peter flies some bombing runs and has some issues with one. And so forth.
As they would have said back in those days, "it's rather a lovely book". It is also a bit silly. The romantic parts are so muted as to be easily missed. Perhaps it's a bit like the Amish romances that appear to be all the rage these days. So we get something like,
Yup, that's what passes for a "sex scene" in this book. 😉 I didn't mind in the least.
Well, there are problems, of course, the airmen and WAAFs aren't supposed to consort on base. Then too, Gervase is not sure she could contemplate marriage because she has a job to do helping to defeat the Germans. Peter flies some bombing runs and has some issues with one. And so forth.
As they would have said back in those days, "it's rather a lovely book". It is also a bit silly. The romantic parts are so muted as to be easily missed. Perhaps it's a bit like the Amish romances that appear to be all the rage these days. So we get something like,
They turned aside presently behind a spinney and exchanged a token of mutual goodwill; presently they came out again a little dishevelled and sat upon a style and smoked a cigarette together before turning back to camp.
Yup, that's what passes for a "sex scene" in this book. 😉 I didn't mind in the least.
I am continually astonished that in every book, Shute creates normal characters, who simply live their lives with integrity, honor, and hard work, and his writing captivates me to the point where I stay up much later than I should in order that I might finish his stories. This was, as is typical of Shute's stories, excellent.