Scan barcode
lwb's review
3.0
Nevil Shute is a wonderful story-teller. Something about his time and tone, perhaps because it was my parents time and tone, holds a special charm for me.
lgpiper's review
4.0
Apparently, this is the first book Nevil Shute wrote. In his introduction, he mentions that he had to write it through three times. It seems pretty similar to vintage Shute, which means that it's a GoodRead, well worth one's time. It has many elements one finds in later Shute books, airplanes, small sailing vessels in the English Channel, and romance that progresses as two people slowly develop a friendship while they are working together to address a problem. It's at once calming and deeply engaging.
In this book, we have an airplane pilot who is a bit wild outside his flying, but quite competent within the flying. He has a crash because his plane was turned around too quickly, and the engine blew out on him. An escaped convict from Dartmoor saves his life. As a consequence, he becomes involved in saving the convict. It seems that the convict has an Italian half brother who is smuggling drugs into England, and the convict has escaped to try to stop the smuggling. After all, in England one doesn't do such things as smuggle drugs. The escaped con also has a female cousin who isn't all that much of a looker, but who is a competent, independent young woman. So naturally, while the pilot works to save the convict, by helping to bring the half brother to justice, he also falls for the cousin, because, after all, looks become ever so much more enchanting once wit and intelligence have had their chance to beguile the senses.
This is really a fun story. Perhaps not my favorite of Shute's works, but I've yet to find a dog among them. Why didn't I discover Nevil Shute earlier?
In this book, we have an airplane pilot who is a bit wild outside his flying, but quite competent within the flying. He has a crash because his plane was turned around too quickly, and the engine blew out on him. An escaped convict from Dartmoor saves his life. As a consequence, he becomes involved in saving the convict. It seems that the convict has an Italian half brother who is smuggling drugs into England, and the convict has escaped to try to stop the smuggling. After all, in England one doesn't do such things as smuggle drugs. The escaped con also has a female cousin who isn't all that much of a looker, but who is a competent, independent young woman. So naturally, while the pilot works to save the convict, by helping to bring the half brother to justice, he also falls for the cousin, because, after all, looks become ever so much more enchanting once wit and intelligence have had their chance to beguile the senses.
This is really a fun story. Perhaps not my favorite of Shute's works, but I've yet to find a dog among them. Why didn't I discover Nevil Shute earlier?
floatsomejetsome's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This story is weird. Significant pieces of the plot just don’t make sense to me. I love the writing and the story kept me engaged, but…
rosseroo's review against another edition
3.0
This debut novel from Shute draws heavily upon his experience as a pilot and sailor in an attempt to create a heavily lacquer of realism for what is more or less a potboiler of a plot. Set in the mid-1920s, the story revolves around Stenning, a WWI pilot who now works for a commercial airline company, ferrying people and planes around England and Europe. One day he crashes badly in a field while flying solo and is rescued by an escaped convict who happens to be hiding out in nearby woods.
Since the guy saved his life, he decides to help him in return, and is soon neck-deep in plans to get the convict out of England on a small boat. Without spoiling the story, this then leads him into even more sinister waters, involving an Italian drug smuggler. To a certain extent, there's a great deal of fun to be had with the idea of the everyman who finds himself in an unusual situation -- very Hitchcockian in that regard. However, the plot leans altogether too heavily on coincidences (for example Stenning has an old Italian flying buddy who just happens to be perfectly placed to help him out.)
If you're prepared to overlook the contrivances, it's a decent little page-turner. Even though it was his first published novel, Shute's already got a keen sense of how to incorporate technical details (here about flying and sailing) in a way that's both interesting and not overwhelming. Probably really only likely to be of interest to fans of Shute.
Since the guy saved his life, he decides to help him in return, and is soon neck-deep in plans to get the convict out of England on a small boat. Without spoiling the story, this then leads him into even more sinister waters, involving an Italian drug smuggler. To a certain extent, there's a great deal of fun to be had with the idea of the everyman who finds himself in an unusual situation -- very Hitchcockian in that regard. However, the plot leans altogether too heavily on coincidences (for example Stenning has an old Italian flying buddy who just happens to be perfectly placed to help him out.)
If you're prepared to overlook the contrivances, it's a decent little page-turner. Even though it was his first published novel, Shute's already got a keen sense of how to incorporate technical details (here about flying and sailing) in a way that's both interesting and not overwhelming. Probably really only likely to be of interest to fans of Shute.
More...