- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (29 Aug 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140083758
- ISBN-13: 978-0140083750
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 409,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Out Of The Shelter
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Out of the Shelter for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
A 1950s South London schoolboy's summer holiday with his sister in Germany becomes an unforgettable rite of passage.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
The restrictions of a wartime childhood in London and subsequent post-war shortages have done little to enrich Timothy’s early youth. But everything changes when Timothy's glamorous older sister, Kath, invites him to spend the summer at Heidelberg. Kath, who left home long ago to work for the American army, introduces her sixteen year-old brother to a lifestyle that is deliriously fast, furious and extravagant. Dazzled by the indulgent habits of the American forces, but at the same time sensitive to the broken spirits of the German community, Timothy will find that his holiday is an unforgettable rite of passage in more ways than one.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
Almost the first thing he could remember was his mother standing on a stool in the kitchen, piling tins of food into the top cupboard. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Almost the first thing he could remember was his mother standing on a stool in the kitchen, piling tins of food into the top cupboard. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
British writer and critic Lodge's smart and tender novel begins in London during WW2. The narrator, Timothy, is a much-loved child in a middle class home. The voice is intimate and childishly sincere and perfectly suited to Lodge's intentions: sympathetic understanding of a very likable kid. Characters are affectionately but not cloyingly drawn, and bad things happen, too. Eventually Timothy goes to postwar US-occupied Germany to visit his much older sister (in Lodge's actual past, it was an aunt). It's a heady experience. Some of the best Lodgeisms are in this novel: the untrustworthiness of happiness, which he fears is simply "a ripening target for fate;" the meaning of travel; leavetaking and loss; loyalty to home and the known vs. the desire for adventure and newness; the powerful lure of the material world; love and eroticism and their yearned-for occasional convergence.Funny, too. This novel is a gem and a great yarn besides.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"Out of the Shelter" is a gentle story written with a spirit of generosity. I think Lodge has some affection for all his characters, even his villains. Reading this book feels like hearing your favourite uncle telling stories of his boyhood.
For all this, it certainly isn't Lodge's best book. (It originally came out in 1970, his third book.) Bits feel clumsy, lacking in confidence - sometimes there's a bit too much explanation of characters' motivation and transitions between scenes can be jarring. The narration is peculiar in places, as if it was originally written in the first person and then quickly rewritten with an omniscient narrator.
I'd still recommend the book.
Further recommendations: If you're looking to read your first book by Lodge, try 'Changing Places'. If you already love Lodge, this is a great way to continue the affair. You might also like books by Alison Lurie and Wallace Stegner.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I believe that Mr. Lodge was able to capture the redevelopment of Germany through the sensitive eyes of a developing man. The novel's topic is quite extraordinary. Knowing that the novel was one of Mr. Lodge's first works is amazing, as he seem seasoned with his humour and irony. Bravo.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Nostalgic and authentic
The shelter in the title is both the air-raid shelter which Timothy uses in the Second World War and the restrictive yet affectionate home in which he grows up. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Doc Barbara
Out of the Shelter
As always with David Lodge this novel was extremely well written and very enjoyable. His description of a post-war Germany surprised me as so often we hear about Britain but... Read more
Published 12 months ago by OBGood
Thoughtful and engaging
I enjoyed this book very much. It describes the coming of age of a young man against the backdrop of post war Germany. Its moving, funny and thoughtful. Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2008 by P. Hazell
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
