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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Shute's first published novel, 30 Dec 2007
This was the first of Shute's books to be published - in 1926. The hero is called Philip Stenning and flies for the Rawdon Air Taxi Service, run by a chap called Morris. You'd be forgiven to mix up the earlier Shute novels, as they seem to have a limited number of names going round in various permutations!
It is clear this is an early work. It lacks the beautiful craftsmanship of the later works, where not a word seems out of place and the story can drag your heart along effortlessly. It is a combined flying and detective story, with a minimum of romance; it is faintly reminiscent of a good Eric Ambler, in the gradual fleshing out of the individual by his actions, and his way of talking; but it is totally Shute in its humanity, its occasional glimpse of a sense of decency, and its language and conveying emotions with a short sparse sentence. He uses the tiny details so well, to fill out the personality, to give the feel of emotions with the barest touch. He is an artist, and a thoroughly English writer (I mean this as a compliment, of course!). There is a glimpse of the darkness of young men coming out of the war and feeling at a loss: Stenning in the beginning is well on the way to being an alcoholic. "Dawn.... the hour when one sees things as they really are. I don't count myself as a coward, but I have always been afraid of the dawn." But Stenning finds a purpose, and thereby the story hangs.
It may be an early work, but it is a very satisfying book. Don't start with this one, if you don't know Shute at all (you might start with 'Town like Alice', or 'Round the bend'); but if you know and like Shute, don't overlook these early books. They repay the effort!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marazan, 26 Sep 2009
This book writes about a world that no longer exists. Nevertheless it's very interesting, well written - especially when one considers that it was Nevil Shute's first book
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nevil Shute's first published book, 30 Dec 2007
This was the first of Shute's books to be published - in 1926. The hero is called Philip Stenning and flies for the Rawdon Air Taxi Service, run by a chap called Morris. You'd be forgiven to mix up the earlier Shute novels, as they seem to have a limited number of names going round in various permutations!
It is clear this is an early work. It lacks the beautiful craftsmanship of the later works, where not a word seems out of place and the story can drag your heart along effortlessly. It is a combined flying and detective story, with a minimum of romance; it is faintly reminiscent of a good Eric Ambler, in the gradual fleshing out of the individual by his actions, and his way of talking; but it is totally Shute in its humanity, its occasional glimpse of a sense of decency, and its language and conveying emotions with a short sparse sentence. He uses the tiny details so well, to fill out the personality, to give the feel of emotions with the barest touch. He is an artist, and a thoroughly English writer (I mean this as a compliment, of course!). There is a glimpse of the darkness of young men coming out of the war and feeling at a loss: Stenning in the beginning is well on the way to being an alcoholic. "Dawn.... the hour when one sees things as they really are. I don't count myself as a coward, but I have always been afraid of the dawn." But Stenning finds a purpose, and thereby the story hangs.
It may be an early work, but it is a very satisfying book. Don't start with this one, if you don't know Shute at all (you might start with 'Town like Alice', or 'Round the bend'); but if you know and like Shute, don't overlook these early books. They repay the effort!
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by Nevil Shute
by Nevil Shute
by Nevil Shute
by Nevil Shute
by Nevil Shute
