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Round the Bend - Nevil Shute
Oct. 23rd, 2010 02:54 pmThanks to Coth for giving me my copy.
"Round the Bend" is a curious book in many ways. To me, it actually has a flavour of science fiction. It's writing about a world very different to mine - the world of my parents.
Technology is very different. Aviation is still taking off. It takes a couple of weeks to travel half-way round the world in a small plane. The world is still a large place and people have very little knowledge of what life is like in other countries.
Racial prejudice is a basic fact of life. The idea of marrying someone of another race is inconceivable - not in the sense that it is terrible, but because you literally would never conceive of doing so. People of non-white races get lower wages as a matter of course, or may be banned totally from working in some places.
Set against this background, what we actually have is a novel about people of different races and faiths working together in harmony. It's the world of aviation pilots and engineers, where the shared fascination with planes leads to respect and friendship.
It's also a world (which reminded me a little of 'Stranger in a Strange Land') where one man can start a new form of religion.
What I like about Shute is that he tells the story. He never rants on (and nor do his characters) about things being good or bad - they live their lives and deal with things as they are. He doesn't try to manipulate the reader.
His characters are seen through the eye of the engineer.
Shute isn't big on description - his characters travel over a large part of Asia, but if you're looking for, say, a detailed description of a Hindu temple, then you won't find it. His character visits a temple and is entertained by it, but that's all you learn. He saves his love for airstrips and engines. The odd thing is that the descriptions of long flights and the navigation checks, etc. don't become boring, rather, they help to set the pace of the novel.
The story is told in the amount of time that is right for it. It doesn't rush through its plot in the way some more modern books do. Shute is not the man for gangland shoot-outs and madcap stunts. His tales are of more ordinary people.
Sometimes, ordinary people achieve the extra-ordinary - while still remaining themselves. This is Shute's strength as a writer.
"Round the Bend" is a curious book in many ways. To me, it actually has a flavour of science fiction. It's writing about a world very different to mine - the world of my parents.
Technology is very different. Aviation is still taking off. It takes a couple of weeks to travel half-way round the world in a small plane. The world is still a large place and people have very little knowledge of what life is like in other countries.
Racial prejudice is a basic fact of life. The idea of marrying someone of another race is inconceivable - not in the sense that it is terrible, but because you literally would never conceive of doing so. People of non-white races get lower wages as a matter of course, or may be banned totally from working in some places.
Set against this background, what we actually have is a novel about people of different races and faiths working together in harmony. It's the world of aviation pilots and engineers, where the shared fascination with planes leads to respect and friendship.
It's also a world (which reminded me a little of 'Stranger in a Strange Land') where one man can start a new form of religion.
What I like about Shute is that he tells the story. He never rants on (and nor do his characters) about things being good or bad - they live their lives and deal with things as they are. He doesn't try to manipulate the reader.
His characters are seen through the eye of the engineer.
Shute isn't big on description - his characters travel over a large part of Asia, but if you're looking for, say, a detailed description of a Hindu temple, then you won't find it. His character visits a temple and is entertained by it, but that's all you learn. He saves his love for airstrips and engines. The odd thing is that the descriptions of long flights and the navigation checks, etc. don't become boring, rather, they help to set the pace of the novel.
The story is told in the amount of time that is right for it. It doesn't rush through its plot in the way some more modern books do. Shute is not the man for gangland shoot-outs and madcap stunts. His tales are of more ordinary people.
Sometimes, ordinary people achieve the extra-ordinary - while still remaining themselves. This is Shute's strength as a writer.
