These two related novellas, Stephen Morris and Pilotage, were Nevil Shute’s first works of fiction and drew on his own youthful experiences. Both concern young men obsessed with the early world of aviation. Stephen Morris has just called off his engagement to the girl he loves because he is a penniless graduate with no prospects—but for his dream of building airplanes. Pil ...more

laklak wrote:Currently the "What'cha Reading" thread.

In 1938 Shute writes What Happened To The Corbetts and says HMS Hood is sunk "in a battle as big as (World War One's Battle of) Jutland." To a 1930s audience this was an unthinkable disaster.
In 1941 HMS Hood was sunk by a single shot from the Bismarck.

• Stephen Morris (1923, published 1961) ISBN 1-84232-297-4 (with Pilotage: a young pilot takes on a daring and dangerous mission.
• Pilotage (1924, published 1961): a continuation of "Stephen Morris."
• Marazan (1926) ISBN 1-84232-265-6: a convict rescues a downed pilot who helps him break up a drug ring.
• So Disdained (1928) ISBN 1-84232-294-X: published in the US as The Mysterious Aviator, and written soon after the General Strike of 1926, reflected the debate in British Society about socialism. The principled narrator initially chooses loyalty to a friend who betrayed Britain to Russia, over loyalty to his King and country. The book concludes with the narrator joining forces with Italian Fascists against a group of Russian spies.
• Lonely Road (1932) ISBN 1-84232-261-3: This novel deals with conspiracies and counterconspiracies, and experiments with writing styles.
• Ruined City (1938) ISBN 1-84232-290-7: US title: Kindling. A rich banker revives a town economically with a shipbuilding company through questionable financial dealings. He goes to jail for fraud, but the shipyard revives. Ruined City was distilled from Shute's experiences in trying to set up his own aircraft company.
• What Happened to the Corbetts (1938) ISBN 1-84232-302-4: U.S Title: Ordeal. Foretells the German bombing of Southampton early in WWII.
• An Old Captivity (1940) ISBN 1-84232-275-3: the story of a pilot hired to take aerial photographs of a site in Greenland, who suffers a drug-induced flashback to Viking times.
• Landfall: A Channel Story (1940) ISBN 1-84232-258-3. A young RAF pilot and a British barmaid fall in love. His career suffers a setback when he is thought to have sunk a British submarine in error, but he is vindicated.
• Pied Piper (1942) ISBN 1-84232-278-8. An old man rescues seven children (one of them the niece of a Gestapo officer) from France during the Nazi invasion.
• Most Secret (1942, published 1945) ISBN 1-84232-269-9. Unconventional attacks on German forces during WWII, using a French fishing boat.
• Pastoral (1944) ISBN 1-84232-277-X. Crew relations and love at an airbase in rural surroundings in wartime England.
• Vinland the Good (film script, 1946) ISBN 1-889439-11-8
• The Seafarers (1946–7, published 2002) ISBN 1-889439-32-0. The story of a dashing British naval Lieutenant and a Wren who meet right at the end of the Second World War. Their romance is blighted by differences in social background and economic constraints; in unhappiness each turns to odd jobs in boating circles.[18]
• The Chequer Board (1947) ISBN 1-84232-248-6: A dying man looks up three wartime comrades, one of which sees Burma during Japanese occupation and in its independence period after the war. The novel contains an interesting discussion of racism in the US and in the US Army stationed in Britain: British townsfolk prefer the company of black soldiers.
• No Highway (1948) ISBN 1-84232-273-7. Set in Britain and Canada, an eccentric "boffin" at RAE Farnborough predicts metal fatigue in a new airliner, but is not believed. Interestingly, the Comet failed for just this reason several years later, in 1954.
• A Town Like Alice (1950) ISBN 1-84232-300-8: US title: The Legacy. The hero and heroine meet while both are prisoners of the Japanese in Malaya (now Malaysia). After the war they seek each other out and reunite in a small Australian town that would have no future if not for her plans to turn it into "a town like Alice."
• Round the Bend (1951) ISBN 1-84232-289-3. About a new religion developing around an aircraft mechanic. Shute considered this his best novel. It tackles racism, condemning the White Australia policy.
• The Far Country (1952) ISBN 1-84232-251-6: A young woman travels to Australia. A condemnation of British socialism and the national health service.
• In the Wet (1953) ISBN 1-84232-254-0. An Anglican priest tells the story of an Australian aviator. This embraces a drug-induced flash forward to Britain in the 1980s. The novel criticises British socialism and anti-monarchism democratic sentiment.
• Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Engineer (1954) ISBN 1-84232-291-5; (1964: Ballantine, New York)
• Requiem for a Wren (1955; US title: The Breaking Wave) ISBN 1-84232-286-9. The story of a young British woman who, plagued with guilt after shooting down a plane carrying Polish refugees in World War II, moves to Australia to work anonymously for the parents of her (now deceased) Australian lover, whilst the lover's brother searches for her in Britain. The title echoes William Faulkner's Requiem for a Nun.
• Beyond the Black Stump (1956) ISBN 1-84232-246-X: The ethical standards of an unconventional family living in a remote part of Australia are compared with those of a conventional family living in Oregon.
• On the Beach (1957) ISBN 1-84232-276-1. Shute's best-known novel, is set in Melbourne, whose population is awaiting death from the effects of an atomic war. It was serialised in more than 40 newspapers, and adapted into a 1959 film starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner. In 2007, Gideon Haigh wrote an article in The Monthly arguing that On the Beach is Australia's most important novel: "Most novels of apocalypse posit at least a group of survivors and the semblance of hope. On The Beach allows nothing of the kind."[19][20]
• The Rainbow and the Rose (1958) ISBN 1-84232-283-4: One man's three love stories; narration shifts from the narrator to the main character and back.
• Trustee from the Toolroom (1960) ISBN 1-84232-301-6. Shute's last novel, about the recovery of a lost legacy of diamonds from a wrecked sailboat. Set in Britain, the Pacific Islands and the US northwe

The Nevil Shute Norway Foundation web site is dedicated to the writing, wisdom and philosophy of Nevil Shute Norway. It is a tribute to his skill that more than 55 years after his death, Nevil Shute's works are still enjoyed by so many people around the world.

The Nevil Shute Norway Foundation web site is for, by, and of Nevil Shute readers everywhere. It exists primarily for the exchange of news, opinions, and similar information among readers. Those interested in researching specific aspects of Nevil Shute's life and work will find the site an excellent place to start. It serves as a means of contact with other Shutists, as well as providing much specific Shute related information.

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Fallible wrote:
I am interested to see whether you get through the entirety of The Female Eunuch

On the Beach (1957) ISBN 1-84232-276-1. Shute's best-known novel, is set in Melbourne, whose population is awaiting death from the effects of an atomic war. It was serialised in more than 40 newspapers, and adapted into a 1959 film starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner. In 2007, Gideon Haigh wrote an article in The Monthly arguing that On the Beach is Australia's most important novel: "Most novels of apocalypse posit at least a group of survivors and the semblance of hope. On The Beach allows nothing of the kind."[19][20]