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4.0 out of 5 stars
Shute tackles economic depression, April 4 2000
Synopsis: Henry Warren, wealthy London merchant banker, finds himself incognito in the hospital of a depressed northern English town. During his convalescence, he is confronted with the unhappy state of the town since the local shipyard, its sole industry, closed down five years before. Returning to London, he decides to start up the shipyard again in order to revitalize the town; but the problem is finding the first customer. He is forced to resort to some rather shady deals which could land him in prison if discovered.I am of two minds about this novel. On the one hand, it's classic Shute -- the quiet, competent hero who succeeds through conviction and kindness to others, with the mandatory love story and Shute's characteristic heartwarming plot, enlivened by the ancient "king masquerading as beggar" device. On the other hand, the central plot is a case of the end justifying the means, which I find rather disturbing; and the novel seems to glorify socialism (not without a dig or two at communism) -- though of course this was written in 1938, when socialism seemed a more viable solution. The novel grapples with one of the fundamental economic problems facing our society -- what to do with people whose skills are superseded by changing circumstances -- and though the answer Shute propounds does not seem workable to me, at least he makes you think about the issue. On the whole, this is definitely worth reading, especially if your only experience of Shute is "On the Beach". But you may want to try another of his novels first -- "A Town like Alice", "No Highway", "Trustee from the Toolroom", or "The Chequer Board".
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by Nevil Shute
by Nevil Shute
by Nevil Shute
