A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute (Epub)

Description

Nevil Shute’s most beloved novel, a tale of love and war, follows its enterprising heroine from the Malayan jungle during World War II to the rugged Australian outback.

Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman living in Malaya, is captured by the invading Japanese and forced on a brutal seven-month death march with dozens of other women and children. A few years after the war, Jean is back in England, the nightmare behind her. However, an unexpected inheritance inspires her to return to Malaya to give something back to the villagers who saved her life. Jean travels leads her to a desolate Australian outpost called Willstown, where she finds a challenge that will draw on all the resourcefulness and spirit that carried her through her war-time ordeals.

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Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ I bought this book in paperback form many years ago. It’s great story, very well-written.I have an issue with the electronic version, though.Whenever a contraction for “it would” or any other phrase with “would” as the second word is in the dialog, instead of “it’d”, whomever transcribed the book into eform typed “it’ld”.When referring to money (English or Australian pounds) in numeric form, the transcriber would type ” #2,500 “, instead of ” £2,500 “.Any word that should have an e with an accent mark over it would have a { instead. So, “cafe'” appears as “caf{“.Worst of all, anything that should be in italics, such as a newspaper name, or stressed words in dialog are typed as “_New York Times_” or “I am _so_ glad everyone is alright.”These errors distract the reader from the story far too often, and are really inexcusable from a professional standpoint.

⭐ As others have said, this is a novel that demands re-reading. I read it over 25 years ago, and saw the movie version as well. I had been thinking of it, and ordered it on Kindle, and was immediately (re-)captivated. One thing prevents from me from giving “A Town Like Alice” my 5th star: its casual but noticeable racism. I am astonished, as I reread it, that I had not made note of this aspect the first time, as I am a civil rights movement veteran of the 1960’s. Australian native people and Malay people are dissed throughout the narrative. In one glaring instance, Ms. Paget is able to plan a separate establishment with a black server, so that the white server in her ice cream parlor will not have to cater to aboriginal customers. Read it as the wonderful love story it is, but be aware it is also a cultural artifact of the immediate post-World War II era, with all of its faults with respect to race revealed.

⭐ Your browser does not support HTML5 video. Nevil Shute(Nee: Neville Shute, Nevil Shute Norway) was, in my opinion one of the very best story-tellers writing in English. He wrote 19 novels(published) one play, and an autobiography. He is REVERED in Australia, to where emigrated in the mid ’50s. A Town Like Alice, Trustee From the Toolroom, and In the Wet are my 3 favorites. His ability to create real, 3-dimensional characters was one of his gifts. And, these characters are timeless: In other words the are real because he made them so, and they did not rely on events to make them so. Violence is unavoidable when much of the story takes place during WW II as prisoners of the Japanese, but none of it is gratuitous. The sex, is only hinted at, and I would not hesitate to let a young teenager read the book. Please note, a multi-episode TV series was produced in Australia, and although it departed from the novel, the essentials of the original were retained. I own hard copies of all his books, but got the Kindle version so I could take it with me for rereading, which I do at reular intervals.This is not Robert Ludlum, but storytelling at its highest level.

⭐ This is the third or fourth time I’ve read or listened to –book on tape and well worthwhile for the accents– Nevil Shute’s master work, A Town Like Alice. Except that the casual racism is more obnoxious, I’ve loved the book every encounter. It contains traces of Shute’s idiosyncratic world view which gets more fully developed in In The Wet and since I don’t like that Ayn Rand knockoff philosophy, traces are sufficient. He earns his keep by the unforgettable portraits he draws. A very powerful book, though I think Pastoral may be his best.

⭐ Nevil Shute tells this heartbreaking and also heartwarming story with both engagement and detachment. Sounds contradictory? It really isn’t. It’s the little-known story of the British women living in Malaysia who were rounded up after their husbands had been taken to labor camps and marched from one end of the peninsula to the other – since their guards had no specific directives and no camps for women had been established. Many died but about half survived thanks to the ingenuity of one of the women. A chance meeting with an Australian prisoner of war led her to travel and settle in Australia after the war was over – and she proceeded to use her talents for entrepreneurship to realize her – and many others’ dream of living in “a town like Alice.”

⭐ I first read this novel when I was in high school (over 50 years ago) and have reread it three times since. At each stage in my life I appreciate different things about the book. Nevil Shute is (was) a marvelous author with a talent for creating characters you really care about. I have read all of his books over the years but this one will always be my favorite. I do think though that the cover art on this edition is awful. The hero of this novel is a strong resourceful survivor and this picture makes her look like a wimp. Just my opinion.

⭐ Shute tells the story of English women and children in Malaya captured in WWII. Japanese captors had no idea what to do with women prisoners so they were sent under guard walking around the island in vain hopes of finding a women’s prison camp. No such camp existed. After the last guard had died of fever, the surviving women found a friendly village that would let them stay as long as they worked in the rice paddies. After the war, they were rescued and taken back to England.This is a work of fiction but based on the actual events that took place on Sumatra. Half the women and children died on the road from starvation, Malaria, disentery, and tropical diseases and infections. Well worth reading: makes you wonder if one could have survived this. There is also a DVD available which closely follows the book.

⭐ I was truly captivated by the story of Jean’s journey—from her beginnings with her family to her time as a prisoner of war and then on to Australia. She was quite a woman. I don’t think the story is true, but it sure seemed like it could have been, and the way it was written made it seem like a true account. The writing was superb, and the story kept my interest from the beginning. This was my first book by this author, and I would certainly read another.

⭐ What a good story! About a very forward and modern thinking woman! But also one of very good character and moral values. She works within her knowledge and within the social confines to improve the town and the lives of the people there. I also loved that it was written so long ago, that it have me insight into what was the norm both socially, and environmentally. The characters were well developed and likable.

⭐ Good story, well told. Moves along at a good pace and very enjoyable to read. However, Kindle users beware! If you buy the book using your Kindle, you’re likely to get a 100 page “child’s” book that tells the abbreviated story in a 2-dimensional style. Go online and be sure you’re buying the 300 page version.

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