After they are liberated she emigrates to australia to be with him. A description of tropes appearing in a town like alice. A town like alice by nevil shute, first edition abebooks. A town like alice rape of malaya 1956 rotten tomatoes. Oct 16, 2015 alice in wonderland book club discussion. While the blatant racism mostly in the 3rd act of the book was uncomfortable, the story as a whole was entertaining. A town like alice, more than any other work, reveals shutes feelings about australia. Probably more people have shed tears over the last page of a town like alice than about any other novel in the english language remarkable john ezard. Both tell the story of rather uncomplicated people, setting out to change a corner of the world and succeeding. It has a compelling story set after the war in the 1950s and has all the key elements that make for a great book sorrow, hope, courage and love. Alice, or even the alice, as it is called by the australians, was a comfortable place to live in the middle of the 20th century 1950. From the steamy jungles of malaya to the dusty and desolate outback of australia. Ill throw out a few topics for discussion, and you can write your responses about these topics or anything else youd like to say in the comment section.
Nevil shutes 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. He clearly loved travel and people from all walks of life and cultures. A town like alice is a 1956 british drama film produced by joseph janni and starring virginia mckenna and peter finch that is based on the 1950 novel by nevil shute. Great supplemental information for school essays and projects. Read any nevil shute book you can get your hands on. His most celebrated novels include pied piper 1942, a town like alice 1950, and on the beach 1957.
Feb 09, 2010 during the second world war he joined the royal navy volunteer reserve where he worked on developing secret weapons. A town like alice is a bonza book as one of its main characters, joe hardman of australia, would say about two love stories, two adventures and two remarkable characters inspired by a reallife man and woman who displayed remarkable bravery during wwii. More information about this seller contact this seller 23. Ill not go into the hows of it, you can read the book for yourself, but she starts a small shoe factory in willstown, this leads to an ice cream parlor, which leads to a hairdresser, which leads to a swimming poolrec center etc. About the book a town like alice, a novel written in 1950, is intertwined with romance and economic development.
I think i will be less apprehensive of war time novels, going forward. A town like alice is a novel by the australian author nevil shute. A town like alice 1 is an episode from season 11 of the pbs tv series masterpiece theater in which joe harmon and jean paget fall in love during world war iis japanese occupation of malaya. In alice in wonderland, alice grows and shrinks and nothing quite fits just like life, says one reader. A town like alice is a finely crafted novel that really just tells a story. She tells her solicitor why she wants to do this, and this flashback story of her life as a prisoner of war forms the first part of the book. A town like alice vintage international kindle edition by.
A town like alice most appropriately conforms to the genre of the sociological novel. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading a town like alice vintage international. It takes nevil shute a long time in this novel to get around to the town of alice alice springs actually, and even longer to get around to the town like alice. With helen morse, bryan brown, gordon jackson, dorothy alison. For our virtual book club this month, were talking about what alice forgot by liane moriarty, which i introduced here heres how it works. The film does not follow the whole novel, concluding at the end of part two and truncating or omitting much detail.
After the war he continued to write and settled in australia where he lived until his death in 1960. Ive found the many lists of books on that sight to be a most treasured resource. Nevil shutes most beloved novel, a tale of love and war, follows its enterprising heroine from the malayan jungle during world war ii to the rugged. Its a classic and shock its not on more must read book list. Its amazing story of the strength of women surviving against all odds. A town like alice tells the story of a plucky young englishwoman who becomes a legend in malaya during world war ii, inherits a fortune, marries her true love, and wisely uses her money to transform an australian ghost town into a thriving community.
There is work to be done, but all we want to do is read. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Set against the brutal chaos of world war ii, a love story begins that will take two lovers through a living nightmare of captivity, across three continents and two decades. A town like alice the greatest literature of all time. Discussion and other kinds of academic papers in our essays database at many essays. Shute published alice in 1950, ten years before toolroom in 1960, just before he died at the age of 60 in melbourne, australia. A town like alice aka the legacy tells of a young woman who miraculously survived a wartime japanese death march, and an australian soldier, also a prisoner of war, who offered to help her even at the cost of his life. Also type spoiler when given away a major plot element. It just tells about life, during the war, and how it. The time has come to discuss the fascinating february 20 mobileread book club selection, a town like alice by nevil shute.
People who spent the war in prison camps have written a lot of books. One of my two favorite shute books is a town like alice aka the legacy. Discussion questions for a town like alice by nevil shute galesburg public library tuesday book club november 2006 1. The book was a delightful read, and id suggest it as a perfect summer beach read if you are so inclined. Jean paget, a young englishwoman, becomes romantically interested in a fellow prisoner of world war ii in malaya, and after liberation emigrates to australia to be with him, where she attempts, by. A town like alice 1956 a remarkable movie, completely under everyones radar, about a group of english women in asia during world war ii. Were considering expanding this synopsis into a fulllength study guide to deepen your comprehension of the book and why its important. A town like alice by nevil shute reading guidebook club. Shortly after his first visit, shute decided to move there.
Originally broadvast as 6 x 30 min episodes, the bbc have at some time rebroadcast this as 4 x 45 min episodes. A town like alice is a romance novel by nevil shute, published in 1950 when shute had newly settled in australia. Study questions, project ideas and discussion topics based on important themes running throughout a town like alice by nevil shute. Welcome to book club babble, the site for busy people who love books. Based on nevil shutes international bestselling novel a town like alice. I would never have heard of it if i didnt see it on. They suffer under the hands of the japanese not as prisoners, quite, but as refugees caught between captors. Jun 16, 2015 however, i had never read a town like alice 1950 by nevil shute until a few weeks ago.
I wanted to know where the movie had come from, as books are usually better than movies, and i had forgotten much of the plot. A town like alice by nevil shute summary this study guide includes the following sections. The pace of life and the movement of information was much slower in the middle of the last century. The level and depth of his writing in alice shows that he was indeed learning to draw upon his own experiences to create critically acclaimed works. Set against the brutal nightmare of world war ii, a love story begins that will take two lovers through a living chaos of captivity, across three continents and two. This summary of a town like alice includes a complete plot overview spoilers included. The legacy is a romance novel by nevil shute, published in 1950 when shute had newly settled in australia. Please post the chapter and or page number at the top of your post. Download nevil shutes a town like alice for your kindle, tablet, ipad, pc or mobile. The book portrays a community and how it deals with the changes due to. Of course, that is the basic theme of many of shutes books. A town like alice is narrated by a london attorney, noel strachan. Nevil shutes 1950 novel tells the story of jean paget as a prisoner of war in malaya during world. The discussion will begin on november 1, 2011 where.
Nevil shute writes every character with quiet kindness and intelligence. A town like alice, nevil shutes novel of the japanese occupation of malaya during world war ii, was first filmed as a theatrical feature in 1956. An example from the book is the australians, whose culture. The building of the new town in australia is only a minor part of a town like alice, just the climax really of a very long story arc. A town like alice by nevil shute and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The book portrays a community and how it deals with the changes due to world conflicts.
Other than the evils of war, there are no villains in this story. A town like alice by nevil shute norway penguin books australia. A town like alice vintage international kindle edition by shute, nevil. A town like alice appears to be a war novel on the surface, being published in 1950, but it was written when he was presumably doing some traveling in southeast asia and australia. Set in both malaysia and then the australian outback, its easy to see why a town like alice is so well known and a classic. Jean paget, an adolescent englishwoman, becomes romantically involved with a fellow wwii prisoner, joe harmon, in malaya now the western portion of malaysia. Like black rain, from last year, a town like alice took me by surprise. A town like alice by nevil shute smart bitches, trashy books. Book club questions for still alice book club babble. Have youdo you have a person like noel in your life.
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