Random Harvest is a novel written by James Hilton, first published in 1941. The novel was immensely popular, placing second on The New York Times list of bestselling novels for the year. The novel was successfully adapted into a film of the same name in 1942 and nominated for the Academy Award.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An ending to take your breath away,
By
This review is from: Random Harvest (Tr, Reissue) (Paperback)
This completes the trilogy of classic James Hilton novels (the other two being "Lost Horizon" and "Goodbye Mr. Chips") which were all made into movies during Hollywood's Golden Era. It is the lesser known of the three novels, although Random Harvest is his most complete work.The story is a romance, a mystery, a critque on England's class structure, and a parable. Hilton uses the lost years of Charles Rainier as a methaphor for the lost years of the 1920/1930's when England failed to prepare for the next war. Told in flashbacks and bookended by World War I and World War II, the resolution is only revealed in its final sentence that will shock you and change everything that you have just read & thought you understood. You will go back and re-read the book as your perception of all the characters are altered by the surprise ending. Two cautions: First, see the 1942 Ronald Coleman/ Greer Garson movie AFTER reading the book to see how the ending is handled. Second, the opening few pages are set in an England and of a time that will be unfamiliar to most Americans, but if one continues on, the reader will be deeply rewarded. The ability to be surprised is a rare gift and Hilton delivers.
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful story of loss, longing and fulfillment,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Random Harvest (Tr, Reissue) (Paperback)
I had first seen the wonderfully sentimental movie, which is one of my favorites.The book is not so sentimental. In reading the book, I was unprepared for how well-depicted would be the pain of the protagonist's psychological plight, how thought-provoking this book would be about society, and how much an individual could realistically be shown to be at a loss - no matter his external circumstances. This is very much about someone who senses that once his life had meaning to him, and he had happily occupied a niche in the world - and can't rediscover it. The author is so wonderful in conveying this desperation. Mr. Hilton also wonderfully conveys the highs and lows of both the well-born establishment, and the utterly displaced, of inter-war England. And amazingly, he brilliantly evokes the wonderfully dreamy feeling of being in love. The scenes in which Smitty finds the small town, climbs up to the small lake in the hills, what he sees when he awakens, and the following several days, must be among the most moving in fiction. I also love how the author shows the differences in personality between the earnest, sweet, easily alarmed, humble Smitty and the somewhat cynical, immensely able, practical-joking, self-deprecating Rainier - much of the difference seems engendered by the way they're treated and their places in life. I love how subtly the author shows Mrs. Rainier's reaction to Rainier's discoveries - it's just brilliantly done. And the book's ending could not be more satisfying. This is a more thought-provoking book than Goodbye Mr. Chips - and as much as I enjoyed that, this is a better one. I loved this as much as Hilton's So Well Remembered - which is high praise.
36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic romantic tear-jerker,
By
This review is from: Random Harvest (Tr, Reissue) (Paperback)
An exquisite wartime romance that bears a few resemblances to The English Patient, James Hilton's time-spinning tale is the type of book that grabs you in its first paragraph and leaves you breathless with its last sentence. Just make sure you don't see the wonderful, more straightforward Ronald Colman-Greer Garson film version first. The heartstopping plot twist at the end makes everything that goes before even more magical. Random Harvest is one of those books that you'll read and re-read for many years; I know I have, three times already.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence:
ON THE morning of the eleventh of November, 1937, precisely at eleven o'clock, some well-meaning busy-body consulted his watch and loudly announced the hour, with the result that all of us in the dining car felt constrained to put aside drinks and newspaper and spend the two minutes' silence in rather embarrassed stares at one another or out of the window. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
park seat Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Uncle Charles, Miss Hobbs, Beachings Over, Armistice Day, Miss Ponsonby, Salute the Flag, Uncle Chet, Crosby Magna, Fleet Street, House of Commons, New Year, West End, Roland Turner, Stock Exchange, Thomas Atwill, Vale Street, Berty Lowe, Charles Rainier, League of Nations, Rupert Brooke, Smoke Room, West Lythamshire, Baker Street, Balos Blanca, General Strike New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
ON THE morning of the eleventh of November, 1937, precisely at eleven o'clock, some well-meaning busy-body consulted his watch and loudly announced the hour, with the result that all of us in the dining car felt constrained to put aside drinks and newspaper and spend the two minutes' silence in rather embarrassed stares at one another or out of the window. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
park seat Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Uncle Charles, Miss Hobbs, Beachings Over, Armistice Day, Miss Ponsonby, Salute the Flag, Uncle Chet, Crosby Magna, Fleet Street, House of Commons, New Year, West End, Roland Turner, Stock Exchange, Thomas Atwill, Vale Street, Berty Lowe, Charles Rainier, League of Nations, Rupert Brooke, Smoke Room, West Lythamshire, Baker Street, Balos Blanca, General Strike New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 15
books:
See all 15 books this book cites
19
books
cite this book:
See all 19 books citing this book
- Ill Wind by James Hilton in Front Matter
- So Well Remembered by James Hilton in Front Matter
- The Constitutional History of England (Classics of British Historical Literature) by William Stubbs on page 90
- The Museum: Behind the Scenes at the British Museum by Rupert Smith on page 137
- The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 7 by Edward Gibbon on page 15
See all 15 books this book cites
- Novel to Film: An Introduction to the Theory of Adaptation by Brian McFarlane on 11 pages
- The Woman Who Pretended to Be Who She Was: Myths of Self-Imitation by Wendy Doniger on 6 pages
- Letters Home by Brian; Johnston, Barry (editor) Johnston on page 267, and page 269
- Lost Horizon: A Novel by James Hilton in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Bestsellers: Popular Fiction Since 1900 by Clive Bloom on page 153, and page 155
See all 19 books citing this book
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
