Henry Warren ends up in a hospital in a Northern town ruined by the closure of its shipyard. Moved by the fate of the town’s inhabitants, Warren risks his fortune and reputation to save the shipyard and restore the town.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
Immensely readable Guardian Not only a brilliant fluent storyteller but also an ironic commentator on the world scene Harpers & Queen There is little that Shute does not know about choosing an appealing story and telling it in a gripping way The Times
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Nevil Shute Norway was born on 17 January 1899 in Ealing, London. After attending the Dragon School and Shrewsbury School, he studied Engineering Science at Balliol College, Oxford. He worked as an aeronautical engineer and published his first novel, Marazan, in 1926. In 1931 he married Frances Mary Heaton and they went on to have two daughters. During the Second World War he joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve where he worked on developing secret weapons. After the war he continued to write and settled in Australia where he lived until his death on 12 January 1960. His most celebrated novels include Pied Piper (1942), No Highway (1948), A Town Like Alice (1950) and On the Beach (1957).
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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More About the Author
Nevil Shute Norway was born in 1899 in Ealing, London. He studied Engineering Science at Balliol College, Oxford. Following his childhood passion, he entered the fledgling aircraft industry as an aeronautical engineer working to develop airships and, later, airplanes. In his spare time he began writing and he published his first novel, Marazan, in 1926, using the name Nevil Shute to protect his engineering career. In 1931 he married Frances Mary Heaton and they had two daughters. During the Second World War he joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve where he worked on developing secret weapons. After the war he continued to write and settled in Australia where he lived until his death in 1960. His most celebrated novels include Pied Piper (1942), A Town Like Alice (1950), and On the Beach (1957).
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Shute tackles economic depression,
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This review is from: Ruined City (Hardcover)
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".
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ruined City - Nevil Shute,
A nice satisfying, fast-paced novel with a touch of romance, adventure, heroism, & glimpse into the human side of business. I had read this book as a teen, & remembered it long enough to want to read it again.The book arrived in good time with good packaging & the condition was as described. Thank you!
4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A book that time passed by,
By
This review is from: Ruined City (Hardcover)
...Good use of a rainy day, but the themes of the book are terribly dated. The loose woman with a heart of gold, the unscrupulous card sharp with a heart of gold, and the protagonist, a stock fraudster with a heart of gold. (The demimondaine is of course much more interesting than the official heroine.) On the other hand, it was worth the (low) price for two other great period lines. After the hero returns to the ruined city whose once-idle industry is revived, he glories in the air pollution! It was too clean before! And it's great news when the hero, incarcerated, reduces stress and gains lots of weight!Warning BTW for the politically correct: no f-word, no s-word, but the n-word.... Times do change.
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