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Pied Piper Paperback – July, 2002

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Nevil Shute (Author)
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Nevil Shute (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 136 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 282 pages
  • Publisher: House of Stratus (July 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1842322788
  • ISBN-13: 978-1842322789
  • Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (136 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,447,356 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsRemarkable
By James P. Hunt on April 26, 2003
Format: Paperback
In college I went to a used book store to buy Shute's "On the Beach". They didn't have it, so I bought "Pied Piper" as a consolation. I've read it three times since. Tremendous novel. An aeronautical engineer by training, Shute was a gifted storyteller and writer. Piper is well paced, has many stories within the story of bringing the children back to England - a man coping with old age, feelings of uselessness, the loss of a son; the formation of a deep friendship with the woman his son left behind, and so forth. Shute hits on the timeless themes of courage, fortitude, self-sacrifice, forgiveness etc. without ever coming close to being maudlin. There are no unnecessary speeches from men standing on a hilltop talking about "what it's all for". As John Howard says, while in custody, to the German officer who tells him he must be a very brave man, "No, not a brave man. Just a very old one."
For the record, I think it was made into a movie twice. Once with Monty Wooley playing Howard and then again for television - mid eighties, perhaps - with Peter O'Toole playing the role. Still, as the story is so marvelous, it should be done again for the big screen. Considering Anthony Hopkins's performance in "The Remains of the Day" (which was superior to the entertaining but far less nuanced Hannibal Lecter), I think he would be perfect to play Howard, putting the perfect cap on his career.
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5.0 out of 5 starssubtly gripping
By A Customer on January 25, 2002
Format: Audio Cassette
Nevil Shute's love of humanity and storytelling ability are displayed at their best in this deceptively slow-starting tale of escape from the Nazis in early World War II. An elderly Englishman becomes the improbable -- but utterly believable -- guardian of a group of children trying to reach England from France ahead of the advancing Germans.
There are no wild action scenes, no gunshots in the night, none of the trappings of the contemporary suspense novel. But there is tension in large doses as Shute draws the reader in to his tale with careful portraits of ordinary people doing extraordinary things because they simply have no choice. Even minor characters come alive with Shute's vivid writing. All in all, this is one of the most satisfying books I have ever read.
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5.0 out of 5 starsGreat Book and Wonderful Movie
By C. A. Luster on April 6, 2005
Format: Paperback
Nevil Shute describes the surroundings and characters with such detail it is hard not to see exactly what he wants the reader to imagine. Unlike any other book I have read, I was entranced. I have always been intriqued by stories about WWII, and this is a good one. When elderly Englishman takes a holiday in France trying to get over his sons death, he finds himself the leader of a band of children trying to escape the German invasion.

I was amazed that the movie has not been put on VHS or DVD. The movie follows the book fairly closely. Monty Woolley plays the elderly man, and Roddy McDowall and Anne Baxter play two of the children. Otto Preminger is a German Major. Made in 1942 it is both dramatic and comedic. I highly recommend you try to catch it on TV.
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5.0 out of 5 starsStill a Page Turner!
By F. S. L'hoir VINE VOICE on September 2, 2007
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I first read this book as a child when, identifying with the children who could have been my compeers, I saw the movie at least five times. I loved the book then, and I love it now. The story is simply told, from the point of view of an elderly Englishman, whom we first meet in his London club during the Blitz. Too exhausted to move to a shelter, he begins to tell his tale to a stranger, who has also decided to sit out the raid, while the Luftwaffe's incendiary bombs fall closer and closer. The old man's story unfolds slowly as tells of a fishing holiday in the Jura--the mountains that border France and Switzerland--in the early months of 1939. The story may, in fact, unfold a bit too slowly for some modern readers who have been exposed to the terse squibs that proliferate novels nowadays, but Nevil Shute is such a skillful storyteller that he draws the reader almost unawares into the narrative, rather in the manner of an expert angler reeling in his fish.

Even though I know the story well, I could not put the book down until the very end. I was, after all these years, inextricably hooked.
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5.0 out of 5 starsUnforgettable!
By Dora Rettig on February 2, 2004
Format: Paperback
Nevil Shute wrote stories about regular people thrown into extraordinary circumstances. He doesn't seem to attract much attention in college literature classes, perhaps because he writes about ordinary people. It's a shame because every book of Shute's is a great read. His characters will remain with you long after you've read the book. This tale of a grieving father who became a true hero is one of his best.
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4.0 out of 5 starsthoughtful, human look at war
By jacob nordby on August 10, 2000
Format: Hardcover
I was so taken by the humanity and love shown by the old man in Pied Piper. He accepted the children as they came--his own kin, the urchins, the abandoned German child... I also liked the realism in the book. War was horrible. It struck the good, the bad, guilty and innocent. The grandfather figure did his best to shield the children from unnecessarily awful realities and explained those he couldn't.
You should read this. I hope they reprint, but if not, your local library will have it.
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4.0 out of 5 starsA great propaganda classic
By reader 451 on August 10, 2011
Format: Paperback
Pied Piper offers relief from what I find are increasingly monotonous contemporary novels. Tired of ostentatious similes, twenty to a page? Not in the mood for multiple voices, all ending up sounding the same? Hoping to see children portrayed as children, not disguised adults only designed to prove the writer's dexterity? This novel, written clearly and elegantly, is for you. If for once we have a historical novel about WWII that rings true, it is because it was written during WWII, 1942 specifically.

Shute's classic takes an English pensioner on a fishing holiday in France in 1940 and has him struggle his way back through the defeated country. To make things more difficult, the old gentleman, Howard, finds himself responsible for a disparate group of young children, all victims to the exodus: the panicked, mass flight from the advancing German armies that took place in May and June of that year. By train, by bus, on foot, forced to the slow pace their respective ages dictate, Howard and his wards become increasingly desperate to make it to the coast. Yes, this is propaganda literature: what else could it be at the date of writing? But it is subtle and human propaganda, eschewing for example the stereotypes of German brute and traitorous French. This is an honest novel, able to portray the drama of war without resorting to violence and gore. It is also a deeply felt book, full of understated emotion. The tale, following an old-fashioned narrative format, is told from a London club two years later, so that one knows from the outset that our protagonist will escape, and yet the story needs no cheap thrills to engross its reader until the end. Pier Piper well deserves having been put back in print.

One last comment.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsThoroughly British, thoroughly enjoyable!

Neville Shuts is the author of one of my favorite novels A Town Called Alice. I had not realized he had written quite a few more novels. Read more

Published 9 days ago by Cynthia
5.0 out of 5 starsNevil Shute at his best

A beautifully written story. The only real violence in the story is that of the war and plays an important part in the plot; the real story is of an heroic old English gentleman... Read more

Published 18 days ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsWonderful Older Books by Nevil Shute

Nevil Shute was my favorite author when I found him in the library because I could reach that shelf. Amazing way to find a book but that was my childhood.

Published 1 month ago by OnMyHappyFeet
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Excellent book, as are all Nevil Shute books

Published 1 month ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

excellent book, a page turner. well written and a very good story.

Published 1 month ago by Barbara Iannuccilli
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

I like the way he writes. A Town like Alice is one of my favorite books

Published 2 months ago by GdHud
5.0 out of 5 starsThis was a re-read for me, and I enjoyed every word of it AGAIN.

Seventy-year-old Mr. Howard has just lost his son during the very early part of World War II. He is desperately sad and decides that he must get away from his native England for a... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Linda Miller
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Loved it moving and historical

Published 3 months ago by Laurie Dickinson
5.0 out of 5 starsA jem from a master story teller

Trustee from a Toolroom is my all time favorite, but this book is a treasure also. What a pleasure to dip into the mind of this writer and experience his humanity and craft.

Published 3 months ago by anon1
5.0 out of 5 starsRead this book on the recommendation of a friend who's ...

Read this book on the recommendation of a friend who's a voracious reader, high school English teacher and published author. Read more

Published 3 months ago by daw

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