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Round the Bend Paperback – January 1, 2000

by
Nevil Shute (Author)
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Nevil Shute (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 59 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 408 pages
  • Publisher: House of Stratus (January 1, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1842322893
  • ISBN-13: 978-1842322895
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,501,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsShute's best, at tale of better living through competence
By Gary M. Greenbaum on July 4, 2002
Format: Paperback
Tom Cutter, tired after World War II and the loss of his wife (he blames himself for her suicide), comes to the Persian Gulf to begin a small-scale aviation business. He throws himself into the business and makes a success of it. The business really takes off after he hires childhood friend Connie Shaklin as chief engineer, and soon after, Connie's sister Nadezna, as his secretary. But Cutter soon notices--Shaklin is giving semi-religious talks as he works, which are attracting attention and support not only from his co-workers, but from the Arab population, as they previously did in Cambodia, and when Shaklin is forced to go to Indonesia, again, he attracts attention and support, somewhat to the confusion of Cutter, who nevertheless is unfailing in his support of Shaklin, who seems to be beginning a religion that crosses religious boundaries.
Shute's most thought provoking of novels, as a new prophet arises in the form of an aviation engineer who adamantly denies he is a prophet, somewhat to the confusion of his friend and his sister.
Even the small characters (a gunrunner who, in seeing Shaklin and his work, is reminded of the small town and church in the Midwest where he grew up, for example) are finely drawn. And Shute often gets rather subtle--Cutter, whose first name is Thomas, three times denies Shaklin's divinity in a talk with the British officer, Captain Morrison.
Beautiful and gentle work by a master storyteller. You will look for villians in vain in this book. His best.
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4.0 out of 5 starsZen and the art of aircraft maintenance
By D. Hicks on November 11, 2000
Format: Hardcover
I'm not entirely sure that there is a "typical" Shute book, but this one is both typical and atypical. It is typical in that it is mostly about post-WWII era aircraft operations, and rather more intense on the aircraft angle than most of his other books. Also, like several of his other books, it pokes about at the meaning of morality.
On the atypical side, "Round the Bend" is somewhat alegorical and "preachy" in the same sense as "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". In fact, I'd be willing to bet that Robert Pirsig read "Round the Bend" before he wrote "Zen".
Folks comfortable with Shute's writing will find that "Round the Bend" has his trademark writing style -- spartan, yet with a delicious amount of descriptive detail, intense, yet without an identifiable climax. As usual, he's not given to plot twists, but rather focuses on the development of human character and the way it plays out under unusual circumstances.
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5.0 out of 5 starsDoing good work can be spiritually fulfilling
By episkyros on March 10, 2000
Format: Hardcover
"Round the Bend" is an adventure book that will take you with the protagonist through the pioneering atmosphere of early aviation, from the daredevil "barnstorming" era through early commercial aviation. In this book, Nevil Shute has a lot to say about the importance of finding your calling and doing good work. Besides eating, drinking, sleeping, and relating to loved ones, work is a fundamental dimension of human life, well captured by Shute in his portrayal of people's motivations, the conventional wisdom, and an encounter with a not-so-conventional attitude toward work in general that has promising implications for story characters and readers alike.
I first read this book at university, in a political theory course that read twentieth-century novels (as well as important essays) as a springboard for discussion of the best way to live in society (the ancient problem of reconciling the One and the Many). This book gives an intriguing vision of how impersonal society at work becomes a dedicated community through devotion to good work. Just as importantly, such devotion is individually enriching: airplane maintenance, and all good work in general is, at a deeper level, soul work.
A truly marvellous, inspirational story.
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5.0 out of 5 starsNeville Shute's philosophy
By Michael T Kennedy VINE VOICE on December 23, 2009
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Every time, almost, I read another Neville Shute novel, I come to the conclusion that it is the best of them all. That can't be true every time, of course, but this time it might be. I may be getting sentimental as I get older; I know that Mr Shute did so. Trustee from the Toolroom was his last novel and was published after his death. It is probably the most sentimental of his books but this one, in a rather different way, is next. The story is of Tom Cutter, a young man who loves aviation from his first contact with it as a boy. He was working as a garage mechanic when a flying circus came to his home town of Southhampton, England. He spends two days helping them with washing the airplanes and, as they are leaving, he asks for a permanent job. They have no spot for him but he travels on his own to their next stop and helps with odd jobs until the owner finally offers him a job for the season as a sort of clown, driving around with another young man in an old Ford while the stunt fliers do mock bombing and strafing. The other young man, a bit older, is named Connie Shaklin and most of the book is about Tom and Connie in their later lives in the airline business in the Near East.

Tom serves in the war, learns to fly but is mostly a ground mechanic. After the war, he gets the idea to buy an old surplus airplane and take it to the Persian Gulf area to haul cargo around for oil companies. He flies to Bahrain and sets up shop in an inactive RAF station. He hires, unusual for an Englishman, all native workers, many of them veterans of the recent war who had served in the British Army. They are content with lower salaries and he can keep his rates low.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 starsseems like every paragraph has a mistake

I've read this book many times and have both a hardback and paperback in my collection. I downloaded this to read on a trip. Read more

Published 4 days ago by xo1rider
5.0 out of 5 starsWhat? You haven't read this yet? What are you waiting for?

This book is a classic. It offers insight into philosophy, religion, and early aeronautics.

Published 6 days ago by R. Healix
4.0 out of 5 starsWell-written.. up to shutes usual standards

Fascinating

Published 17 days ago by Inez Nicholls
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat book. You can see the intent of many ...

Great book. You can see the intent of many different religions are the same. It just the people who screw things up.

Published 22 days ago by Skip391
5.0 out of 5 starsA recommended read.

I enjoy Shute's writing. Although dated, the writing is clear and progresses logically with always a good story. Read more

Published 22 days ago by aesch
1.0 out of 5 starsVery poor unproofed OCR in Kindle Edition.

As others have commented the Kindle edition was produced with OCR with no proofing. There are OCR based errors on just about every page. Read more

Published 25 days ago by J. Cocuzzo
3.0 out of 5 starsBuy another edition--not this one.

This Kindle edition never saw a proofreader or editor--it is full of typos and non-existent words. While the story is very good (not Shute's best), the omnipresent typos made a... Read more

Published 29 days ago by TresCool
3.0 out of 5 starsTypos galore. Many on each page.

I don't know how to rate this. The story is very good but there are so many typos it's difficult to read. How can this happen?
Has anyone heard of proof reading?

Published 1 month ago by Book Worm
5.0 out of 5 starsA classic

One of my favorite books by my favorite author. Also try Trustee From The Toolroom.

Published 1 month ago by Mary Waldman
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Very thoughtful ideas about the workplace.

Published 1 month ago by Carol Anne

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