** spoiler alert ** "Like some infernal monster, still venomous in death, a war can go on killing people for a long time after it's all over." Nevil Shute, Requieum for a Wren

Someone left their entire collection of Nevil Shute paperbacks at my local used bookstore and based on my mom's love for A Town Called Alice and his other famous title, On the Beach, I've been making my way through the stack.

This was the third I've read...A Town Called Alice and Beyond the Black Stump were the first two.

I'm enjoying Shute and I believe this crazy patchwork of a story may be my favorite thus far.

Spoilers ahead!

This is the story of two brothers from Australia and a Wren of the Royal Navy. One brother, Bill, falls in love with the Wren but he is killed shortly before D-Day. Alan, a pilot, loses both feet during the war. He spends the next decade wandering, finishing his education, and looking for the Wren before returning home to his family's sheep farm. It is when he arrives home, an itinerant worker has recently committed suicide, which leads him to unravel the mystery of the Wren, and find his own peace

Things I liked about this story:
* I love a good WWII story--this one includes on-the-ground preparation for D-Day. This part was a bit slow for me, but I kept thinking of all the men in my life who love this kind of sh*t so I kept at it.
* The Wren, Janet Prentice, is a strong female character and a kick-ass shot. The story follows her spiral into mental illness and the scars of war in a tactful and meaningful way.
* Veterans with physical and mental disabilities are the heroes and they are treated with respect (see Annie Carl's Work, My Tropey Life: How Pop Culture Stereotypes Make Disabled Lives Harder).
* The story isn't straightforward, a bit messy, but I like that in a book. I thought Shute did a good job of weaving past and present through the use of memory, Alan's detective, and diary entries.
* I like reading about Australia as evidenced by the fact that I also read Jane Harper's The Lost Man.

My Current Ranking of Nevil Shute's Works:
1. Requiem for a Wren
2. A Town Called Alice
3. Beyond the Black Stump ( )

Another good one from this author who did A Town like Alice and On the Beach but who passed away a long time ago (1960). Ironic tale of capable English girl who lost her wartime fiancee and ends up in Australia. Sad but very readable but old-fashioned I suppose. ( )

Like some infernal monster, still venomous in death, a war can go on killing people for a long time after it’s all over.

The inimitable Nevil Shute has an impressive resume as both a writer and an aeronautical engineer. His intelligence shows in his writing, his attention to detail, his understanding of the mechanics of war, and his knowledge of wartime operations. But what makes him a great writer is his ability to tap the souls of his characters, breath life into them, and imbue them with all the heroism and weaknesses that war can reveal.

Alan and Bill Duncan are Aussie boys, raised on the sheep station of Goombargana, and sent off to fight for England in World War II. Janet Prentice is the feisty and capable Wren who falls in love with Bill. The way these three lives wrap around one another unfolds like a Shakespearean tragedy. If you make it to the last page dry-eyed, you are a stronger person than I am.

The story is about the war and, of course, the effect it has on everyone involved, but it is also about the capricious nature of chance, the tricks of fate, the small misses in life that separate misery from happiness and failure from success. I could not help thinking Shute must have seen life and love vanish from him like a wisp of smoke at sometime in his own life in order to portray so perfectly what that kind of mercuriality would feel like. Not one of the lives we see play out in this book would have been the same had there been no war, but would they have been better or easier? Those who go to war will tell you they never felt so alive as when they were so threatened with death.

I love Shute. Everything I have read of his has been better than the 5-stars I was allowed to give it. I had not intended to read this right now, having just read Pied Piper, but Bob convinced me it would be stupid to push this off so that I could read something I could not be assured would be as satisfying.

My conclusion: I am going to let my friend, Bob, pick all my books from now on.
( )

A rich and complicated story...with a rather awkward ending. Jessie/Janet's suicide is the result of a lot of things, some of which Alan manages to ferret out while looking for her after his brother's death in WWII. Alan, Bill, and Janet all served in England and served with distinction; Bill died in the runup to D-Day, Alan was badly wounded shortly afterward, and Janet...disappeared. I was really angry at her officers for the scolding she got for shooting down the enemy plane - that was the start of the chain that ended in her suicide. And there were so many times that she only barely missed finding someone who could have helped her, pulled her out of her inward spiral...I ended feeling that it was such a _waste_ of someone who could have been someone amazing. But Alan's solution...If I were Viola I'd kick him out. Talk about being second choice. The book ends without giving her answer, or even how he asks - but he'd have to have an amazing line to get past the fact that he's only asking her because Janet is dead. Hmph. As usual with Shute, the characters, even the minor ones, are rich and dense and feel like real people - they're going to be living in my mind for quite a while. And the details of the war were fascinating. - I didn't know anything about the petrol pipes under the Channel, for instance. And the philosophical bits about the meaning of war to those who'd lived through it have some interesting angles on today. The usual amazing story from Shute. ( )

Greatly enjoyed reading this novel, my copy inherited from an uncle, so I picked it up to read for no other reason than he had kept it. The book left a strong atmosphere hanging over me long after I'd reached the last page. As a child I lived in Hampshire, so was brought up with stories of the local preparations for the D-Day landings. This book brings the events to life, the tragedies of the individual victims of world events. ( )