No Highway

Rating:
Summary: Help
Review: ...after all, this is an age of cynicism. It's the story of nerdy scientist Theodore Honey (the British term of that time was "boffin"--it specifically targeted scentists) who discovers a potentially deadly flaw in a new airliner. The problem is that nobody but his boss Dr. Scott (from whose viewpoint this story is told) has any faith in his theory. After all, oddballs don't have very high credibility factors. So Scott sends Honey over to Canada to investigate a recent crash of one of those planes, only to have it turn out that the plane he takes is also one of that model. Which makes for a particularly gripping scene--it's the centerpiece of the James Stewart movie based on this book. Other important characters here are Honey's motherless daughter, an actress he's a fan of who's also on the flight--he reminds her of an old friend she knew before she became famous, the plane's captain who is increasingly unsure that Honey is a crackpot, plus a stewardess who not only shares her captain's point of view--but finds Honey strangely compelling in an even more important way. Nowadays you don't often find this human a story in so short a book. Shute's best known book is "On The Beach".

Rating:
Summary: An uplifting story that may seem trite these days...
Review: ...after all, this is an age of cynicism. It's the story of nerdy scientist Theodore Honey (the British term of that time was "boffin"--it specifically targeted scentists) who discovers a potentially deadly flaw in a new airliner. The problem is that nobody but his boss Dr. Scott (from whose viewpoint this story is told) has any faith in his theory. After all, oddballs don't have very high credibility factors. So Scott sends Honey over to Canada to investigate a recent crash of one of those planes, only to have it turn out that the plane he takes is also one of that model. Which makes for a particularly gripping scene--it's the centerpiece of the James Stewart movie based on this book. Other important characters here are Honey's motherless daughter, an actress he's a fan of who's also on the flight--he reminds her of an old friend she knew before she became famous, the plane's captain who is increasingly unsure that Honey is a crackpot, plus a stewardess who not only shares her captain's point of view--but finds Honey strangely compelling in an even more important way. Nowadays you don't often find this human a story in so short a book. Shute's best known book is "On The Beach".

Rating:
Summary: Help
Review: All i need is to read someone elses review on No Highway.

Rating:
Summary: A good tale, but not Shute at his best
Review: Nevil Shute writes a good, technically-sound tale of the perils of aircraft design in the immediate post-war era. His material is therefore dated -- yet because it is so obviously dated it has a charm that is difficult to fault.

Memorable characters: you probably know people who are like the protagonists. Memorable plot. Written from the viewpoint of a semi-detached observer, though one with a keen stake in the outcome.

The ending was a little disappointing, with a literal "deus ex machina" providing the solution to a really knotty problem -- perhaps it was feasible in the forties, but certainly wouldn't work today. But don't let this keep you from reading the book: it's a good tale that deserves dusting-off.

Rating:
Summary: A good tale, but not Shute at his best
Review: Nevil Shute writes a good, technically-sound tale of the perils of aircraft design in the immediate post-war era. His material is therefore dated -- yet because it is so obviously dated it has a charm that is difficult to fault.

Memorable characters: you probably know people who are like the protagonists. Memorable plot. Written from the viewpoint of a semi-detached observer, though one with a keen stake in the outcome.

The ending was a little disappointing, with a literal "deus ex machina" providing the solution to a really knotty problem -- perhaps it was feasible in the forties, but certainly wouldn't work today. But don't let this keep you from reading the book: it's a good tale that deserves dusting-off.

Rating:
Summary: A good read, except if you're on an airplane.
Review: This is one book that is fun to read if you've seen the James Stewart movie about a scientist who believes a new type of airplane has a basic defect and will crash after so many hours in the air.Visualizing the well-cast actors as you read makes the book more interesting. The plot is well laid out and even though you know basically that the hero will be vindicated in his beliefs, it keeps your interest to the end.

Rating:
Summary: The technology is dated--the story isn't.
Review: When Dr. Theodore Honey, a boffin of an aviation scientist, predicts that the wings on a new type of aircraft will begin falling off, he is sent across to Canada to investigate a previous crash. Bad choice--he is so unimpressive that when he learns that the aircraft he is on has already exceeded his estimated time to failure, he can only stop the flight by wrecking it when it stops to refuel at Gander. Almost everyone believes he's crazy except for a few--including the assistant director at his place of work, a stewardess, and a movie actress.

Shute is at his best in his characterizations--such as Monica Teasdale the fading American movie actress, who falls in love with Honey as she once did with a man before she became famous. She soon realizes she can never have Honey and must step aside for the stewardess, who can give him children and maintain him in his work, as well as give him love. The details are amusing--the actress, from Indiana, uses the word "hoosier" to the mystification of the British characters

As in most of Shute's books, there are no villians. The fact that many of the characters are working against each other does not make any of them evil, and when the truth is revealed, they quickly begin to work together.

For the information of readers, the book made a fairly poor movie starring (I kid you not), Jimmy Stewart as Honey. But as so few of Shute's books were made into movies, it is worth watching for that reason.

Rating:
Summary: The technology is dated--the story isn't.
Review: When Dr. Theodore Honey, a boffin of an aviation scientist, predicts that the wings on a new type of aircraft will begin falling off, he is sent across to Canada to investigate a previous crash. Bad choice--he is so unimpressive that when he learns that the aircraft he is on has already exceeded his estimated time to failure, he can only stop the flight by wrecking it when it stops to refuel at Gander. Almost everyone believes he's crazy except for a few--including the assistant director at his place of work, a stewardess, and a movie actress.

Shute is at his best in his characterizations--such as Monica Teasdale the fading American movie actress, who falls in love with Honey as she once did with a man before she became famous. She soon realizes she can never have Honey and must step aside for the stewardess, who can give him children and maintain him in his work, as well as give him love. The details are amusing--the actress, from Indiana, uses the word "hoosier" to the mystification of the British characters

As in most of Shute's books, there are no villians. The fact that many of the characters are working against each other does not make any of them evil, and when the truth is revealed, they quickly begin to work together.

For the information of readers, the book made a fairly poor movie starring (I kid you not), Jimmy Stewart as Honey. But as so few of Shute's books were made into movies, it is worth watching for that reason.