276°
Posted 20 hours ago

Requiem for a Wren

£4.995£9.99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

All of this plays into Shute's story and is worked beautifully into a story of love, war, regret and family. While the author pulls no punches, he does not dramatize, he tells it like it was, laying bare the hearts of the characters. Even knowing of the eventual end of the pivotal character does not take away from the dramatic tension Shute creates throughout the story. He brings us to slow realizations in a wonderfully artistic manner, dawn breaking finally revealing the true depth of each character. It's still great. I'd forgotten about the Irish Terrier, Dev. I used to have Irish Terriers and I loved both dearly, Bridget, then Colleen. Naturally, it made the story all the better. A day or so later I was in Plymouth and walked into a used bookshop near Sutton Harbour. First book I spotted was Requiem for a Wren! I was fated to buy the book.

Like some infernal monster, still venomous in death, a war can go on killing people for a long time after it’s all over.”Have read this one twice, both titles ... bit of a tear jerky ... definite recommend for readers of Nevil Shute.

He certainly takes a similar approach in Requiem. The writing can be corny sometimes and feel a bit like a 1940s film with everyone talking in a rapid, clipped manner where every word is focused on moving the storyline forward. It can make for some one dimensional characters. But the odd thing is, I love this about Shute’s book.

Create a new list

Nevil Shute is a rare breed of writer. His books are full of danger, romance and other dynamics. But the principal theme in all his work is dignity amid and often accompanied by death. In On the Beach Shute depicted a group of Australians awaiting radiation fall out and subsequent death with strength and forbearance. A Town Called Alice showed a group of Australians living and dying amid the Pacific theater of WWII. The Breaking Waves mines familiar terrain. It follows a group of people through WWII and the subsequent decade or so afterward. Shute’s thesis in this book is that war can go on killing and affecting people long after the final battle. Also, Shute argues that peace is often impossible because people who fight wars in their youth become nostalgic for the war, without realizing it’s their youth they actually miss, and thus will support future wars rather than peace for a chance to return to that excitement. Nothing they realize will ever touch them the way the war did, and they long to return to that feeling all their days. If this sounds heavy for a novel, rest assured Shute is a master at plotting and keeps events moving.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment