Identify Books In Favor Of Requiem for a Wren
Original Title: | Requiem for a Wren |
ISBN: | 1842322869 (ISBN13: 9781842322864) |
Edition Language: | English |
Characters: | Alan Duncan, Janet Prentice, Bill Duncan |
Nevil Shute
Paperback | Pages: 285 pages Rating: 3.99 | 1667 Users | 179 Reviews
Particularize Out Of Books Requiem for a Wren
Title | : | Requiem for a Wren |
Author | : | Nevil Shute |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 285 pages |
Published | : | July 1st 2002 by House of Stratus (first published 1955) |
Categories | : | Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. Cultural. Australia. War. Classics. World War II |
Description Concering Books Requiem for a Wren
Requiem for a Wren (U.S. title The Breaking Wave) is one of Nevil Shute's most poignant and psychologically suspenseful novels, set in the years just after World War II.Sidelined by a wartime injury, fighter pilot Alan Duncan reluctantly returns to his parents' remote sheep station in Australia to take the place of his brother Bill, who died a hero in the war. But his homecoming is marred by the suicide of his parents' parlormaid, of whom they were very fond.
Alan soon realizes that the dead young woman is not the person she pretended to be. Upon discovering that she had served in the Royal Navy and participated along with his brother in the secret build-up to the Normandy invasion, Alan sets out to piece together the tragic events and the lonely burden of guilt that unravelled one woman's life.
In the process of finding the answer to the mystery, he realizes how much he had in common with this woman he never knew and how a war can go on killing people long after it's all over.
Rating Out Of Books Requiem for a Wren
Ratings: 3.99 From 1667 Users | 179 ReviewsColumn Out Of Books Requiem for a Wren
I keep coming back to Nevil Shute. I have yet to read a book of his I haven't liked. They are "old-fashioned", the dialogue is so different from modern speech, yet that's what makes his books so interesting. They transport one back several decades to a whole other place and time. Most of the ones I have read take place in or around WWII, as did this one. It tells the story of a young Wren, a female soldier, who never quite found her footing after the war ended. She was wracked in grief by anNostalgic needs nabbed Nevil by the novelistic 'nads and gnawed them to nubbins. The only reason I read this all the way to the end was because I wanted to know how Janet Prentice ended up at Coombargana. I'm giving it two stars rather than one because Shute demonstrates very well how people who have served in a great war are at loose ends when the war is over. They find themselves wishing for another war so their lives can once again have meaning and camaraderie. Can't say I'd recommend the
Nevil Shute has such an interesting way of writing and once again in this book I felt that I was discovering how the character thought and felt as he muddled his way through life. The story is fascinating in its description of life before and after the WW2 in England and how those involved in the forces were left puzzled and directionless in this new world of peace. Nevil also describes the difficulty people had in finding those who had once been close in a narrative that is a bit like a tv
The "wren" in the books title refers to those enlisted in the women's branch of the UK's Royal Navy Service. A requiem is the religious ceremony performed for the dead. It can be more loosely referred to as an act or token of remembrance for a deceased, and so Requiem for a Wren is to be interpreted as a token of remembrance for the fictional character, Wren Janet Prentice. This is a book of historical fiction set primarily in England, France and Australia and about operation Overlord, the
Tgis was my first book from Shute, but browsing the reviews I saw he is quite popular. My first impression of this novel was that it's a crime story. Though it is not, it's a war book and I've read quite some of thos, but this is the first one where leading character fighting in war is a woman. The story is simple about two brothers, Australians, who are very fond of each other. Requiem for a Wren starts from the end of story, when Alan is after long years coming back to Coombargana in Australia
4.5★requiemnoun [ C ] UK /ˈrek.wi.əm/ US /ˈrek.wi.əm/a mass (= a Christian ceremony) at which people honour and pray for a dead person:a requiem massDefinition from the Cambridge Dictionary Always one of those words where I wasn't quite sure of the meaning! Knowing the meaning now makes me understand the book title (although I think the US title The Breaking Wave works even better & doesn't give away an important part of the story)I was lucky enough to go into this story almost completely
I'm giving this five stars thinking of the time in which it was written. It has a lot slower pace than more contemporary novels and Shute does go into so much detail about naval ships, guns and carrier craft that I was constantly looking up Wikipedia to understand what he was talking about. I felt like I was in an episode of Foyle's War, the way the characters spoke and behaved, so polite and so focused on doing one's duty for the mother country. As the family sheep station is set in the Western
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