‘So Disdained’
Right now, I am reading ‘So Disdained’ by Nevil Shute. I took the book based on reading on its author and something of a foreword. It seemed to me that a person with experience on affairs of military like Mr. Shute might be a good read. I showed the book to my friend who is a great aficionado of spy novels, who at once told me Mr. Shute is not a good spy novelist, but even he after reading the foreword liked the feel. Anyway, I was going to read my first Nevil Shute novel and I was not going by another’s opinion.
The authors note about the novel told a lot – ‘…I was still obsessed with standard subjects as source of drama – spying, detection, and murder, so seldom encountered by real people in real life. Perhaps I was beginning to break lose from these constraints.’ The book was revised by the author himself and he ‘…altered a half a dozen outmoded pieces of slang’. One thing which I completely agree with author is about the book being published in US under the title ‘The Mysterious Aviator’, a title which does little justice to the book and speaks volumes about the Americans!
Book Description
One rainy night Peter Moran is driving across the Sussex countryside. When he stops to give a lift to a bedraggled pedestrian he is amazed to discover an old wartime comrade from the Royal Flying Corps. Moran's loyalty is tested as he agrees to help his friend, even though he has acted treasonably.
The start of the novel was not bad. It went along at a good pace, leisurely at times, never giving an impression of it being a spy novel! The book is (I am yet to finish it) a funny read, lots of ups and downs in tempo. Just when I feel the book is worthless you come up with a twist or a new character who/that makes you go just a few pages more. The first half itself has more than two troughs and the plot was laid out bare. As I could feel from the beginning, the book was no spy novel rather it’s an adventure class apart (You now know why my friend had his reservations)
The story had certain parts which a reader might think impossible, even then Mr. Shute pulls it off by saying, or rather his character saying he himself thought so. The there’s the behaviour of UK and Italy towards communism. Italian Fascisti (‘the volunteers’) figure prominently and the way Mr. Shute puts it, world war was looming from then on.
As I said, I liked the character profiling of Mr. Shute very much. Each of the characters occupies the seat with Mr. Moran, the principal of novel, at each part of story. Maurice Lenden, the ill fated aviator who lives for flying because he couldn’t do anything else. Mr. Moran is a nice British gentleman, courteous to ladies, duty coming first, mind-your-own-business type who feels it’s not in his to judge a man but feels he need to untie what he had tied. The Stenning character is really great; his entrance is timed to perfection by the author. No other character could deal with the matters in the climax, certainly not Moran. The women are true British – loving, devoted, and courageous and loves gardening. At one point, Moran on seeing a well tended garden feels which lady tends to it, like no man could have done that. The ladies, Molly, who lives solely for her husband, Lenden and Sheila who loves Moran, but never exhibits it profiles the British ladies perfectly. Their characters fit the women under blitz perfectly - resilient.
The best part was the scene before flight to save Lenden. I loved the scene where Moran takes Sheila in his arms and say he loves her. You ought to read it to feel it. If I write anymore then probably, I’ll end up giving away the plot.
On closing note, If the novel had title – The Mysterious Aviator, I would never have read it.
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Nevil Shute at Blogspot - Just started, not much activity as of now.
THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!
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