Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Description
Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML: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… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member KerryRaymond
"Requiem for a Wren" was first Nevil Shute book I ever read, back in 1973 a Christmas gift from a school friend. I've lost touch with the friend, but I will always thank her for introducing me to Nevil Shute.
As much as I love this novel, it is an inherently sad story. We know from quite early in
Like a number of Nevil Shute novels, one of the book's main theme is the impact of war on the lives of ordinary people, particularly young people. How it forges them, how it destroys them, and how it leaves them floundering to adjust when the war is over. In Requiem for a Wren, the story is overtly about what the war did to Janet, but it is also less overtly about what the war did to Alan (the narrator) and other characters.
We know that Janet has no happy ending, but the novel ends with the hope that Alan might have a happier future.
There are a couple of Nevil Shute's other favourite themes in the book but in a relatively muted way. Nevil Shute loves aviation and pilots (he was an aeronautical engineer and pilot himself), and in Requiem for a Wren our narrator Alan is a former pilot. However, unlike some Nevil Shute novels (Round The Bend, The Rainbow and the Rose), aviation is not the setting for the story. Flying and aircraft do feature in the story but only in an incidental way. For example, Alan's injuries really could have been sustained in a car accident or from a bomb rather than a plane crash. Similarly Janet's angst is caused by deaths on an aircraft but could have been from other kinds of deaths. However, Nevil Shute's own experiences with aviation means that the use of flying-related incidents in the storyline allow the novel to have the detail that gives it a very authentic feel.
Another Nevil Shute theme we see in this book is his unfavourable comparison of England post-WW2 against Australian and North America. However, in Requiem for a Wren he does not emphasise it as much as he does in The Far Country and In The Wet; again, it is more in the background texture of the story and might not be discernible if you were not familiar with his other works.
As much as I love this novel, it is an inherently sad story. We know from quite early in
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the book that Janet has committed suicide. The rest of the book is telling her story of joining the Wrens in World War 2, falling in love with Bill (brother of the narrator Alan), her shooting down of the German aircraft, and how she conflates the deaths of those in the aircraft with the deaths of those she loves, driving herself into depression and unable to find a purpose in her life after she is invalided out of the Wrens.Like a number of Nevil Shute novels, one of the book's main theme is the impact of war on the lives of ordinary people, particularly young people. How it forges them, how it destroys them, and how it leaves them floundering to adjust when the war is over. In Requiem for a Wren, the story is overtly about what the war did to Janet, but it is also less overtly about what the war did to Alan (the narrator) and other characters.
We know that Janet has no happy ending, but the novel ends with the hope that Alan might have a happier future.
There are a couple of Nevil Shute's other favourite themes in the book but in a relatively muted way. Nevil Shute loves aviation and pilots (he was an aeronautical engineer and pilot himself), and in Requiem for a Wren our narrator Alan is a former pilot. However, unlike some Nevil Shute novels (Round The Bend, The Rainbow and the Rose), aviation is not the setting for the story. Flying and aircraft do feature in the story but only in an incidental way. For example, Alan's injuries really could have been sustained in a car accident or from a bomb rather than a plane crash. Similarly Janet's angst is caused by deaths on an aircraft but could have been from other kinds of deaths. However, Nevil Shute's own experiences with aviation means that the use of flying-related incidents in the storyline allow the novel to have the detail that gives it a very authentic feel.
Another Nevil Shute theme we see in this book is his unfavourable comparison of England post-WW2 against Australian and North America. However, in Requiem for a Wren he does not emphasise it as much as he does in The Far Country and In The Wet; again, it is more in the background texture of the story and might not be discernible if you were not familiar with his other works.
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LibraryThing member Emma291
This story has haunted me for a long time. It tells the story of a man who tries to relive the past - the yearning to have things be the way they used to be, and why it doesn't work. The sadness is pervasive, and I find myself using it to haul myself out of the past. I've read it twice, and likely
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will again sometime - more as medicine for my soul. Show Less
LibraryThing member jeniwren
This is a lesser known classic from one of our loved authors( On the Beach
and A Town Like Alice). This is a beautifully told love story set during
the war about an English woman ,a Wren in the airforce who meets an
Australian soldier who is then killed in battle . His brother returns to Australia
now
discover that the day before his arrival the house maid has committed
suicide. To say anymore would spoil it for anyone who would be interested in
reading this wonderful book.
and A Town Like Alice). This is a beautifully told love story set during
the war about an English woman ,a Wren in the airforce who meets an
Australian soldier who is then killed in battle . His brother returns to Australia
now
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with a permanent disability following the war to his family farm only todiscover that the day before his arrival the house maid has committed
suicide. To say anymore would spoil it for anyone who would be interested in
reading this wonderful book.
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LibraryThing member TadAD
One of the nice things about Shute's writing style is that he can make a point—in this case, the lasting damage to people's lives caused by war—without the reader feeling like they've been beaten with the proverbial stick. The message is there but you can still sit back and enjoy the
Given his theme, this isn't one of his uplifting books like Pied Piper or Trustee from the Toolroom that leave you smiling at the end. Much of the book is told in a flashback manner and so the reader knows from the opening pages of a woman's suicide that this is going to be a sad one. The upbeat note when the story finally gets back to the present and moves beyond it isn't enough to obscure the feeling of the damage caused by the past...nor is there any sense that Shute wanted to do so.
I can't say this is one of my most-enjoyed Shute novels because I am very enamored of the warm feelings I get from some of his other books. However, it's the most complex of any I've read so far. The main characters were rich and alive for me and I felt their struggles with their war experiences. Shute's approach of giving a bit of the present story and then moving back into the past to illuminate it gave me the sense that I was constantly learning more about who these people were.
An odd thing: I usually don't have much reaction to a book's title. It's an identification mechanism for me and not much more. However, I found myself very disappointed in the American publishers of this book. The original, British/Australian title of Requiem for a Wren captured this book perfectly for me.
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story.Given his theme, this isn't one of his uplifting books like Pied Piper or Trustee from the Toolroom that leave you smiling at the end. Much of the book is told in a flashback manner and so the reader knows from the opening pages of a woman's suicide that this is going to be a sad one. The upbeat note when the story finally gets back to the present and moves beyond it isn't enough to obscure the feeling of the damage caused by the past...nor is there any sense that Shute wanted to do so.
I can't say this is one of my most-enjoyed Shute novels because I am very enamored of the warm feelings I get from some of his other books. However, it's the most complex of any I've read so far. The main characters were rich and alive for me and I felt their struggles with their war experiences. Shute's approach of giving a bit of the present story and then moving back into the past to illuminate it gave me the sense that I was constantly learning more about who these people were.
An odd thing: I usually don't have much reaction to a book's title. It's an identification mechanism for me and not much more. However, I found myself very disappointed in the American publishers of this book. The original, British/Australian title of Requiem for a Wren captured this book perfectly for me.
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LibraryThing member RBeffa
This is a good to excellent story. It is certainly more melancholy than any other descriptive word I can think of. This story begins in the early 1950's but it really is about the lingering effects of WWII. Alan Duncan had returned to Australia after the war but was still too young he thought to
When he returns there is a mystery to solve at the ranch because of the death of a maid who has been there a year and who has appeared to have committed suicide, which no one can understand why. The story is rather complex in some ways with Shute inserting observations about the war and post-war periods and the story is told heavily in flashbacks by Alan. Shute's descriptions of landscapes and people and the settings are really well done and set you solidly in the times. The build up in England to Overlord is done in a small way quite well within the bigger story.
The original title of this book as published outside the United States and Canada was "Requiem for a Wren" which is a much better title than "The Breaking Wave."
The novel opens with an excerpt from a poem, an epigraph, that sets the tone for this novel incredibly well. It is an excerpt from "The Triumph of Time" by the English poet A(lgernon) C(harles) Swinburne.
I shall never be friends again with roses;
I shall loathe sweet tunes, where a note grown strong
Relents and recoils, and climbs and closes,
As a wave of the sea turned back by song.
There are sounds where the soul's delight takes fire,
Face to face with its own desire;
A delight that rebels, a desire that reposes;
I shall hate sweet music my whole life long.
The pulse of war and passion of wonder,
The heavens that murmur, the sounds that shine,
The stars that sing and the loves that thunder,
The music burning at heart like wine,
An armed archangel whose hands raise up
All senses mixed in the spirit's cup
Till flesh and spirit are molten in sunder —
These things are over, and no more mine.
Recomended
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settle. He left again after 2 years and now returns to his family ranching operation 5 years later. He was severely injured in the war, but has come to terms with it, the amputation of both his feet. When he returns there is a mystery to solve at the ranch because of the death of a maid who has been there a year and who has appeared to have committed suicide, which no one can understand why. The story is rather complex in some ways with Shute inserting observations about the war and post-war periods and the story is told heavily in flashbacks by Alan. Shute's descriptions of landscapes and people and the settings are really well done and set you solidly in the times. The build up in England to Overlord is done in a small way quite well within the bigger story.
The original title of this book as published outside the United States and Canada was "Requiem for a Wren" which is a much better title than "The Breaking Wave."
The novel opens with an excerpt from a poem, an epigraph, that sets the tone for this novel incredibly well. It is an excerpt from "The Triumph of Time" by the English poet A(lgernon) C(harles) Swinburne.
I shall never be friends again with roses;
I shall loathe sweet tunes, where a note grown strong
Relents and recoils, and climbs and closes,
As a wave of the sea turned back by song.
There are sounds where the soul's delight takes fire,
Face to face with its own desire;
A delight that rebels, a desire that reposes;
I shall hate sweet music my whole life long.
The pulse of war and passion of wonder,
The heavens that murmur, the sounds that shine,
The stars that sing and the loves that thunder,
The music burning at heart like wine,
An armed archangel whose hands raise up
All senses mixed in the spirit's cup
Till flesh and spirit are molten in sunder —
These things are over, and no more mine.
Recomended
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LibraryThing member jayne_charles
Nevil Shute writes very well about effects of war on individuals' lives. This is a good example. Told sort of backwards (in that we know what eventually happens to the main character within a couple of chapters, the story explains how she arrived there), it's a fascinating account of life as a Wren
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in WWII. Shot through with a feeling of nostalgia and profound regret, I found this book unputdownable. The ending could be interpreted as tragic or uplifting, depending on your mood. Show Less
LibraryThing member clfisha
Alan Duncan returns from England to his families ranch in Australia, but his happy homecoming is marred by the housekeepers suicide. He takes it upon himselg to track down her diaries and letters and to follow her self destructive journey that ended so tragically far from home.
For those who have
He does have his faults, the plotting on this one is a little forced although ultimately forgivable and whilst he tries to provide a glimmer of hope I quite frankly didn't notice through the tears. Still at least it's not as depressing as On the Beach.
Mandatory reading for all history buffs, but also anyone who loves a good weepy.
For those who have
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never read Nevil Shute before I can only provide a bemused blank stare. Admittedly he is not for everyone; he wrote about a time and place that is alien to us and to be honest had disappeared by the time he wrote it, but in this case it works in its favour. Shute vividly captures Britain in WWII, it's effects on ordinary people and he does this so well that you are caught up in tragedy hoping for a happy ending you know doesn't exist. Not only this you are also learning a great deal about a slice of history, part of Shute’s brilliance is to take dull facts and mesh them into a highly emotional story.He does have his faults, the plotting on this one is a little forced although ultimately forgivable and whilst he tries to provide a glimmer of hope I quite frankly didn't notice through the tears. Still at least it's not as depressing as On the Beach.
Mandatory reading for all history buffs, but also anyone who loves a good weepy.
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LibraryThing member DebbieMcCauley
Doing well on his artificial feet, Alan Duncan returns to his parents' remote sheep station in Australia a few years after World War II. Now his parents are aging he feels the need 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
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parents' parlormaid, of whom they were very fond. Investigating, Alan soon realises that the young woman had served in the Royal Navy and participated along with his brother in the secret build-up to the Normandy invasion. To solve the mystery of her death he pieces together the tragic events and the lonely burden of guilt that marred her life. Another great story from Nevil Shute. Show Less
LibraryThing member bkinetic
An combination of a mystery, a war story, and an unusual tale of obsessional love. Apart from all that it credibly traces the etiology of a psychological disorder, making for interesting reading. The two main characters, both damaged by war, come to seek each other. This motif of mutual search,
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also seen in Shute's A Town Like Alice, has a different result here.Edit | More
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LibraryThing member Roarer
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
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local preparations for the D-Day landings. This book brings the events to life, the tragedies of the individual victims of world events. Show Less
LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
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
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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. Show Less
LibraryThing member kslade
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.
Original publication date
1955
ISBN
9780307477354
DDC/MDS
| Fic Gen Shute |