An Old Captivity

by Nevil Shute, Rob Spence (Introduction)

Donald Ross is a young pilot, out of work and in desperate need of a job. So, despite the extreme danger involved, he jumps at the chance to fly Oxford professor Cyril Lockwood and his daughter Alix to the frozen wilds of Greenland to study Viking ruins. But the perils of the journey are nothing compared to what will happen when they arrive. Ignoring the warnings of the terrified natives, who believe the ruins are haunted, the explorers set up camp there and undergo a strange and mystical experience that will lead to a discovery that none of them could ever have foreseen . . .
One of the best-loved novels by Nevil Shute, "An Old Captivity" (1940) blends romance and aeronautical adventure with a unique and compelling strain of fantasy into a page-turning story with an extraordinary conclusion. This edition, the first to be published in America in decades, features a new introduction by Rob Spence.

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Historical Fiction, Classics, Historical, Romance, Literary Fiction

262 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1940

About the author

Nevil Shute Norway was a popular British novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer.

He used Nevil Shute as his pen name, and his full name in his engineering career, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.

He lived in Australia for the ten years before his death.

Reviews

[Jan-Maat]

This old yarn of a novel feels as though after a minimum of plotting and the occasional assisting sip of whisky and soda the author just typed and typed until the book was done.

It opens with the framing device of a man listening to another man's story. Logically the point of view in the rest of the book until we reach the frame again should be the storytellers - but it isn't (at least not consistently). Slightly oddly the end of the story doesn't match up with the storytellers situation in the introductory chapter which is set some years after the events that he is going to describe. That's ok, the story is entertaining enough and a sip or two of your whisky and soda might help you get past this.

The book was first published in 1940 with the action is set in the early 1930s. The attitudes displayed in the novel are very much of its time. The race theory underpinnings of colonialism are important, our storyteller, the aircraft pilot Donald Ross has an Irish mother and a Scottish father and his Celtic heritage is significant - the dreaming Celt has an important part to play.

Ross has been employed by an Oxford Don by the name of Lockwood and is travelling with him and his daughter to Greenland with the intention of carrying out an aerial photographic survey of the area of the Norse Eastern settlement. At one stage the party are forced to stop by bad weather en route at an Inuit hut on the Greenland coast.

The colonial situation of Greenland is clear and intended or not the colonial message is hard to miss. Ross has to radio the Danish Governor to ask permission to land which is granted on condition that they don't give weapons or alcohol to "the natives" and Ross advises the Don's daughter to slap the Inuit women if they bother her too much (Clearly he hasn't had the chance to read How to win friends and influence people). The Norse settlement to Greenland was of course a failure and this comes across as a warning to the reader (presumably the author assumes that Greenlanders won't be reading). The failure of the Norse colony is explained here as been due to the settlers having (gasp) "gone native". The occasional Inuit with European features demonstrates to them the frightful miscegenation that occurred when the Norse way of life was no longer possible after their abandonment by "the mother country". All that the colonists had needed to survive was "a square deal from the Mother country". In 1940 when this book was first published the British Empire still looked strong to uncritical eyes, but by 1965 when it was reprinted decolonisation was well underway, although possibly the ending looks forward to the USA replacing Britain in its role of providing the goods needed to preserve top down colonial regimes in unsuitable environments, nowadays one might be more inclined to attribute the failure of the Norse colonies to their failure to adapt to climate change, I don't think that relations with Iceland or Norway had anything to do with it, but it is interesting to see someone writing in the 1940's so exciting by the twin horrors of inter-racial relationships and abandonment by the Imperial mother country.

Having arrived in Greenland our Celtic storyteller begins to dream. These dreams are brought on by the combination of fatigue and German-made sleeping pills. The pills are interesting, on the one hand the aeroplane is undoubtedly a technical symbol - the white man has the technology and so rules everywhere, while the pill opens up the underworld, the chemist here a cross between a Jungian alchemist and a seer, yet we might conceive of the sleeping pill as no less a technical symbol than the aeroplane - the colonial domination of the primitive body by the means of chemical technology, so a slightly mixed message. The rendering of Ross' fatigue and strain is I think the best part of the book. Because this is not the book to pass a stereotype by but rather prefers to embrace it with great affection, the Oxford Don and his daughter are, obviously, hopeless impractical you know ivory tower academics, a wonder they can manage to dress themselves in the morning. So Ross has to plan the expedition, fly the plane and maintain it. Shute reminds us of Ross' concern about fuel levels, the weight of the plane and the fears of the deterioration of mechanical parts that leaves him awake at night, desperate for a sleeping pill, Shute loves his technology and fills the book with aeroplane detail giving us a mix of hyper-realism and channelling the spirits of the Viking ancestors through dreams as though one could tune the radio in to listen to Charlemagne (I suppose if you pop the right kinds of pills maybe you can please don't try this at home, I've seen enough sorrow today without wanting someone-else's Charlemagne psychosis on my conscience) . The weather determines when they can fly, the refuelling is arduous work and Ross gets less and less time to sleep.

Over-strained, in Greenland and under the influence of the (sinister/magical?) Germanic sleeping pills, Ross dreams. Maybe he taps into the collective unconscious or maybe he remembers a past life, in any case in his dreams he revisits the Norse settlement in the time of Erik the Red and Leif Erikson and if you are familiar with the Vinland Saga you can probably imagine how the book ends.

Overall this is one of those irritating books were you get a sense of the author's skill, but are exposed to their clumsiness and unwillingness to be consistent. Very much of its time, it has some interest as a period piece, moderate fun.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Donald Ross is a pilot, trained by the Royal Air Force and then polished and honed flying the northern route in Canada after the war. A no nonsense man, raised by a school-marm aunt, always capable and infinitely trustworthy, he is hired by an Oxford don, Mr. Lockwood, to pilot an archaeological expedition to Greenland at an ancient Viking settlement called Brattalid. Mr. Lockwood has an overbearing daughter who insists on accompanying her father on the trip, and it becomes immediately evident that she and the pilot will make up the most interesting part of this story.

This novel is not very like the Nevil Shute’s I know so well, even though it is written in his easy-going, detail-rich, captivating style. It contains a bit of magic realism, although when it was written that phrase had yet to be coined. I was okay with that element, but it did seem to turn the novel from one kind of story to quite another. The transition seemed somewhat abrupt, as up to that point, the book was stark realism and detail. The extraordinary details of the flight and the obstacles of the trip, in fact, made me feel as if I were flying with this company of travelers. So, while the first 3/4 of the book worked well for me, the ending seemed weak.

An Old Captivity isn’t Shute’s best work, although it is completely adequate. It is obvious Nevil Shute understood the mechanics involved and also the mental and physical strength necessary to pilot under these conditions, and the sort of person who would be willing to take on such an adventure. I cannot help admiring the courage of those who would undertake such a potentially perilous journey in search of knowledge for mankind.

While I hope to keep reading his books until I can say I have read them all, I keep hoping there is just one more of his true masterpieces out there that I haven’t touched yet, but despairing of such a discovery.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another terrific Nevil Shute story. As usual, his old fashioned story-telling captivated me, despite a lot of talk about aeronautics. No author but Shute could pull that off. As usual, the main protagonist is very likable and is asked to take on a difficult task. The ending takes a surprising turn for a Shute novel. I'm still wondering if it worked, but no matter, I enjoyed the ride through icy and mostly cloudy Greenland, Newfoundland and Iceland from the comfort of my home.

Recommended for Shute enthusiasts.

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was going to give the story three stars. Most of the time spend reading it, I enjoyed it. The ending takes an unexpected turn, a turn not to my liking! It moves into the world of fantasy. Dreams and fables and illness can blend. One can come up with explanations anchored in reality. Done properly, this works fine for me. I was pleased with Shute’s ability to pull this off. He points out reasonable, feasible explanations, but then he switches direction and pushes the imaginary a step too far! With this, the story fizzled. Just my point of view, of course.

As in most of Shute’s stories, there is a love thread. I smiled and I laughed. The behavior and the the things the girl says have got to make everyone laugh. She is so stuck in her ways, so completely uncomprehending!

The story circles around the history and the transmigrations of the Vikings and the Celts. Also, the consequences of pushing yourself too hard.

Cameron Stewart gives a wonderful narration of the audiobook. He intones every character right. A little bit of dramatization, but not too much. Five stars for the narration. It is such a treat when a narrator’s performance is this good!

*****************

*A Town Like Alice 4 stars
*The Chequer Board 4 stars
*No Highway 4 stars
*The Far Country 4 stars
*Landfall 4 stars
*Round the Bend 4 stars
*Most Secret 4 stars
*Beyond The Black Stump 4 stars
*Slide Rule: The Autobiography of an Engineer 3 stars
*Marazan 3 stars
*Pied Piper 3 stars
*Ruined City 3 stars
*Trustee from the Toolroom 3 stars
*The Rainbow and the Rose 3 stars
*An Old Captivity 2 stars
*Requiem for a Wren 2 stars
*So Distained 2 stars
*Pastoral 1 star

*Lonely Road TBR
*What Happened to the Corbetts maybe
*On the Beach maybe
*In the Wet maybe

[Paul Weiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

"An intriguing tale of a strange expedition to Greenland" ...

… that’s an interesting blend of mid-20th century pulp style romantic adventure with a soupçon of imagined fantasy via dream sequences. (You just gotta love that cover art!!)

The story is summarized simply enough. David Lockwood, an accomplished university-based archeologist in England, needs an experienced seaplane pilot to conduct some aerial photography surveys to confirm some of his ideas concerning historical human habitation in Greenland. Donald Ross, a pilot who earned his experience in the Canadian arctic, fits the bill. Difficulties arise when Lockwood’s thoroughly spoiled and outrageously opinionated brat daughter insists on accompanying them to Greenland out of concern that her father’s age and health may not permit him to safely mount such an expedition on his own.

Given Nevil Shute’s fame with such runaway successes as ON THE BEACH and A TOWN CALLED ALICE, the quality of the story, the gripping nature of the adventure, the informative narration of the technical difficulties of flying in north Atlantic and Arctic conditions, and, of course, the ensuing romance, are all entirely predictable and nothing less than expected. Prospective readers need only be cautioned to hold the expectations that might arise from the previous experience with Shute’s novels in check. While a quick and enjoyable read, AN OLD CAPTIVITY is definitely less than memorable and is a distant weak sister compared to the other two powerhouse novels I mentioned.

Recommended for those who like to read less famous stories by top-shelf authors.

Paul Weiss

[Algernon · Rating 5 out of 5]

[9/10] Nevil Shute does his storytelling trick once again. This is a straightforward tale of an archeological expedition to Greenland sometime between two world wars, three people in a small plane against a hostile environment even in the months os summer. And the story of two people from wildly different backgrounds coming to understand and care for each other.

The author knows his stuff when it comes to early aviation and the level of detail both in the preparation of the journey and in the actual flight is astounding. Some readers might be turned off by the dry delivery of technical information, but for me it brings back memories of past favorites describing the expeditions of Nansen, Shackleton or Thor Heyerdahl. The world around us was already shrinking in the early 20th century, with few white spots left on the maps for the adventure oriented explorer. The merit of Nevil Shute here in An Old Captivity is to show that such an expedition relies not only on courage and determination, but most of all on careful planning, a lot of money, bureaucratic paper chases and endless hard work - checking and rechecking every detail, every bolt and nut that may mean the difference between life and death when the nearest settlement is hundreds of kilometers away.

As usual for the author, all these technical details do not overshadow the human interest story , exploring the interplay between the three main characters : the dedicated pilot, the slightly clueless Oxford don and his opinionated daughter. With his characteristic delicate touch, Nevil Shute goes into the mind of each character, slowly overcoming shyness and distrust to gain respect and eventually the possibility of love.

In another theme dear to the author, the scientific mind of the engineer is put to the test trying to unravel the mysteries of the psyche. A dream journey takes us back through the centuries to witness the life of a Norse settlement on what is possibly the most inhospitable island in the world, and the eventual discovery of the North American continent well in advance of Columbus. I have remarked on this spiritual journey both in Round the Bend and in The Rainbow and the Rose, two other books by Nevil Shute that I liked.

[Joy D · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Oxford professor hires Donald Ross to pilot a seaplane to Greenland to take a photographic survey, seeking evidence of Viking and Celtic settlements. Professor Lockwood plans to accompany Ross. Lockwood’s nineteen-year-old daughter, Alix, feels he should not travel alone, so she decides to accompany him. Lockwood and Alix have no idea what they are getting into.

The first three-fourths of this book is about the trip to Greenland. It describes the preparations and the trip itself, how seaplanes are refueled, and lots of aviation-related specifics. It takes a hard turn in the last quarter, becoming almost a different book completely, though still set in Greenland. The characters are well-developed. I enjoyed it up to the last quarter, which ventured into bizarre territory.

It was published in 1940 and reflects many of the attitudes of the time. I had previously read Shute’s A Town Like Alice, which I enjoyed immensely. This one does not quite measure up, but the writing is strong. I will definitely be reading more of his work.

3.5

[Margie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking for books that I had read in another lifetime, a time far removed from this one, I came across Nevil Shute's, An Old Captivity. I had read it in high school and still have the tattered paperback, price 50 cents. My mom and I used to roam used book stores and Nevil Shute was one of our favorite authors. At that time, he was well known for On the Beach, a futuristic, post-apocalyptic book that takes place after a nuclear holocaust destroys most of the world. It was made into a popular movie starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner in 1959.

This book is a time capsule of the 1930s and for me a nostalgia read from the 1960s. I won't be judging or comparing it to today's social or any other standards, which have progressed slowly, if at all, in most of the world in the eighty years since this was written.

Until I read this book, I was unaware that Nevil Shute (real name Nevil Shute Norway) was an aeronautical engineer and pilot who started his own aeronautics company in England and helped England develop secret weapons in WWII. He was not only an engineer, but the best selling author of twenty-four novels which in 1950 had sold over four million copies.

An Old Captivity relates the story of an expedition from England to Greenland to take aerial photographs of the remains of a Celtic Church and an old Norse settlement. Shute's background explains why this book was so detailed in terms of planning the expedition and actually getting to the site in Greenland. It took over half the book to get there. However, contrary to finding this intricate detail boring, I found it fascinating to learn what was entailed in planning and carrying out an undertaking like this. It wasn't easy or cheap by any means. The seaplane alone cost $25,000 in 1933 money.

The book begins when Donald Ross, the pilot of the expedition, is on a train to Italy in 1938, five years after the expedition, and strikes up a conversation with Morgan, a psychiatrist. He is disturbed about an unexplainable dreamlike trance he had while on the expedition and fears he might have similar episodes in the future. Thus sets up the suspense and it's a long wait to find out what happens.

Ross tells Morgan of being hired to take Oxford Professor Lockwood and his daughter, Alix, to Greenland for research the professor is doing on Irish expeditions to Greenland. The professor believes that Irish explorations pre-dated Norwegian settlements there. The professor has one photo of the remains of a Celtic Church and wants to take more photos and explore the area. There is only a narrow window of time in the summer to do this while the weather is good.

It takes 70 pages of detailed planning by Ross before the expedition gets underway. Once underway, each leg of the journey - England to Scotland, Scotland to Iceland and Iceland to Greenland is detailed in brutal and icy detail. Sometimes I felt like I was on that small plane, tense that there might not be enough gas or that the fog would roll in before we landed.

Once the group finally arrives at the expedition site in Greenland (over midway through the book), tension heightens and a supernatural, unnerving tone creeps in. The native guides will not camp at the site the professor has chosen because they say it is a bad place "because of the old people." Sometimes you should listen to your guides.

Without revealing the rest of the plot, which at this point starts to move quickly, I will say that I really enjoyed this book, initial descriptive details and all. I felt like I was traveling on that journey, a journey that becomes very exciting at the end as Shute takes us into an ancient past. I loved the descriptions of the flights, of each place that they landed, and of the villages, customs and people they met. Ross, Professor Lockwood and his daughter, Alix, are substantial, well-drawn characters. The initial descriptions of Alix as spoiled and immature change as she displays quick, decisive thinking and courage in rescuing the expedition more than once.

It took me a while to read this book because it is so descriptive - and the print is tiny, but it reminded me of what paperbacks were like in the sixties. It was also a great memory of the hours spent in used book stores with my mom, a comfort read for me in these anxious times.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book more than any I’ve read this year. I don't think have the ability explain why I like the book as much as I do. Perhaps it is Shute himself I like. To date I’ve read six of his books and all have been fantastic. Nevil Shute may simply be my favorite author. Shute writes about the hidden hero that can be found in everyday people. He gives us stories about ordinary men and women facing adversity. For the most part his characters rise to the occasion, but he shows us defeat as well.

[David Dennington · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this, his sixth novel, Nevil Shute describes flying to Greenland via Scotland and Iceland in a seaplane for the purpose of carrying out historical and archeological research. The flying is exciting, well described and seems accurate. I wonder if these flights had in fact been achieved when he wrote this book.
The main characters do in fact wind up qualifying as conquerors of the Atlantic, although it was first achieved from east to west by Beryl Markham in 1936 who flew solo non-stop from England to Newfoundland (where she crashed due to icing). In passing, I must recommend her book West With the Night, as I found it to be an excellent read, and descriptions of her flight, pretty chilling. Prior to that, Colonel Minchin, Captain Leslie Hamilton and Princess Anne of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg had failed, disappearing over the cruel Atlantic. The same fate awaited Captain Hinchliffe and Elsie Mackay when they tried it the following year in March of 1928.
The scenes described by Shute in Old Captivity are tense and not just a little scary, since you’re not sure if they can land due to fog, or ice in the water with precious fuel running low. A nice little love story is woven in, which of course moves from dislike to deep love. This tale also shows Mr. Shute’s growing writing skill as an author and his proclivity, and open-mindedness toward reincarnation, fantasy and spiritual matters. Well worth the read.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Old Captivity is rather hard to pin down, in terms of genre. It's clumsy in places, too -- the frame story is okay to begin with, but then... doesn't really do anything. It doesn't match up properly with the rest of the story. That didn't bother me too much, though. I got really absorbed in all the concrete details of this book: the plane, Ross' efforts to get ready for the trip, his worries, his sleeplessness... the slow growing of understanding between him and Alix. Even the precise geography and the bits taken from sagas and so on.

It's slow paced, and there isn't much magic in it, but there was enough to go round for me. Nevil Shute won me over.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is quite interesting from an archeological and antropological point of view. However, its end was unexpected full of fantasy and/or magical realism, which gives a false impression on the whole book.

5* A Town Like Alice
2* On the Beach
4* Pied Piper
4* Landfall
4.5* Most secret
4* Marazan
3* Requiem for a Wren
4* No Highway
4* The Chequer Board
4* Beyond the Black Stump
4* The Far Country
4* Lonely Road
3* Trustee from the Toolroom
3* An old captivity
TR Round the bend
TR Ordeal
TR Pastoral
TR So disdained
TR The Rainbow and the Rose

[Elinor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nevil Shute can't put a foot wrong, in my opinion. I just love his characters, storylines, and attention to detail that makes his books seem so authentic, as if he were recounting a true story. This one was a little different, since it had a touch of magic about it -- perhaps it would be termed magical realism today, although it was published in 1940. The protagonist dreams about a previous life -- one which actually seems to have taken place. The romance, of course, is always the icing on the cake.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ended up buying this as a Kindle version as my sight is not good enough now to read the slowly disintegrating paperback copy.

The story enthralled me as much as it did the first time I read it. It's a sort of magical, historical, paranormal, adventure, suspense romance novel which even now packs a punch.

My only gripe was that this was a pretty slapdash excuse for an e-book. Numerous typos, errors etc that should have been picked up by any half-competent proof-reader.

It's one of Shute's best novels in my opinion - even better than A Town like Alice, or On the Beach, but dammit, the sloppy proof-reading irked me.

[Leftbanker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out of respect for other novels by Nevil Shute that I greatly admired, I’ll give this book three stars before throwing in the towel. Maybe I’m missing out as the action really hadn’t started, but I’d read a hundred pages and couldn’t take it any longer. Terrible, stilted dialogue, a heroine who was hugely annoying, and not much of a story when I put it down. Just want to remember not to try this again if you’re wondering why I’ve bothered with a review.

[Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nevil Shute's style will probably not please the modern reader much, and that is unfortunate. His love of detail and the pains he goes to make sure of what he is stating are characteristics that I enjoy in his texts. Sometimes, he goes to an almost ridiculous extent to flesh out the reality of his background, when it probably would not be missed. Yet just as he does this, you can see him entering a truly fictional world in which, whoops, his characters suddenly do resemble real people and his narrative suddenly comes to life. It might be the extra effort Donald Ross goes to get the wireless to work, something banal and silly like that, but we know, almost without realising it that Shute is suddenly expanding a fictional context to include the all too likely possibility of future danger, and we realise just how much care is being taken. The work is not sloppy; it is methodical and I admit, at times a little dry. Yet when Shute's work really fires, it is because of this attention to the right kind of detail.

"An Old Captivity" has long been one of my favourite Shute novels. In a way it's an experimental sort of book: it takes the long wide arc of a journey from Britain to Canada via Iceland and Greenland, as its background. The path of a small seaplane is traced with infinite pains to capture the solitariness and the arduous nature of the voyage. Its three passengers are linked together in interesting and diverse ways. Slowly, against the further background of the Icelandic sagas, the tale emerges and, as usual with Nevil Shute, it is not what we are expecting. Just when the clean, crisp, almost mechanical prose has us thinking one thing, Shute leaps off into a void composed of history and imagination. It's an extremely disciplined piece of writing and I hope you'll enjoy the ride.

[John Wiltshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic story that kept me hooked, only I can't quite work out why. The writing is honestly a bit pedestrian: he said, she said, then they did this and went there. The plot seemed a bit unbalanced: 90% being filling up airplane fuel tanks and only 10% being on the strange haunting they encounter in Greenland. However, given all that I was still riveted. Firstly, this is one of those odd books that seems to fall between classic (where you expect manners and notions utterly foreign to us) and modern. It's almost like reading about a different species and yet it's (almost) within my lifetime (certainly my parents lifetime). And I suppose that's where the utter charm of the novel lies. This world and these people are gone forever and yet captured in this book.
A young pilot is engaged by an Oxford professor to fly him and his daughter to Greenland where he wants to study possible Celtic settlements by taking an aerial survey. Most of the book covers this astounding trip, which in the 1930s was the equivalent of going to the moon--almost the same level of planning. No maps. No satellites (obviously), no computers. Almost as fun to read as all the flight details was the social manners of the three people. Don't read this book if you are easily offended by, well, real life, I guess. Arriving in Greenland (eventually), a strange kind of haunting occurs, which colours the last few days of their trip.
If you like adventure novels, are the least bit interested in exploration and/or the history of flight, and loath 'woke' in your novels of any kind, then definitely give this a read. I really enjoyed it and I'm still wondering why. I don't really find filling plane fuel tanks interesting. Maybe it is just nostalgia for that lost world.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having recently read a series of disappointing, or just more challenging books, picking up another Nevil Shute novel was the reading equivalent of (or ideal compliment to) curling up in a favorite chair with tea and good music - at once calming and invigorating, familiar and new. A perfect relaxation read.

This again features his great characters - earnest without being stiff, and good but not prim. An aging Oxford don wants to survey an area of Greenland for his archeological research. He knows that aviation should make it possible, but has no sense of the challenge it will pose - it is set in the first half of the last century and there is little infrastructure and less experience flying in such conditions. As the trip comes together, the novel explores how relatively ordinary people deal with fairly extraordinary adventure.

Shute's anti-heroic depiction personalizes the adventure, and makes me feel like I could have been part of it. That, and the very appealing characters, make for pretty good escapism.

[wendy c · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Nevil Shute's books. Yes, some have dated a bit, but this writers love for his fellow man, his excellent writing, and his perception has always delighted me. This is a paranormal romance in it's way.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s so nice to spend a few days immersed in another decent and kind world created by Nevil Shute!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Shute's writing, but this was a very strange book. I couldn't put it down, but am still not sure whether I liked it or not. Definitely different!

[Sharone Powell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I normally love Nevil Shute's books, but this one was a big miss in my opinion.

To start with, the descriptions of what the pilot needs for the expedition to Greenland are super detailed to the point that you think you're reading a manual or a grocery list.

Then there's the pilot's sleeping problems and the pills that are supposed to help with that problem. (Spoiler alert!!!) But guess what? - they cause more harm than good. At first I thought that Shute is warning us against such pills and that perhaps this was based on his negative, personal experience. Whether that's true or false, it turned out that the pill story line was written in order for the pilot to sleep for three days straight, during which he dreamed about Leif Erikson and his slaves, one of whom was the pilot in a previous life, and the woman was the woman he was now traveling with, also in another life. Eye roll. Blah, blah, blah.

Read any other Shute book for a much better experience.

[Dianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pilot Donald Ross is hired to head an exploration in the Arctic by an Oxford Don whose daughter also accompanied them. In a light plane, the search to trace any evidence of Norwegian migration to Greenland and Newfoundland entailed meticulous planning and much danger, all which take their toll on the pilot.
This work by Nevil Shute was published in 1940 at a time when reading was many an evenings occupation as well as the radio. Today, such moment by moment plot development can be wearying, especially when the plot involves many miles of flying over Arctic ice.
The developing relationship between the pilot and his passengers is interesting rather than gripping. The last few chapters come as a complete surprise: an indication of Shutes venture into the para normal as also evidenced in his book In the Wet.
Certainly one of the most versatile writers I have ever read.

[Ellis Knox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth book I've read by this author, and every one of them is radically different from all the others, save in one respect: they are all memorable.

This one might be a difficult read for some. The first three-quarters of the book or more concerns the minutiae of a flight to Greenland not long after WWII. I learned more about seaplanes that I should ever want to know. At the same time, in the last quarter of the book, all that has come before shows itself to have been necessary, to be not prelude but foundation.

Shute unfailingly surprises me with his subject matter. This one has us follow an out-of-work Canadian pilot with a particular history in seaplanes. He gets hired by an aging archeologist who is trying to prove that Norwegian sailors made it to the New World, and that Greenland was one stop along their route (don't forget this is set in the late 1940s). At the last minute, the old don's daughter comes along. At first, this looks like a fairly trite setup for a love interest, but it isn't. Shute is never trite.

Where we wind up is what a modern critic would label magical realism, but don't let that label put you off, either. This story is unique. Read and enjoy.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyably typical Shute yarn. Perfect for listening before bedtime. Nothing too complicated or dense just an engaging story.

[Benjamin Clow · Rating 5 out of 5]

An experienced but out of work pilot agrees to fly an Oxford Don and his daughter to the Arctic Circle to examine a a Viking settlement in Greenland. What follows is a fairly detailed narrative of their treacherous journey, with some decent descriptions of flying. The final third of the novel is where the magic is. I found it incredibly moving.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not even sure I should call this fantasy, but whatever, my shelves don't claim to be an exhaustive list of categories. Ride-along time-travel In A Dream is SF for people who don't want to write SF; I probably shouldn't comment until I've read more Shute, but I get the feeling he thought SF had to have a certain plausible deniability and be separated hygienically by framing narratives in order to be respectable. (There's a really weird half of a framing narrative right at the beginning with an unnamed first-person narrator; after setting up that first-person intimacy and some questions one might expect the narrator to answer, it dives straight into the story of the actual characters and we never see the unnamed 'I' again, not even at the end.) The time-travel bit was weirdly unconnected to the contemporary bit, and there wasn't any tension or reconciliation between the two: all three main characters wondered if Ross (the one who had the time-travel dream) was nuts, but no one seems particularly bothered by it, and when they find out fairly definitively that his dream was true, they all just sort of shrug and go to New York rather than realising the implications. I think it would have been more successful if the parts had been more balanced in size, and if two characters, or even all three, had time-travelled too, so that the last section could have involved sharing impressions and arguing 'Did we? Or are we both nuts?', rather than Ross being all 'I had this really weird dream, it felt totally real' and the other two going 'Hmm. *side-eye*' for thirty pages.

That said, it was totally absorbing, with a subtle but effective change of register for the Viking bit, and I loved the expedition to Greenland. Whatever else Shute has (and I should mention that it was published in 1940, with all that implies), he has a great deal of I-want-to-read-it-osity.

[Elisabeth van Breda · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first you may think it is boring but reading on you're brilliantly captivated in the story of a modern pilot who becomes an illness while everybody depends on him. During his illness he hallucinates he was in a previous life. All in all it makes you wonder...

[Astrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the story, I felt I was travelling together with the team to the north. The challenges with the plane in combination with the weather cicrumstances in Greenland and so on. It was great to read the book.
However, the story ended very abrupt, hence the 3 stars.

[Carol Marlow]

Didn't really understand what this book was about, where it was going.

The first couple of pages are written in the first person by a psychiatrist called Morgan - but, after introducing us to the principal character in the story, he doesn't get another mention.

The main protagonist is Donald Ross, a young Scottish pilot who is hired by an Oxford don, Cyril Lockwood, to pilot an air survey mission of Brattalid in Greenland.

A large section of the book then reads like a diary, describing in great detail all the tasks that Ross carries out in order to prepare for the expedition and then actually to get it underway and keep it going. This is in the 1930s, it's quite a hazardous journey. Ross is more than just the pilot, he is the navigator, engineer and mechanic for the plane as well as having to arrange accommodation and technical support in the remote Arctic region. He is responsible for the safety of the professor and his daughter Alix Lockwood during their journey, as well as getting the mission successfully completed.

The tale then becomes rather surreal when Ross, physically and mentally exhausted, becomes ill and falls into a sort of coma - and seems to be re-incarnated into a character from the past: a slave living at the time of the don's research into the early Viking seafarers. When he comes out of the coma they can finish the project and return home - but on the way Ross finds a landscape in the region that he remembers from his dreams. He lands the plane and explores the area, and finds a carved stone that he and his "wife" from the Viking time had placed on a hill there hundreds of years before.

And then the three of them go home.