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There are books we can't be entirely rational about. For good or bad, they push our personal buttons, and we adore or detest them beyond their own merits.
A Town Like Alice is one of those books I love beyond reason. It contains courage, determination when the odds are against you, and taking action to change others' lives and the world around you for the better. It has some bittersweet moments, as well as a little bit of romance.
Nevil Shute based this 1950 novel on a WWII story he had heard abou ...more
A Town Like Alice is one of those books I love beyond reason. It contains courage, determination when the odds are against you, and taking action to change others' lives and the world around you for the better. It has some bittersweet moments, as well as a little bit of romance.
Nevil Shute based this 1950 novel on a WWII story he had heard abou ...more
At midnight on the night of December 8, 1941 men from the 8th Indian brigade stationed in northeastern Malaya came under heavy Japanese bombardment and by December 12 two beachheads and key airport had fallen to the Japanese. With astonishing speed, across jungles the British had wrongly assumed were impenetrable, the Japanese advanced down the Malay peninsula, pushing the British south until, on February 15, 1942, the British were forced to surrender the key southern port city of Singapore to J
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Most of my GR friends really enjoyed this, so please give it a go if you're thinking about it. It didn't ring any bells for me but everyone is different.
The storyline is intriguing and I was fully expecting a "love till I die" book but the writing itself ruined it for me. It was just boring. And I actually like slow books, but this was bone dry. Lots of telling but very little showing. Almost like a journal instead of a story. I just didn't care anymore, you know? In the hands of Emma Drummond t ...more
The storyline is intriguing and I was fully expecting a "love till I die" book but the writing itself ruined it for me. It was just boring. And I actually like slow books, but this was bone dry. Lots of telling but very little showing. Almost like a journal instead of a story. I just didn't care anymore, you know? In the hands of Emma Drummond t ...more
This novel brings to life my favourite theme in literature - a strong woman battling the odds. The British heroine is taken prisoner by the Japanese when World War Two begins, and survives by sheer force of will. Her post-war story, which takes place in Australia, is equally compelling. I also enjoyed the television miniseries that was filmed in Australia and shown on Masterpiece Theatre many years ago.
I have just finished reading this book again and would not change my five-star rating because ...more
I have just finished reading this book again and would not change my five-star rating because ...more
I first read this book in my early teens and again in my late 20s; I have watched the movie and the TV mini-series. Now I've just finished reading the book for the third time. It has lost none of its appeal, and, should I live long enough, when I read it again in another decade or two, I'm sure I will enjoy it just as much then as I have with each reading.
And even at the finish of my third read, still 5 plus stars. 09/10/2021 ...more
And even at the finish of my third read, still 5 plus stars. 09/10/2021 ...more
I love this book and have read it or just the second part of it many many times!
PS. The first time I read this, I was Jean's age and knew I could survive. Now I am one of the old ones with sore joints and no longer confident of surviving. ...more
PS. The first time I read this, I was Jean's age and knew I could survive. Now I am one of the old ones with sore joints and no longer confident of surviving. ...more
It happens extremely rarely that a book makes me cry. Maybe I will get a little teary-eyed, but only if it is non-fiction. This novel,by the same author who wrote the controversial "On the Beach", made me cry like a baby. I thought at the time that maybe I was going through an emotional crisis. Then several years later I watched the mini-series on PBS (with Helen Morse and Bryan Brown. I have never seen the Peter Finch movie). I became even more hysterical. (SPOILER ALERT!...It does have a happy
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Just a lovely book. I can't describe it better than that. The first half is just a page turner. The 2nd half is a much slower pace. But, its just a lovely book that tells a wonderful story of people working hard and enjoying life.
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Somehow the last part made me really want to start playing Sim City 2000 on my PC!
Nov 21, 2014
Ashley Nichols
marked it as to-read
Feb 22, 2016
Lady An ☽
marked it as to-read
Oct 19, 2016
Caroline
rated it
it was amazing
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review of another edition
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Jan 15, 2017
Toni
marked it as to-read
Feb 08, 2018
Leslie
marked it as to-read
Mar 04, 2020
Jennifer
marked it as to-read
