No Highway

I've been discovering the novels of Nevil Shute recently. Two of his most famous are On the Beach and A Town Like Alice. The books were reprinted in 2009 when Philip Hensher wrote this great review in the Telegraph. His subject matter is often based around planes and flying but you certainly don't have to be an aircraft geek to enjoy them (although if you are you'll really like them!). I think he;s a fascinating writer. I've read three of the novels now - Round the Bend, The Rainbow and the Rose and No Highway - and have been hooked from the get-go each time. Yesterday I read No Highway in a big gulp starting late afternoon and finishing just before midnight. I could enthuse for a lot longer about Shute - he combines really interesting ideas about life, love and religion with great technical detail that is utterly absorbing. The title for No Highway comes from a long poem called The Wanderer by John Masefield (interesting in his own right) and I wanted to share Shute's quote from it on blip because the words touched me with their vision and beauty.