A few weeks ago I dug out a bunch of my father's favourite paperbacks. I remember as a kid he talked about Nevil Shute as one of his favourite authors. Shute is largely forgotten now but his novels A Town Like Alice and On The Beach were best sellers in the 50's and 60's and made into a couple of cool films.
Currently I'm reading the Lonely Road written in 1932; three passages caught my attention as reflective of both how much things have changed and how much things are the same:
1. "I was the last to leave, or one of the last. Our three cars were drawn up together outside the club, and because I could see that the others might want help I waited till they got away. Kennet was the first to go; he got in to second all right, but third defeated him, and so he went home like that."
Drinking and driving was commonly accepted back in '32, after all they were comparatively few cars on the roads and this was years before the breathalyser or the field sobriety test. As long as you didn't kill anyone it was perfectly acceptable to roll legless out of your club and navigate your home by whatever circuitous route took your fancy.
2. "So I ordered a cup of coffee for her; she would not eat anything because eating between meals was bad for the figure. Then I bought her cigarettes."
Back then smoking was cool and dare I say it healthy and snacking was universally bad. Now smoking kills and we are supposed to eat six small meals a day. No doubt in a few more years, smoking will be found to be perfectly safe and the low cholesterol will be found to be a dangerous killer!
3. Finally just to prove some things remain the same:
"But I tell you this, there's a darn sight more light manufactured stuff comes into this country than goes out of it."
Remember this was written seven years before WWII, the trade deficit was alive and well, at least in the U.K. well before Japan and China came on the scene.
By today’s standards the novels appear quaint and that’s exactly why I am enjoying them so much: plot matters, violence is muted and sex is barely implied although sexual tension riddles the stories. The issues have not dated at all: life after a nuclear holocaust (On The Beach); industrial decay (Ruined City); and dodgy military intelligence (Landfall). Oh, and the books are not 600 pages long.
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