Rating: 
Summary: A story full of cardboard cutouts
Review: A lot of people write about this book saying that it is one book that should always be a classic and important work. I guess I agree to that in one aspect. This is the story of a woman who was a victim of a Japanese death march that happened in Malaysia during WWII. It's basically her story about how she survived and how she meet this man named Joe whom she fell in love with and how because she aquired some money, she was able to change the lives of the Malay people who helped her during the war years and then the lives of the Aussie's in the outback. There's more to it but I didn't like this book very much.
It does write about a true account of what the Japanese did during the war but because of the way that Nevil Shute wrote about the account and the "Great Jean" who made everyone's lives better--- it just didn't get to me. There is absolutely no heart in this story at all. I did not get to know the characters at all. It's like they are all cardboard cutouts of how people should act and should talk and should behave during that time. It really pissed me off. And I could not stand the main characters' blatant racism towards the Aboriginese. I guess it was accepted during that time that the "Abo" was an outcast but come on now. I couldn't stand it anymore. Aboriginese faced the same problems as blacks in South Africa and our own problems in the south during the Civil Rights Movement and the Native American struggle. I've never read a book with so much slang about the Aboriginese. Whatever. I mean, here is Jean, the hero, the ultra feminist. She decides to make an ice cream shop in the outback so everyone can enjoy ice cream. But what does she do? To her "Everyone" only means the white australians. She instead makes a seperate shop to the side for the "Abo's" who aren't welcome. She makes a segregated icecream shop. And this is the woman that wanted to be treated equally during her time of struggle? There were other incidents and it's probably because I'm thinking of this stuff as if it happened now and not during the time when that kind of racism is shamefully accepted. But that is not an excuse. If Jean was such a hero she should make a difference in race and not make the original Australians outcasts and calling them "Boogs". Reading this book I wonder why people like it so much. The history of it is true I guess but one I am not familiar with, but what good is a book when the characters are false. Not one minute did I believe the Jean or Joe character. They were just names on a page and did not come to life to me at all. Nothing they did seemed real. Like I said, just cardboard cutouts. Everyone it seems love this book but I did not find it one bit endearing. "A love story?" No way.
Rating: 
Summary: A Town Like Alice
Review: An unlikely title---until you read on. A wonderful story. The journey of Jean Paget and Joe Harmann through WWII and then to their meeting again six years later. Jean proves to be a character of strength, courage and compassion as she marches through Malaya with other women and children. This story encompasses life at it's worst and people at their best. This is an adventure of the soul and a journey of the heart. A happy and poignant ending to a lovely book.
Rating:
Summary: Australia's Finest
Review: Having spent time in the Australian outback in the 1960's, I found this book (read several years later) to be the ONLY story I've EVER read that captures the true character, lifestyle, and sense of the Australian people. The story woven around World War II and and the subsequent re-uniting of the main characters years later, makes this novel compelling and impossible to put down. The PBS series Masterpiece Theatre aired this story in the late 1970's and was an excellent portrayal of Shute's work. The two-volume video, while shortening the PBS work considerably, is still an enjoyable viewing experience.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read!
Review: I am a reader; I devour books. A Town Like Alice is one of my very favorites. I come back to it time and again, whenever I need to lose myself in the heat of Malaysia or the dust of Australia. This book is so well written that I can feel the stones in the road as Jean marches along with the other women in their "Death March". I can feel the despair she feels when she believes Joe to be dead and her intense joy when she discovers that he is still alive. The story is timeless. My mother-in-law,who was a bride during World War II, first introduced me to this book saying that it was her all time favorite, and even though I came of age in the 70's, the book speaks to me as well. Its message of love's survival in the face of desperate odds gives us all a sense of hope.
Rating:
Summary: A Town like Alice
Review: I first saw this on Masterpiece Theatre on PBS and loved it. I then listened to it on tape and it was very true to the production. It is one of the classic love stories of our time. It gives Rhett and Scarlett a run for the money. A true classic and probably my favorite love story. It has all the elements, love, passion, war, separation and never disappoints. I can not recommend it any higher.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favourite ever books
Review: I found this in a secondhand bookstore whilst travelling for a year in Australia, and spent three "rest-up" days on a hostel porch near not-very-exciting Bundaberg in Queensland, oblivious to everyone & everything but the unfolding events in this book. I picked it up because I had seen the excellent mini series with Bryan Brown many years earlier and hoped the book would prove an even richer experience. I was right. Quietly compelling & beautifully told, this novel made my heart ache to be leaving Australia whilst I was still there! This was one I selfishly took home with me, rather than the usual (and wonderfully welcome) backpacker practice of leaving books on hostel bookshelves for the next weary, and word hungry traveller.
Rating:
Summary: A book you cannot forget
Review: I have listened to many of Nevil Shute's books, and this is my favourite. The book's starting-point is a real story that happened during World War II: When the Japanese invaded Sumatra, they captured 80 Dutch women and children. The prisoners were forced to walk along the roads for 2 ½ years, and by the end less than 30 were alive. Shute's novel takes place on Malakka, because he knew this island better than Sumatra. His main character is an English-woman called Jean Paget. In a touching way he describes how the women have to fight for their survival. When the war ends, Jean is told that she has inherited some money, and decides to go to Australia to meet a man she cannot forget
Rating:
Summary: A town like Alice
Review: My comment on this book is that we can learn a lot from this story and the difficult situations refugees have to face and fear. Nobody in the book liked the refugees and the people kept saying that there was no place for them. In our school there are many refugee children, and it's really not easy for them to adjust. So everyone should try to make the best of the situation he/she is in. I think it's a great book for pupils who like adventure stories and books about war. I enjoyed the book very much and I hope that other students will read it too.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Storyteller
Review: Nevil Shute is a magician with the written word. Jean Paget is a true heroine, and somebody that I aspire to be some day. Joe Harman is the hunky Aussie cowboy. They are both heroes. This is a must read!!!! I guarantee you will love this book. It has all the essentials of a good story.
Rating: 
Summary: A classic will they- won't they tale with a nice twist.
Review: This book opens in Malaysia during WW2, with descriptions based on Shute's own experiences in Indonesia during the war. In a chance encounter an English Girl and an Australian soldier meet and feel something special exists between them. After the war, each attempts to contact the other. They travel the world to find out if their memories of that defining moment are real, or were a personal illusion, not held by the other person. A real heart rending tale of true romance set in a passionate backdrop of war and the aftermath, and the wild spaces of central Australia. This is not just an Australian classic, it is a classic! A relly good memorable read.
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