Stephen Morris (including Pilotage)

Rating:
Summary: A Remarkable First Novel and a Good History as Well
Review: STEPHEN MORRIS (inc. PILOTAGE) is both a compelling work of fiction and a very fine and thinly disguished memoir/history of the early days of British aviation immediately after the First World War. It is so good, in fact, that one wonders why he chose not to publish it: it did not appear until after his death. In its graceful and arresting writing, it anticipates his later aviation-theme novels, and in its glimpse of the proto-British aircraft industry, it calls to mind his autobiography SLIDE RULE. Shute, of course, made his living as a professional aeronautical engineer and stress calculator (as Nevil S. Norway), working for de Havilland on early biplane transport development, then the Vickers concern during the great days of British airship development, and then as a founder of the Airspeed company, a firm noted for the production of small, very high quality executive aircraft and trainers. As a novel, STEPHEN MORRIS and PILOTAGE (the two works are linked) anticipate those great novels of Saint-Exupery, SOUTHERN MAIL and NIGHT FLIGHT. As well, they call to mind Ernest Gann's best fiction, particularly his book BLAZE OF NOON. Shute understands the world of the airman (he was an accomplished light aircraft pilot), and, given his participation in the industry at the time, naturally understands the course of the field as well. This, too, echoes Saint-Ex and Gann. I would recommend that readers read all of these works to gain their own perspective on Shute, Saint-Ex, and Gann, as novelist-airmen and (in the case of Shute) as a designer and entrepreneur as well. In sum, STEPHEN MORRIS and PILOTAGE need to be read far more widely than they have been, and considered as major contributions to the early popular understanding of flight.

Rating:
Summary: A Remarkable First Novel and a Good History as Well
Review: STEPHEN MORRIS (inc. PILOTAGE) is both a compelling work of fiction and a very fine and thinly disguished memoir/history of the early days of British aviation immediately after the First World War. It is so good, in fact, that one wonders why he chose not to publish it: it did not appear until after his death. In its graceful and arresting writing, it anticipates his later aviation-theme novels, and in its glimpse of the proto-British aircraft industry, it calls to mind his autobiography SLIDE RULE. Shute, of course, made his living as a professional aeronautical engineer and stress calculator (as Nevil S. Norway), working for de Havilland on early biplane transport development, then the Vickers concern during the great days of British airship development, and then as a founder of the Airspeed company, a firm noted for the production of small, very high quality executive aircraft and trainers. As a novel, STEPHEN MORRIS and PILOTAGE (the two works are linked) anticipate those great novels of Saint-Exupery, SOUTHERN MAIL and NIGHT FLIGHT. As well, they call to mind Ernest Gann's best fiction, particularly his book BLAZE OF NOON. Shute understands the world of the airman (he was an accomplished light aircraft pilot), and, given his participation in the industry at the time, naturally understands the course of the field as well. This, too, echoes Saint-Ex and Gann. I would recommend that readers read all of these works to gain their own perspective on Shute, Saint-Ex, and Gann, as novelist-airmen and (in the case of Shute) as a designer and entrepreneur as well. In sum, STEPHEN MORRIS and PILOTAGE need to be read far more widely than they have been, and considered as major contributions to the early popular understanding of flight.