Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic
Review: My mother-in-law bought it for me and I loved it. I read it in just 3 days, tearing myself away for meals. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a high-quality, good fiction book. Loved that there was a heroin, romance, action, adventure, and entreprenuership. I'm 30 and loved it; my mother-in-law is in her 60's and loved it. Great for all adult ages.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing!
Review: I just finished reading A Town Like Alice for what must be the 12th-plus time in a 20-year love affair with this story. The range of reviews for the book surprised me. What other readers saw as boring I saw as the refreshing way Nevil Shute tells a complex story where the events speak for themselves, without resorting to schmaltz or over-dramatization. The strength of Jean's character alone is a standout in quiet feminie heroism. The prior reviews have also criticized the handling of Joe Harmon's character as being "two-dimensional", but I believe Mr. Shute remains true to Joe's quiet and simple nature--and the story is, after all, mainly Jean's anyway.As to the complaints of racism, the novel represents what was then the unfortunate attitudes of the white settlers to the Aboriginal natives. Would the same reviewers have criticized Margaret Mitchell's handling of black slaves in Gone With the Wind? A Town Like Alice shows realism in characters and their attitudes, it is not a story of civil rights or political correctness. A truly moving and poignant love story, one of the best of its time and indeed, of today as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful book which works on many levels
Review: Too few of Nevil Shute's books are in print in this country--fortunately, this is one of the better one. When an old Scottish man dies, London solicitor Noel Strachan learns that his sole heir is a young woman named Jean Paget. Strachan acts as her trustee, dispensing money as needed under the will, but the old lawyer soon finds himself falling for the young lady. Before Strachan has done more than shown her London's culture, Paget is off to Malaya to repay the village where she stayed during WWII by digging a well. She convinces Strachan to release the money by telling the story (based on real life) of how she and other women were held prisoner by the Japanese, but eventually found refuge in a small village. Before they go there, they encounter a young Australian, Joe Harmon, who is crucified for stealing food for them. When Paget returns to Malaya, she learns that Harmon survived and returned to Australia. Meanwhile, Harmon has gone to England to seek her, having thought she was married when they met in Malaya. They eventually meet up in Australia (Strachan, out of his own love for Jean, has gently attempted to frustrate the meeting). Jean, determined to make her home in Harmon's home area, sets out to make the godforsaken town into "A Town Like Alice"--a modern town like Alice Springs. It is a fascinating story. But overlooked in every review I read is the role of the old solicitor, Noel Strachan, who finds himself in love with Jean some decades too late, and is unable to serve as a rival to Joe Harmon. He soon surrenders his unexpressed (even to himself) love out of regard for Jean's interest. His unrequited love, lends a poignant note to the book. There are no villains. Even the dark characters, like the Japanese who crucified Harmon, are seen as human beings doing the best they can. The fact that the acts they do can be terrible do not alter the fact that they are human beings, and they are painted as such. Harmon and the other Australian characters are not painted as well as the other characters; perhaps Shute, who had only recently emigrated to Australia, was afraid of erring in characterizations. Still, a fine book that made a great miniseries.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutly the best!
Review: The book I have read once, the movie, I have watched more times than I can count. It is riveting, inspiring and touching. If I could only watch one more movie in my life, this would be it. Make your life richer by watching the movie and reading the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Wartime Romance and True Heroism - But Flawed by Racism
Review: I sought out this book after watching the Australian television production of the novel, starring Helen Morse and Bryan Brown, on video. The book is not nearly as good. Yes, it's the same riveting plot, and yes, the main female character is a true hero, as well as a heroine. But the main male character is merely a cardboard cutout, and the thoughtless racism in the author's and the characters' attitudes toward the Australian aborigines is horrible. This is one instance where the movie is much better than the book. Watch the five hour video production, instead. It's great.
Rating:
Summary: A story that stays with you! The best!
Review: "A Town Like Alice" reveals the "forced marches" imposed on WWII prisoners of war as they took place in, what was then, the Dutch East Indies. Historically, their captors, the Japanese army, took as prisoner men, women and children. The reason? They were either Dutch, English or Australian. Although the men were sent to labor camps, the captors did not always know where to take the women and children, and thus kept them walking, and walking, and walking. The story in the novel is transferred to the jungles of Malaysia. Prisoner of war Jean Pagett, a refined, young English woman, is the heroine, who takes over the leadership of the marching group of captives. Under devastating circumstances the women meet fellow prisoner of war Joe Harman, from the rugged Australian Outback, where he was a "ringer" or cattle runner. "Two total opposites" one would think but even though the war ends and everyone separates, they each set out a search to the opposing side of the earth to find the other. What was the bond and do they, in fact, accomplish their individual missions? Once involved in the story as a reader, it is difficult to put down the book. It's one of those of which you wish the last page had not come. An excellent read, a story that could have been true and one that gives hope that from bad circumstances, good, even great things can still come!
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite stories of all time.
Review: This classic of literature takes place on three continents. It involves history, geography, travel, adventure, misery, joy, evil, and love. He creates marvelous three-dimensional characters. Even the countryside is like another character, because it's so full and important to the story. I first discovered this story on PBS's "Masterpiece Theater" and that production was true to the book. The video (of that production) and the audiotape are also excellent. I had tears in my eyes when it came to an end, wanting it to go on and on. A completely satisfying book.
Rating: 
Summary: A town called Corny
Review: I honesty cannot find any redeeming qualities in this book. Everything is ruined by the writing style, even the almost salvageable descriptions of the outback and the Malay jungle. The abundance of irrelevant facts (is Anne Tyler a direct descendant of Nevil Shute?) that drag the storyline along for ages and provide absolutely nothing to the plot was unbearable. Same thing with the myriad of characters that pepper the pages, which have a half-a-minute cameo appearance, never to be heard of again. I estimate the adverb 'presently' was used about once per page. Joe has the adjective 'sheepish' tacked on every other time he is mentioned. If this book were to become a movie, i would picture Gerard Depardieu playing the part of Big Oaf Joe. The old lawyer is the narrator of the story, yet how could you narrate dialog taking place between two or three people 12000 miles away? Surely Jean did not write all that verbatim in her letters! From a documentary standpoint, one could see that this novel uses racial epithets for male and female Aborigines (boongs and lubras) because it is reflecting the spirit of the time (another example is when Jean starts her shop and she decides to have an annex where the colored can go). However, i do think that the descriptions of the Japanese in the early parts of the novel are very racist. These descriptions went beyond reporting, and i did not appreciate that. The funniest part of the book is when Joe and Jean finally reveal their love for each other, and Jean almost loses her virginity in the heat of passion. She and Joe decide to cool it off, and the next morning, when she is taking a bath, she discovers bruises all over her body, and reflects on "the narrowness of her escape from a fate worse than death". WOW! I know the story takes place in post WWII time, but it was hilarious to read those sentiments. There are lots of contradictions in the book. For example, Joe and Jean go to a semi-desert island for the weekend, and that's when they get passionate. But they decide they are going to keep their romance a secret, so that the townspeople don't gossip. Well, what would they be thinking when they saw the young couple take off for the weekend to a paradise island, no chaperone invited??? How about when Jean goes to the ranch overnight? Hmmm... Anyway, there are romance novels in your local supermarket that can be far more entertaining and less unnerving. Don't waste your time on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I had to read this book for school, so I thought 'Oh, no it's TOO long! I'll just go to amazon.com and read the reviews' But when I saw the fantastic praises this book had, I decided to read it. The beggining wasnt very good but then, I just loved it! I fell in love of the Australian outback and of Malaysia, though very good things didnt happen there. I reccomend it to all of you who just wants to discover what a REAL book is.
Rating:
Summary: This is the Best Book ever!
Review: I have read this book at least twelve times, and each time it just gets better! It is my all time favorite book, and a very satisfying war romance. Don't let the first few pages in the beginning put you off, because although it's slow at first you won't be able to put it down afterwards. I love this book! (i'm 13 years old)
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