Trustee from the Toolroom

Rating:
Summary: Thorough, intelligent page turner
Review: Getting to know the retired British machinist Keith Stewart is easy and familiar--a modest, somewhat overly-fat hobbit-like man in his sixties. His evolution, though, was compelling-- a person whose personal integrity forces him to sail to the South Seas--with the resources of only sixty pounds sterling, his reputation as writer for _The Miniature Mechanic_, and his personal qualities of intelligence, and untapped courage. That little engine he made and carried in his pocket helped, too: a four stroke 7-cc running on petrol with a little carburetor, a tiny magneto and miniature sparking plug. "The whole lot mounted on a little baseplate was about four inches long, two inches wide and two and a half inches high."

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the finest adventure novel ever.
Review: I couldn't put this book down. A humble machinist goes on high adventure to save his niece's inheritance. Lots of talk about machines and hobby machining. Hobby machinists in the U.S. come to the aid of this Brit in the islands near Tahiti. GREAT READING. Fast and easy to read book. Again, I just couldn't put it down.

John

Rating:
Summary: A quietly courageous adventure
Review: I read this one when it was printed before ISBNs came into being. Before I left London & it has always been my favorite Nevil Shute story.

In this age of in-your-face language & novels saturated with every evil event a human's mind can plausibly conjure up, this master storyteller's quiet & lean prose about real, ordinary people & their choices, entices you into one man's little life of miniature models, hardworking wives & honoring one's vows.

From an unpeturbed basement workshop to the paradise of the broad Pacific ocean, a middle-aged man, more comfotable at his workbench than jetting across the world, takes on a mission to retrieve a treasure he himself hid in the ballast of his sister & brother-in-law's wrecked sail boat.

For the sake of his niece, he leaves the safety of his suburban routine to travel far & wide to bring her inheritance back.

A deeply satisfying & redemptive read, of a time long ago, when things were a lot more simple & simple honor was a lot more evident.

Warms your heart, soothes your soul & tells a good story as well!

Rating:
Summary: a feel good book
Review: If you like to have people you admire as central characters in a novel, and if you like to see them overcome their difficulties you will like this account of a modest but very gifted man who has good things happen to help him overcome the hurdles before him. This is a book which will leave you feeling good about the world and the book. I enoyed it greatly, and think it is a winner, tho there is nothing abstruse about it, except the knowledge which Keith Stewart, and various people he meets up with, have and use to have things come out as you will very much want them to.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful tale of a common man doing extraordinary things.
Review: Keith Stewart lives quietly in suburban London, working free-lance for a model mechanic magazine. His sister and brother in law have him hide a jewel box aboard their sailboat just before they emigrate to Vancouver. But when the ship goes down in the South Pacific with them both, Keith must not only raise their young daughter, but must seek to retrieve the jewel box from the wreck.

Keith has never before left Britain, and is very much a fish out of water. But there's not that much suspense to this story, as he finds that many people who have read of his work are delighted to help him along.

All the same, it isn't an easy trip for Keith, but it is a far easier one for the reader, with a fine read and memorable characters.

Rating:
Summary: Read this to your children
Review: This book provides excellent object lessons to children (and teens) in the areas of morality and integrity. The main character in the book, Keith Stewart, takes on the task of caring for his niece after her parents are killed trying to sail from England through the Pacific. Known only to Keith, the parents have hidden their wealth, in the form of diamonds, in the ballast of the sailboat. He takes on the task of getting to a remote island in the South Pacific to salvage his niece's inheritance. I read this book to my son several times while he was growing up, and then he read it himself several times. It also lead to him tracking down other Shute books. It is not great literature, but it is a gripping, fascinating story demonstrating high ideals.

Rating:
Summary: A humble man completes a heroic task--superbly well.
Review: This is a terrific book--one of my top favorites. It is the story of Keith Stewart--a working class hobbyist and writer for "Miniature Mechanic" magazine--who circumnavigates the world to fulfill his role as trustee for his niece's inheritance. Stewart discovers that, through his magazine articles, he has a world-wide following of readers eager to assist him with his task: to recover a box of diamonds which sank with his brother's sailboat in the South Pacific. I first read this book when I was a teenager and have re-read it a number of times since (once--cover to cover--on a flight between Boston and Los Angeles). Nevil Shute's prose are straightforward and compelling. The plot moves quickly; you will not want to put this book down. Upon finishing "Trustee from the Toolroom," you will not only admire Keith Stewart, you will want to emulate him

Rating:
Summary: A perfect trust in the unexpected
Review: This is a wonderful book. A simple story about an unassuming man who has turned his avocation of fabricating small machines into a modest occupation that makes his everyday existence a pleasure for himself and his equally unassuming and good-hearted wife. He decides to embark upon a quest to reclaim his niece's lost inheritance--a treasure chest of diamonds hidden by himself and her father on the wrecked ship in which both her wealthy upper-class parents were killed. He does not want the diamonds for himself but the education and future of his niece which he will not be otherwise able to supply on his own rather meager income. So the hero starts out on a trip half way around the world with not enough money and no legitimate assurance that he will even make it back alive, much less win the prize. He knows it is a long shot. But, with the encouragement of his wife who will hold down the fort at home, he embarks upon this high-seas, dangerous journey simply because he thinks it's the right thing to do. He wouldn't feel right if he didn't try. That he might fail is not the important thing. This very rational, prudent man who has lived what many would consider a rather dull life of habit and order will now put all his trust in the enexpected and taste a life of risk and adventure. Very inspiring.

Rating:
Summary: The Bond of Common Values
Review: This is the story of a man who dedicated his thought and efforts to the work he loved and how his own selfish pursuit created a world-wide circle of good will and benevolence. This delightful tale shows how the bond of common values transcends vast differences among men.

Rating:
Summary: Words to Live By
Review: This was Neville Shute's final novel, and perhaps derives much of its mood due to this. Best known for the depressing nuclear holocaust story On the Beach, Shute wrote this as a celebration of the simple pleasures in life. The protagonist Keith is an unassuming, married, but childless, middle-aged man living in suburban London (Ealing) with his working wife. He has forsaken a more lucrative engineering career in order to pursue his love of miniature modeling and a very meager income as a columnist for "Miniature Mechanic" magazine. When his sister and brother-in-law die in a shipwreck near Tahiti, he becomes the guardian and trustee for his 10-year-old niece. Next thing you know, Keith, who has never left the country, has to find a way to make his way to a remote Pacific island to recover a box of diamonds that was on the wreck. Shute writes convincingly of the things nautical and engineering Keith encounters on his adventure. Along the way he is aided by a somewhat improbable number of people who know him from his reputation in he world of miniature mechanics. It teeters on being trite and corny, but ultimately works as a celebration of karma. Keith has been a good, selfless man, and so other good, selfless men are willing to help him--and he ends up doing what he loves. At the end of his life, Shute returned to this basic message on how to live and love life, and it works.