Pastoral by Nevil Shute ~ 1944. This edition: Ballantine, 1971. Paperback. ISBN: 345-02275-0-095. 222 pages.
This understated yet powerful novel follows two young officers stationed at an Oxfordshire Royal Air Force base mid way through World War II.
Peter Marshall is a twenty-two-year-old bomber pilot, with more than fifty missions under his belt. He keeps himself sane and centered by going on country walks and fishing on his off time; he’s thoroughly pleased to be stationed in a rural area where he and his like-minded aircrew can pursue their bucolic relaxations. None of them think too hard about the chances of their not coming back next time out; time enough for that when it happens.
Then something else happens.
Peter catches sight of a new face in the radio communication unit, one Section Officer Gervase Robertson of the W.A.A.F. She notices him in turn, and the traditional courtship ritual is on: advances, retreats, pauses, moments of passionate emotion – following its normal course though sudden and violent death stands ever in the wings.
Both young people are serious-minded in their personal attitudes towards their emotional investments in each other and, also, their predictably urgent sexual desires. It becomes apparent almost immediately that a casual romantic fling isn’t even on the table, which leads to certain complications as things between them advance.
Gervase hadn’t thought of marrying quite yet; she’s a mere twenty-one and takes her role in the war effort very seriously indeed. Peter now thinks of nothing else, to the detriment of his hitherto-untroubled sleep and his crucial concentration, leading to the endangerment of himself, his devoted flight crew, and his plane.
How the two come to an eventual compromise is the strand that runs through this delicately sombre yet optimistically hope-filled tale.
It’s quietly stunning to realize how very young all of these people are. Hardly entered into their full adult lives, they deal with being caught up in a brutal war as matter-of-factly as they wrote their school essays just a few years before. And though it is never stated outright, the thought is ever-present that everyone here, on the side of “right”, is engaged not just in dodging but in dealing out death to others such as themselves, who also merely want to live.
Pastoral is tenderly handled, but never trespasses into over-sentimental. Occasionally it is heart-breaking. The descriptions of base life, bombing missions, rural relaxations and occasional Oxford and London leaves are very well portrayed. In my opinion, one of Nevil Shute’s memorable best.
My rating: 10/10
Hmm, I thought I’d read all of Nevil Shute’s books, back in my dewy youth. This one rings no bells, except the title.
This one I have not come across, but I am going to have to order. My favourite is a Town like Alice. I read it every year.
This is one of my very favorite books and this is the first time I have seen it reviewed. I loved it too!
This is high praise, indeed. I see I shall have to look out for this one.
I really like this book, but I always feel a bit uneasy about Gervase. I can’t help thinking that she is pressured into the relationship before she’s quite ready.
Yes, I had that feeling too in the earlier part of the novel, but then relaxed when she quietly took control of her situation and thought everything out – albeit under emotional duress during Peter’s last ordeal. I think the whole point Shute is making here is that wartime changes things vitally – there really isn’t time for leisurely approaches – it’s all very carpe diem and hope for the best. Some relationships forged under those circumstances worked out incredibly well, some were utter disasters. Knowing our characters as we come to do here the odds are definitely on the first scenario, aren’t they? That is, if they both survive…
Excellent review. I love this one and completely agree that it is one of Shute’s best.
I thought I had read all of Nevil Shute’s books years ago, but I don’t remember this one. I shall look out for it. Thank you.
I read all of Shute when I was a teenager. I must start revisiting him, and your review makes this one near the top of the list.
Pastoral is available to Canadians legally here, due to copyright and public domain laws.
https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20180532
Shamefully, I’ve never read *any* Shute. Sounds like I should start soon. Thanks for sharing this for the 1944 Club! 😀
I’m adding this to the TBR list. I haven’t read Shute before but want to read some of his work.
Great to have another 10/10 book in the 1944 club! For some reason I’ve never been tempted to read any Shute, but this might change that…
Shute produced some really great stuff. (And some not-quite-so-great stuff, too, admittedly.) You can’t go wrong with this one, or A Town Like Alice. Pied Piper is good, too. And for something completely different, there’s always his sombre WW III novel, On the Beach. That one is absolutely tragic – I read it as a high school student and never again, though I fully intend to one day. Very grim, involving a submarine crew wandering the seas after a world-wide nuclear holocaust. But mostly he’s a positive-spin sort of writer, though he’s not averse to letting his characters die on occasion. (That sounds grim, too. Usually it’s okay in context with his plots.)