AccueilGroupesDiscussionsPlusTendances
Site de recherche
Ce site utilise des cookies pour fournir nos services, optimiser les performances, pour les analyses, et (si vous n'êtes pas connecté) pour les publicités. En utilisant Librarything, vous reconnaissez avoir lu et compris nos conditions générales d'utilisation et de services. Votre utilisation du site et de ses services vaut acceptation de ces conditions et termes.

Résultats trouvés sur Google Books

Cliquer sur une vignette pour aller sur Google Books.

Chargement...

What Happened to the Corbetts (1939)

par Nevil Shute

MembresCritiquesPopularitéÉvaluation moyenneMentions
313882,971 (3.68)25
Nevil Shute wrote this prophetic novel just before the start of the Second World War. In it he describes the devastation that results from an aerial bomb attack on Southampton that destroys the city's infrastructure and leaves the inhabitants at the mercy of cholera and further assaults. The story follows the trials and tribulations of the Corbett family as they try to get to safety.… (plus d'informations)
Aucun
Chargement...

Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre

Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre.

» Voir aussi les 25 mentions

Affichage de 1-5 de 8 (suivant | tout afficher)
What happened to the Corbetts is in a way a dystopian science fiction novel about the collapse of society after a catastrophic event. The writing style and atmosphere is similar to works of that period, its positively upbeat tone now feeling quite typical for that time.

It is a didactic novel, helpful to teach what to think of in case of such an event. This edition includes a preface written by the author explaining that the novel was written in 1938 when the reality of war with Nazi Germany was taking contours, and as an airman Shute rightly predicted that air raids would be an important part of an armed conflict. What happened to the Corbetts was published in 1939, five months before the outbreak of the war. ( )
  edwinbcn | Dec 11, 2021 |
Reads like historical fiction but it is not. The story takes place in a real setting but the background is fictional. Easy read as the author uses simple language and not-too-long sentences. More difficult would be the sailing jargon, which could be managed by skipping them. The ending touched me a little when Joan hurried Peter to join the naval crew upon sighting them at the port, rather than keeping Peter till they sailed. Parts of the book can be repetitive when the Corbetts faced the same challenges every day trying to decide what to do, and looking for essentials like milk. You feel like you have just read something similar. ( )
  siok | Aug 11, 2019 |
Another gem by Nevil Shute. The Corbetts are a normal English family—father, mother, two small children and a baby, living in a small house with a lovely garden—who find themselves scuttling to their garage for safety against a surprise bomb raid on their city. After the bomb raids continue, but only on cloudy nights, they decide to escape for safety to their small yacht, with hopes of eventually making it to safety in Canada.

The suddenness of the bomb raids pretty much destroys normal modes of communication—newspapers and radios—so no one much knows what's going on. Essential goods, gasoline, milk, bread, become scarce. Some kind of medical epidemic appears, perhaps; no one knows how virulent or wide spread. Thus everyone is left to speculate as to how best to protect themselves and their loved ones. They don't really know who the "enemy" is (never called out in the book) or why he suddenly began a random bombing campaign. People are pretty much forced to live day by day, making out as best they can. This story tells how the Corbetts themselves did that. Quite a nice story.

It was written shortly before World War II broke out, so is a bit prophetic it would seem. Certainly terrorist bombing of civilians became common in WWII, both in the German's regular air raids over London, and in our own flying over Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, .... Now, we're more sophisticated, we have drones do our terrorism for us. No real people involved. ( )
  lgpiper | Jun 21, 2019 |
What Happened to the Corbetts - Nevil Shute ****

Shute has to be one of my favourite authors and I have loved his works ever since stumbling across a copy of ‘On the Beach’ a few years back. I believe he wrote around 23 novels so I have been rationing myself and reading 2 – 3 a year. He seems to be fairly overlooked today which is a real shame, it is true that the books may seem a little dated but they still carry many messages and character traits that are equally as relevant today.

Written in 1938 the book is how Shute imagines the country will look after the outbreak of war and the struggles that will be faced. In order to detail this he introduces us to the Corbett family, as usual with the characters in a Shute book they tend to be middle class professionals and here we have no exceptions. Peter is a young solicitor whose wife stays at home with the children, one morning he wakes to discover that an air raid has taken place over Southampton, caught unaware he and his young family must first make sense of the attack and the damages caused, and then prepare for any further assaults. The bombings keep coming and soon the after effects are felt when fresh water and food stores run low. Eventually their lives become further endangered, and not just from the physical bombardments, but an outbreak of cholera forces Peter to take drastic action. A keen sailor he has a small private boat that he uses for holidaying around the British coast, using his knowledge he decides the safest way to safety is upon the open sea. But just what hardships will this decision throw in his way? Full of the horrors of war and the harsh reality of how a civilian’s life is turned upside down in an effort to protect those he loves.

Shute is one of those authors that has the ability to draw me into a bygone world, one where the men are men and still have manners, just like you imagined your grandparents lived (although they more than likely didn’t). Even the bad guys in his books tend to have decency about them. There is never any sex or swearing just for the shock factor and you get the feeling that he really wanted you to care about his characters and what becomes of them. The other aspect of this book is how much of it was to become a reality and although he looked at the worst possible scenarios, there really was the possibility that events could have turned out the way described. There is even evidence to support that the publishing of this book spurred both government and councils to revaluate the measures already implemented for the outbreak of war.

Although it doesn’t stand up as well to some of his later works, this is still a brilliant read. If it were written by anyone else I would give 5 stars, but when compared to Shute classics such as A Town Like Alice, it can only really be given a 4. ( )
  Bridgey | Jan 8, 2018 |
(7.5) There is something so soothing about a Nevil Shute novel. He creates such a clear picture of a time and place in English history. This novel was written in 1938 in an attempt to prepare the people of England for impending war. He imagines what it would be like to be subjected to continuous bombing raids and the resulting impact on every day life.
Peter and Joan Corbett and their three young children are forced to leave their home and retreat to their small yacht for safety from the nightly air raid attacks and the threat of cholera and typhoid. They set off on an adventure around the English coast.
My annual Nevil shute read never fails to satisfy and return this reader to a time that can only be revisited in books. ( )
  HelenBaker | Nov 13, 2016 |
Affichage de 1-5 de 8 (suivant | tout afficher)
aucune critique | ajouter une critique
Vous devez vous identifier pour modifier le Partage des connaissances.
Pour plus d'aide, voir la page Aide sur le Partage des connaissances [en anglais].
Titre canonique
Titre original
Titres alternatifs
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais. Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
Date de première publication
Personnes ou personnages
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais. Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
Lieux importants
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais. Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
Évènements importants
Films connexes
Épigraphe
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais. Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
Good luck have though with thine honour; ride on, because of the word of truth, of meekness, and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.
-Psalm 45
Dédicace
Premiers mots
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais. Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
Towards dawn Peter Corbett got up from the garage floor and, treading softly, moved into the driving seat of the saloon.
Citations
Derniers mots
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais. Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
(Cliquez pour voir. Attention : peut vendre la mèche.)
(Cliquez pour voir. Attention : peut vendre la mèche.)
(Cliquez pour voir. Attention : peut vendre la mèche.)
Notice de désambigüisation
Directeur de publication
Courtes éloges de critiques
Langue d'origine
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais. Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
DDC/MDS canonique
LCC canonique

Références à cette œuvre sur des ressources externes.

Wikipédia en anglais

Aucun

Nevil Shute wrote this prophetic novel just before the start of the Second World War. In it he describes the devastation that results from an aerial bomb attack on Southampton that destroys the city's infrastructure and leaves the inhabitants at the mercy of cholera and further assaults. The story follows the trials and tribulations of the Corbett family as they try to get to safety.

Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque

Description du livre
Résumé sous forme de haïku

Discussion en cours

Aucun

Couvertures populaires

Vos raccourcis

Évaluation

Moyenne: (3.68)
0.5
1
1.5
2 3
2.5 2
3 11
3.5 5
4 12
4.5
5 9

Est-ce vous ?

Devenez un(e) auteur LibraryThing.

 

À propos | Contact | LibraryThing.com | Respect de la vie privée et règles d'utilisation | Aide/FAQ | Blog | Boutique | APIs | TinyCat | Bibliothèques historiques | Critiques en avant-première | Partage des connaissances | 203,187,442 livres! | Barre supérieure: Toujours visible