![]() ![]() "On the contrary, I feel rather inclined to treat my mind as one does a clock when it won't go-give it a shake-up and see what happens. but here it means nothing because we don't believe it could ever happen-and that's not wishful thinking-it's neither wishing nor thinking, but a kind of inbreathed illusion. ![]() We soon stopped hating the Germans, and just as soon we began to laugh at the idea of anyone caring enough about the horrid past to ask us that famous question on the recruiting posters-'What did you do in The Great War?' But even the most cynical of us couldn't see ahead to a time when the only logical answer to that question would be another-'Which Great War?'When a placard that proclaimed "Collapse of England" regarding a cricket match - quotes are in French & German."Just think of it-'Debacle de la France' or 'Untergang Deutschlands'. I found out in this book how deadly the Flu of 1918.Įxcerpts-"Most of us were both-tired of the war and everything connected with it, eager to push ahead into something new. This book is divided into 5 sections which are long & have a different focus on the story. He lives his life but certain things he sees reminds him this some past that he can't remember. He comes back home to an ill rich father & his siblings who find his return unpleasant since they thought him dead. ![]() His memory comes back to him one rainy day in Liverpool but the previous 2 years are lost & his desire to know these years is immense. Harrison who is telling the story of Charles Rainer with flash backs that Charles relates to him limited as they are because he has suffered "Shell Shock" from his service in WW1. The book starts on Armistice Day, Novemand is narrated by Mr. But the story is a romantic in the main which the movie portrayed as well. I have many quotes which I will put at the end of the review. What I found so intriguing about "Random Harvest" published in 1941 were the thoughts of the characters about both WW1 & WW2 and to me reading something that is written in times of crisis with an uncertain future is profound. Chips" both have movie versions which I plan on reading in the future. I loved this book & recommend the movie too! The author James Hilton was an English writer who also did Hollywood screen plays. I was intrigued at reading yet another movie I had seen as a classic movie and to see the difference in the two. ![]() My reads are random as well as planned & "Random Harvest" was a random pick after looking at e books offers via an e mail. I had seen "Random Harvest" with Ronald Coleman & Greer Garson some years ago but remembered the film which some areas were a little confusing like Kitty's relationship to Charles but other than that an enjoyable classic movie. He was also quite clever - I recommend reading the novel before seeing the film, as it features a particular plot device which couldn't be duplicated in the film version, although it works very well on the page. It's a pity today's readers aren't as familiar with Hilton (other than LOST HORIZON) as he was a wonderful storyteller. RANDOM HARVEST is well worth seeking out - it was enormously popular and often turns up in used bookstores. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it's because RANDOM HARVEST became one of the screen's best-loved romantic films in 1942, starring Ronald Colman and Greer Garson (this was the year of Miss Garson's Oscar triumph in MRS. It seems she was his secretary after he returned to the family business. Behind the scenes his enigmatic wife quietly sees to arrange dinner parties and gatherings for the people he must deal with. Eventually he takes over the reigns of the family business and restores it to success, and becomes a successful politician as well. He begins to reconstruct his life again, knowing all the while that something - and someone - is missing. He regains consciousness and knows he's a member of a prominent and wealthy family. It's an engrossing tale of a man who loses his memory due to being shelled in the Great War, eventually finds happiness with a young actress, and then is knocked down on a Liverpool street. RANDOM HARVEST is one of the two James Hilton novels I re-read about every five years or so (the other is LOST HORIZON). ![]()
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