Random Harvest

by James Hilton

Book Overview

It is set in the period preceding the Second World War. It is told in the first person of Harrison, and tells the story of Charles Rainier, a wealthy businessman, and politician, from his time in the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316364223
• ISBN13: 9780316364225
• Release Date: January 1943
• Publisher: Little Brown & Co
• Length: 327 Pages
• Weight: 1.19 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful story of loss, longing and fulfillment

I had first seen the wonderfully sentimental movie, which is one of my favorites.The book is not so sentimental. In reading the book, I was unprepared for how well-depicted would be the pain of the protagonist's psychological plight, how thought-provoking this book would be about society, and how much an individual could realistically be shown to be at a loss - no matter his external circumstances.This is very much about someone who senses that once his life had meaning to him, and he had happily occupied a niche in the world - and can't rediscover it. The author is so wonderful in conveying this desperation. Mr. Hilton also wonderfully conveys the highs and lows of both the well-born establishment, and the utterly displaced, of inter-war England. And amazingly, he brilliantly evokes the wonderfully dreamy feeling of being in love. The scenes in which Smitty finds the small town, climbs up to the small lake in the hills, what he sees when he awakens, and the following several days, must be among the most moving in fiction.I also love how the author shows the differences in personality between the earnest, sweet, easily alarmed, humble Smitty and the somewhat cynical, immensely able, practical-joking, self-deprecating Rainier - much of the difference seems engendered by the way they're treated and their places in life.I love how subtly the author shows Mrs. Rainier's reaction to Rainier's discoveries - it's just brilliantly done. And the book's ending could not be more satisfying.This is a more thought-provoking book than Goodbye Mr. Chips - and as much as I enjoyed that, this is a better one. I loved this as much as Hilton's So Well Remembered - which is high praise.

i have to re-read this at least once a year

this book is simply a great example of solid story-telling. you fall in love with the main characters, but the secondary players are fascinating as well. (i especially love the way hilton presents charles's siblings and their interactions -- as will anyone else from a large family.) i saw the movie first, but the book is still great every time i read it. anyone who is a fan of WWI-WWII era england is in for a treat with this book. if you want something wonderful to curl up with, a book you hate to see come to an end, this is the one.

A classic romantic tear-jerker

An exquisite wartime romance that bears a few resemblances to The English Patient, James Hilton's time-spinning tale is the type of book that grabs you in its first paragraph and leaves you breathless with its last sentence. Just make sure you don't see the wonderful, more straightforward Ronald Colman-Greer Garson film version first. The heartstopping plot twist at the end makes everything that goes before even more magical. Random Harvest is one of those books that you'll read and re-read for many years; I know I have, three times already.

A BEAUTIFUL,LYRICAL,EMOTIONAL ROMANCE.

'Random Harvest' I took to read only because its author was James Hilton, whose works like 'Goodbye..' and 'Lost..' I had enjoyed no end. But 'Random Harvest' is entirely different.A wonderfully written book which aptly fits the term 'poetry in prose',it is basically a romance of the 1st world war and yet remains aloof from the activities of the war.It touches it only to establish the romance plot.It is told in the form of a conversation and the finale is brilliantly told.'John Smith' and Paula just walk into your hearts and stay there for a long time after you have finished it.Yet there is a typical laid-back Hilton-ic strain right through the book.I recommend all to read the book, if not for the plot at least the beautiful country atmosphere of the England of the 1930s and 40s it creates.I loved the book.And know that all 'softer' hearted readers will enjoy it as well.