So Disdained

 

by Nevil Shute (ready by Stephen Thorne) c. 1928

an annual re-read

 

 

 

 

 

So much going on here

 

 

England, mid-1920s. Narrator Peter Moran is thrown into a moral abyss when he befriends a war buddy who has just crashed his airplane.  It is on the surface a simple story but in its depths it is a discussion of right and wrong, of friendship vs. duty, of socialism vs fascism vs. communism. The story is chilling, especially when you start to dig beyond the basic story and perhaps we see a glimpse of the international political rivalries that will eventually frame the rest of the 20th century and beyond. 

Four stars -- because it makes you think