Random Harvest Paperback – February 4, 2011

"Random Harvest" is one of my wife's favorite movies. I've watched it twice with her, and I understand why she loves it.At a secobd-hand shop a couple of weeks ago, I found a paperback copy of the author's Goodbye, Mr. Chips. I bought it, took it home, and devoured it. I have reviewed it in gooodreads.com.Then I had to read Random Harvest. Thank you, Amazon, for making it so accessible to me.If you've seen the movie, and I hope you have, you are in for a treat that is nothing short of magical. It makes me want to cry that novels don't really translate to movies. Hollywood did a marvelous job; I don't see how they could have done better.But here Charles Rainier/Smithy is realized so REALly, true, living and breathing, a man, not a movie star. We get to live his live, the small, ignorable torture that his wounded memory makes his life. You will not find him superhuman. You will find him human, not extraordinary, not really greater than any of us, and you will love him.I compared Hilton's novel Goodbye, Mr. Chips to Aaron Copland's short musical piece "Fanfare for the Common Man". This book is that, and I hope the last paragraph will make you cry as it did me. I was anticipating it, having loved the movie, but how Hilton got us there is miraculous.

I love the plot. I did not like the beginning which glorified English high society culture. And not being in on the plot which is more important than the language and values of the British, I had to keep reading without putting it down. It's not a book you can leave, then pick up again. There's too many people to keep straight. But this is a great book. I am glad I made the effort to keep reading. I also looked at Wikipedia after I finished to clarify questions I had.

I really loved this book. It had some nice surprises and plot twists, right up to the very end. The structure of the novel was really ingenious and the way it made use of the main character Rainier's amnesia and the mystery surrounding his missing years. I found the characters very appealing. Also, as a stutterer, I was really stunned to discover the way that stuttering was used as a key plot point midway through the book. I don't want to give anything away, though.The book also gives you a really good idea of what England must have felt like on the brink of World War II, and what it was like for a returning World War I vet to discover that his country was about to be plunged back into the horrors of another war with Germany,Hilton's writing is always intelligent and sensitive. Although Rainier comes across at first as a cold businessman and politician, we learn to discover more and more of his nature and his romantic side as the story progresses, and the novel turns into a wonderful romance. After reading the book, I watched the old MGM movie with Ronald Colman and Greer Garson, and it was fascinating to see how they rearranged the plot into chronological order, but still managed to retain some of the surprises from the book. The movie is even more romantic and a real gem. But I would recommend waiting to watch it until after reading the book.

I love the movie and thought the book would be even better (as books usually are), but I was disappointed. The story is told by someone else (a postcard to Emily Bronte), and not one of the characters seems to be worthy of our empathy, sympathy, or even that much interest. I found them all rather hollow. It is a profoundly different story than the movie screenplay with major differences in the characters' personalities, their interactions, and their surroundings. I especially did not like the way the book ended - similar to the movie but with a third player involved when it should be just Smithy and Paula. There are a few places in the book where the author "does rather go on," as the English would say, which at times even felt like the author was on a soap box. Given his wartime experiences and the era in which this book was written, one could forgive him for waxing social or political (a postcard to Dickens, perhaps), but it detracts from the story. I may have liked it better had I never seen the movie and had not known the mystery from the start. I am also a huge Greer Garson fan and could not reconcile the character in the book, who is a rather shallow caricature, to the same role that she played on screen, nor could I get passed the fact that as I was reading the book, I was not finding it as compelling as the screenplay.

“Random Harvest” is a combination psychological/romantic story which had sometimes barely enough momentum to keep me reading. The plot centers on Charles Rainier, a wounded English veteran who had been a German prisoner in World War I.Following the war, Rainier’s personal battles continue for years as he struggles to recover from amnesia which has left him uncertain who he really is. Even as he eventually succeeds in becoming a prominent businessman and a Member of Parliament, he seems precariously balanced over frightening valleys of depression and self-discovery.The story is told mainly in flashbacks, alternating between past and present. It was interesting, but I found the narrative sometimes hard to follow because of the chopped-up time sequence. Also, the Kindle version has frequent typos which create unnecessary slowdowns for the reader.In short, the book has some frustrating drawbacks as well as stretches of good, unimpeded writing. I’d call this “experimental fiction,” compared with some of James Hilton’s more straightforward stories.

It is interesting see how great film scripts are developed from slightly flawed novels.The film version tidied up the narrative by sticking to chronological order, still managing to pull off little surprises.The book however has started towards the end and uses flashbacks. I am only some half way through the book sothere may be surprises in store compared to the film. A problem is deducing the identity of the narrator, a character in the story, who seemingly should not be present in some scenes.However there are brilliant touches, the agreement to reapportion the inheritance when the supposedly dead son appears just before his father's death, also the description of the butler.A good companion to the DVD of a great film.

I saw the film first many years ago and it remains a favourite of mine. I decided it was high time I read the book and I was not at all disappointed! Now, where’s that dvd. Time to watch it AGAIN.

I remember when I was around 15 my dad told me about the film Random Harvest with Ronald Coleman and Greer Garson and how it was one of his favourite films. I sat down and watched it one day with dad and it became one of my favourite films there and then of all time. Ten years later I decided to read the book. They are both equally amazing. To be honest I personally think that the film was better but this is still a 5 star book. If you haven't seen the film and read the book for the first time there is a twist at the end of it which alas the film cannot do (for reasons you will find out). A real page turner about the life of a WWI solider after the war. He has been put into an asylum because he cannot remember who he is, he manages to escape and meets the lovely Paula whom he falls in love with. Then he goes into Liverpool on business one day, has an accident and when he wakes up he assumes his identify from before and war and forgets about Paula. That is the story in a nutshell. A truly wonderful read!!

Arrived safely, great story and definitely worth a read . Keep tissues handy .

It's a romance but it is also a classic that was also made into a film. I loved it!