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James Hilton
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Random Harvest: A Novel Kindle Edition

by James Hilton (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 883 ratings
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A World War I veteran’s comfortable life is upended by buried memories in this “completely real and convincing” New York Times bestseller by an Academy Award–winning screenwriter (The New York Times).

Charles Rainier’s family feared him lost along with so many of Britain’s youth during the Great War. But two years after he was reported missing in action, he appears in a Liverpool hospital with no memory of the time that has passed. Rainier marries and embarks on a life of relative success, but he still can’t recall his time on the battlefield—until the first bombs of the Second World War begin to fall.
 
Suddenly, his memories flood back. Now, recollections of a violent battlefield, a German prison, and a passionate affair all threaten to fracture the peaceful life he has worked so hard to create.
 
From the bestselling author of Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips—who also earned an Oscar for his screenwriting during Hollywood’s Golden Age—Random Harvest is a moving account of the trauma of war, the disruption of a seemingly ordinary life, and the courage required to find redemption in the face of the most overwhelming circumstances.
 
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  1. Print length
    285 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Open Road Media
  5. Publication date
    May 1, 2012
  6. File size
    3038 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Completely real and convincing.” —The New York Times 

About the Author

James Hilton (1900–1954) was a bestselling English novelist and Academy Award–winning screenwriter. After attending Cambridge University, Hilton worked as a journalist until the success of his novels Lost Horizon (1933) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1934) launched his career as a celebrated author. Hilton’s writing is known for its depiction of English life between the two world wars, its celebration of English character, and its honest portrayal of life in the early twentieth century.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007JCZJYY
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media; Reprint edition (May 1, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 1, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3038 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 285 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 883 ratings

About the author

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James Hilton

James Hilton

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James Hilton (1900–1954) was a bestselling English novelist and Academy Award–winning screenwriter. Hilton worked as a journalist until the success of his novels Lost Horizon (1933) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1934) launched his career as a celebrated author. After moving to California, Hilton continued to write novels and screenplays.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
883 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Thomas R. Dean
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful story of loss, longing and fulfillment
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2003
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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.
75 people found this helpful
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Frank Reilly
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting novel. Seemingly "slice of life" but on the end a startling story
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2023
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The sort of strange life story of a post WW1 shell shocked amnesiac. The ending is surprising and wonderful. Best of all no epilog, the main mystery surprisingly solved and no need to agonize over other loose ends
One person found this helpful
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Janie H
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2024
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I'd seen the movie based on this book several times and decided to read the book as well. Excellent idea!
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Gene Cisco
5.0 out of 5 stars Feast For Your Eyes and Mind
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2010
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There is a risk in having seen the Ronald Colman film of "Random Harvest" prior to reading this author's masterpiece, but with all bets on the table you will reap a jackpot. The book is allowed to be more than just a sentimental love story. At once, it conveys the disorientation of the war-damaged Charles Rainier as well as the social and political losses throughout the isles. Hilton's treatment of the time changes within creates within the reader a vagueness, a sympathy that coincides with the confusion within Rainier which hastens the suspense. And the journey, if known from the film alone, has more twists and turns in order to flesh out the rumblings within the social fabric in England as the industrial age picks up speed. The few side-journeys introduce an eccentric cleric (Blampied)(no Hollywood stock character) who speaks for all those individuals lucky enough to be happy within rapid societal change. And this singular man inspires Rainier to bridge the gulf between his memory loss(past)and his future, convincing him of the need to keep his feet to the ground as well as an eye toward the future.It goes beyond a history lesson. There are many musings within that speak for today. Smithy (Rainier before he regains his memory) asks the reverend how he should make a living and he replies,"Life's more important than a living. So many people who make a living are making death, not life. Don't ever join them. They're the gravediggers of our civilization--- the safe men, the comporisers, the money-makers, the muddlers-through..... and part of their charm is that they don't know what they are, just as they don't know what we are, either." Another sentiment worth note late in the story, memory-deprived but fully conscious Rainier opines,"...the Ranier firm gives steady employment to thousands...But I know too that the way that made Rainiers rich was the opposite of the way to make England strong." I wish some of our current political leaders were fiction readers. And all the reviewers are correct on the climactic finale to this wonderful literary effort. It triumphs more than romantically.
11 people found this helpful
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Karen Sue Wolven
3.0 out of 5 stars if you're looking for a better version of the movie, it's not here
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2014
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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.
17 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

A. Roberton
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 29, 2022
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I love this story and after seeing the film several times - actually many times as it is one of my all-time favourite films - I thought it was about time I read the book.

I realised from the very first page that this was going to be far more complex than the film and that it would be something to savour. It took a while to read as I didn't wish to hurry through it, plus I really did SAVOUR it.

The story is different to say the least, it tells of a young man who loses his memory during the first world war. Not only his memory, but also his individuality. The story has a few surprises and keeps the reader on their toes.

I love this book and recommend it to anyone who like a good long detailed read.
3 people found this helpful
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RAJEEV SHRIKHANDE
5.0 out of 5 stars An engaging story, nicely told!
Reviewed in India on August 20, 2019
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A nice, old fashioned novel, with fine storytelling, believable characters, a Novel concept. Engaging, heartwarming. Worth a read. By all accounts.
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June Morley
5.0 out of 5 stars SEARCH OVER, HAPPINESS AT LAST
Reviewed in Australia on September 28, 2022
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This book was much more illuminating, & boring in places, than the movie RANDOM HARVEST, starring Greer Garson, & Ronald Coleman. The book filled in so many gaps in the movie, but so many characters, & jumps in time, made it a bit confusing at times.The main characters, remained the same,( sort of ) but other things strayed from the movie.
However Paula ie Greer Garson was still the lovely gentle loyal girl who Charles, unknowingly married twice, due to his 2 unfortunate bouts of AMNESIA. Paula was willing to wait for her man until his health & memory returned, however long it took. This took place over 20 years, from when Charles escaped from the Asylum he was incarcerated in, due to his war injury, & subsequent Amnesia, on The day WW1 finished. Their confused relationship, then continued on for the next 20 years, until the day WW2 was declared, but in a bizarre way, as Charles memory faded in & out. Paula silently waited, & waited. SPOILER HERE, READ IT YOURSELF, FOR ANSWERS.
A very lovely book.
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Elanor
5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating
Reviewed in Germany on September 1, 2015
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I bought this book because I love the movie with Greer Garson and Ronald Coleman. And I don't regret it. Usually I read a book before I see a movie. But thats impossible if one learn afte seeing the movie, there is a book to know.
But this wonderful story and the difference between book and movie makes the reading really thrilling.
If you know the movie and don't know the book yet: Don't miss it!
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comcom6723
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Canada on August 16, 2014
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Good novel, would recommend.
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