In the wet / by Nevil Shute

This book was written in 1952, just after Queen Elizabeth took the throne, and is an odd look at what Nevil thought would happen to the British Commonwealth, and specifically to the concept of Royalty, under the influence of post-WWII economic and political pressures, over a period of 30 years from the time of the book's writing. As is typical for Nevil, the book has no bad guys, no sharp dramatic tension, but rather some fine character portraits, a properly told love story, and some very exacting insights into social and political structures. The book is actually told in two separate pieces. One is a framing story of an elderly Church of England pastor newly assigned to a rather remote area of the Australian outback and his efforts to minister to a flock that is literally spread over an area larger than many states. Nevil's description of the area and people in this area both during the dry season and 'in the wet' is startlingly full of life, a fine portrait that does much to illustrate some of Nevil's social commentary, which creeps in almost from the side, rarely directly presented. But from this everyday world, we move to a totally different one as our priest, suffering from malaria induced fevers and hallucinations, is forced by circumstance to minister to an old, dying drunkard, Stevie. In trying to learn about Stevie's past, we enter the world of the future, as Stevie's half-incoherent words combine with the priest's inner hallucinations to form the story of David Anderson, an Australian pilot chosen to fly the personal aircraft of the Queen. This vision of the future shows an England of near total socialism, sadly depopulated by emigration to other Commonwealth countries, poorly ruled and near bankrupt, questioning the value of supporting the royal family. Opposing this are the pictures of Canada and Australia as vibrant, growing economies, and where one of the key differences in government is the idea of individuals being able to earn more than the basic one vote, available to everyone, by education, military service, public service, travel, and by special dispensation (i.e. 'The Queen's Favor). Supposedly this form of enfranchisement has led to better, more efficient government - whether it really would is an obvious topic for debate. What is intriguing about this is just where Nevil got events right and where his vision diverged from what really happened. Little things like his prediction that Christmas Island would be turned over to Australian governance in 1961 (actual was 1958) and his portrait of a middle-aged Queen Elizabeth (startlingly accurate) and major things like his prediction of England's economic sharp decline and turn towards socialism show just how in tune with the times Nevil was. At the same time, his predictions on technology were sadly off the mark, the 'security' procedures surrounding the Queen are almost laughably inadequate when seen from today's viewpoint, and he took the problems of England too far, not fores

This is a wonderful book; it has instantly joined my personal top ten. Beautifully written, in the straightforward enconomical storytelling style which Shute mastered, it is several stories within a story, with wonderful historical accents, delicate interplay between Australian and English culture, a spicy dose of politics, a tender love story, and even some farsighted future gazing (the story was written in 1952).

Nevil Shute captured some wonderful ideas about balancing the power of governance. In his new utopian community, created as a result of the horrific expense of maintaining the "royals and their lifestyle" should be explored for implementation in the U.S. By Shute's plan every man and woman received a birthright vote. However, you could add votes, up to a maximum of 4 (total votes to be cast = 5) by the following: (1) if you owned property -- I believe this was a requirement in early history. (2) If you completed a certain level of education -- presumably public high school (3) If you served your country in the Armed Forces, and (4) reserved for very special situations, like the Congressional Medal of Honor or the Nobel Peace Prize. With all of our computer technology this seems to make great sense to vest the governance of our country with those who have, mostly by their own efforts, contributed more than just being born and having a birthright vote.

This is another of Nevil Shute's great stories of Australia. The frame of the story is really what is so marvellous. Shute is excellent in capturing the point of view of an elderly Church of England priest out in the sparsely-populated outback of the late 1940s. The futuristic body of the story is touching, to contrast Shute's projection of the British Royal family with the way that they have behaved in reality. But the voice of that old priest is what one simply cannot forget. It's similar, but even better, than the frame narrator of the old solicitor in "A Town Like Alice."