ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

A Review of the Book, All Quiet On The Orient Express

Updated on February 25, 2018

A Review of the Book

All Quiet On The Orient Express is a novel written by British author Magnus Mills and was published in 1999. The author was originally a bus driver before he became a novelist and has written several novels and a few short stories.

This story is written in a simple style with lot's of dialogue - it is has a kind of deadpan humour about it. When I read this book several years ago I found it difficult to put down; it got my attention. Although it isn't everybody's cup of tea, I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you enjoy English humour you will probably like it too.


What's It About?

It's about a man travelling on his motorbike who stops at a campsite in the Lake District in England. It is the end of summer and all the other campers have left already. He intends to stay there only for a short while before he goes on a journey on the Orient Express train to the far east, and hopefully to India where he intends to do some backpacking.

He gets to know some of the people in the area and is asked by the owner of the campsite, Tommy Parker to paint a gate for him. Little does he know that this is the first of a seemingly endless number of tasks that he is requested to carry out by the slightly sinister Parker. He helps the owners daughter, Gail, with her homework, actually doing it for her.

His main diet seems to consist of baked beans supplemented with biscuits, but there is a problem at the local grocery store where the owner says he does not stock these items.


What Else Happens?

At night the narrator goes to the local pub for a few drinks but finds it difficult to be accepted by the locals there. However he does manage to join a darts team.

After being kicked off the darts team due to a misunderstanding he tries to leave. The weather is bad and his motorbike breaks down so he stays on.

Parker keeps asking him to do various thankless tasks which include sawing and replacing planks on a broken jetty, riveting corrugated iron sheets into a large shed and painting 7 rowing boats. Although he has paid his rent to stay in a place on the property, Parker does not seem to pay him for the jobs he's done. The other odd thing is that the narrator discovers that there is a system of credit at the store and the pub; there seems to be no hurry for him to pay his tab.

Mr Deakin, the milkman drowns in the lake while helping find a new mooring raft. The narrator takes on the job of delivering the milk every day. Because of his largely passive nature he has difficulty saying no to doing the many tasks he's requested to carry out.

He is warned by others to be careful about Parkers temper; there is an incident when Parker gets angry with something that goes wrong, losing his temper with the camper.

I found the book to be funny as well as a bit tragic and recommend it to those who like Mills' style of writing. I liked it more than his first book 'The Restraint of Beasts.'


A Video Review of 3 Books by Magnus Mills

Watch the Review.

Take The Poll

If you have read 'All Quiet On The Orient Express' did you enjoy it?

See results

Your Comments Please

© 2013 David Edward Lynch

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)