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On the Beach (1957)

by Nevil Shute

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
4,8551762,273 (3.87)388
Fantasy. Fiction. Literature. Science Fiction. HTML:"The most shocking fiction I have read in years. What is shocking about it is both the idea and the sheer imaginative brilliance with which Mr. Shute brings it off."
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
They are the last generation, the innocent victims of an accidental war, living out their last days, making do with what they have, hoping for a miracle. As the deadly rain moves ever closer, the world as we know it winds toward an inevitable end....… (more)
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    The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Simone2)
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    A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. (lisanicholas)
    lisanicholas: Another post-apocalyptic story, Miller's Canticle takes place centuries after nuclear war destroys the world's civilizations, and a new civilization has arisen from the ruins.
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    The Last Ship by William Brinkley (goddesspt2)
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    Earth Abides by George R. Stewart (sturlington)
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    On the Beach [2000 film] by Russell Mulcahy (Anonymous user)
    Anonymous user: Free interpretation with lots of new material. Vast improvement on the novel. More dramatic plot, more interesting characters, more bleakness in the end. As intense, powerful and gripping as Mr Shute's mediocre original never is.
  8. 00
    Kalki by Gore Vidal (Anonymous user)
    Anonymous user: Another end-of-the-world story. Less plausible but more terrifying. Far better written and far more entertaining than Mr Shute's mediocre and massively boring novel.
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    Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence (bookel)
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» See also 388 mentions

English (165)  Danish (3)  French (2)  Esperanto (1)  Spanish (1)  Italian (1)  Hebrew (1)  All languages (174)
Showing 1-5 of 165 (next | show all)
Nevil Shute was an Englishman who left Britain for Australia. He was an aeronautical engineer who turned to novel writing, novels with settings in the air world. So, when he came to write an apocalyptic novel, it was quite authorative from a technical point of view. The life of an Australian community as it awaits the arrival of what will probably be totally fatal clouds of nuclear fallout is quite well done. ( )
  DinadansFriend | Jan 27, 2024 |
Good story but somewhat depressing, because it's about the end of humanity in Australia after an all-out nuclear war in the North. Just waiting for the radiation to come! A nuclear sub is based there. ( )
  kslade | Jan 3, 2024 |
Neat, but very masculine. Portrayals of women quaint shallow and annoying. Peter's wife bugs. Interesting to think about what people would do if they knew when they would go. Really no rioting? ( )
  emmby | Oct 4, 2023 |
A classic, but very depressing. ( )
  zot79 | Aug 20, 2023 |
Whilst I have heard a lot about Shute, only 2 novels readily spring to mind. This and A Town Like Alice, neither of which I had read before this.

On the Beach (published in 1957) was made into a famous 1959 movie shot In Australia starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins (what a cast!), with Gardner (who was not a fan of Melbourne or perhaps Australia as a whole) saying that Melbourne was an ideal choice for siting a movie as to the end of human habitation of Earth.

And I am not providing spoilers by saying this as the premise of the novel is now well know and appears on the back cover of this edition, and is made pretty obvious early on in the novel, without knocking anyone the head with the 'facts'.

We are in post WW2 territory, and for various reasons, various countries start sending nuclear bombs against each other, with it escalating rapidly such that other countries get involved as well. Shute even suggests that some participate by mistake, even sending bombs to countries that have not threatened them.

My sense is that Shute was not trying to provide a prediction of what could have actually go wrong with the stance of various countries during the 1950s, and wanted to down play any ascription of "responsibilities", other than to hint as to "how the hell did we get ourselves into such a situation, where intentional, non intentional or accidental deployment of such weapons could have such a devastating impact on humanity.

And in this case it is end of humanity. Whilst the wars took place in the Northern hemisphere, the radioactive atmosphere is moving slowly but steadily southward, with deadly affect.

So why Melbourne as the focus of this novel? As the largest city in the Southern hemisphere, the US, British and Australians retreat to there. Even whilst the clouds may not have reached various places (eg northern Australis, Africa South America), the flow of vital resources (because of the knocking out of Northern hemisphere manufacturing centers, whether by destruction by bombs, the unavailability of manufacturing personnel or the unavailability of transportation from north to south), particularly transportation fuels, means that international flights and shipping ceases, with the exception of a very few nuclear powered submarines.

Everyone knows, but not all believe, that death is inevitable due to irradiation sickness. It is a matter of time.

This is not a book of pyrotechnics or rage against the world, as those waiting in Melbourne and surrounds await the inevitable. Instead it is the exploration of how a small group of characters (and those close to them) approach the inevitable.

It is a powerful and to a degree melancholic read. Being a book of the 1950s, there is no gore or post mortem like detail (and it does not need that). It is in that sense a cerebral or heart felt read.

I sense that Shute wrote this novel as a paean against the madness of nuclear war. AndI hope that the years that have passed since have not made become complacent as to the dangers that lie within.

Big Ship

1 August 2023 ( )
  bigship | Aug 1, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 165 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (14 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Nevil Shuteprimary authorall editionscalculated
Powers, Richard M.Cover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Prebble, SimonNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river...

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

--T.S. Eliot
Dedication
First words
Lieutenant Commander Peter Holmes of the Royal Australian Navy woke soon after dawn.
Quotations
"I couldn't bear to - to just stop doing things and do nothing. You might as well die now and get it over." ... "I'd like to do things right, up to the end."
As time passed, the radioactivity would pass also ... these streets and houses would be habitable again ... The human race was to be wiped out and the world made clean again for wiser occupants."
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Wikipedia in English (1)

Fantasy. Fiction. Literature. Science Fiction. HTML:"The most shocking fiction I have read in years. What is shocking about it is both the idea and the sheer imaginative brilliance with which Mr. Shute brings it off."
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
They are the last generation, the innocent victims of an accidental war, living out their last days, making do with what they have, hoping for a miracle. As the deadly rain moves ever closer, the world as we know it winds toward an inevitable end....

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Book description
A very serious book, intending to give warning - how easily such total international destruction could happen, and how catastrophic the consequences. Portrays the last living humans, in Australia, awaiting their certain approaching end.
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