Product Description

TK1172 Scholastic Book Services

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #218425 in Books
• Published on: 1972
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Customer Reviews

My only friend is darkness
The basic story is that Albania sends a plane with another country's markings to bomb the U.S. and we retaliate. However this is not a pacifist (don't build bombs book). This is not a sci-fi book. It could be a speculative fiction or just speculative.

The story begins after the war is completed and radiation is now covering the world. Australia is the last place to be covered. You read how different people are about to meat their end, some with hope, others with reckless abandon. Still there are those like the US sub commander Dwight Towers is loyal to his country to the end by not allowing U.S. property in the end to fall into the hands of the Aussies.

The book was written in the Cold War Era environment. So many people think that it is about countries and war; others think this story is some anti war story. The reality is that it is a study of people meeting a sure end and how they react. Other readers will balk at the actions of the people in this story; yet when they meet the same situation we will see how realistic the characters are. Still others will balk at the predictability of the characters. Still this is how many people get over a crisis by being predictable. It is these characteristics that make this novel timeless. Someone else must think so or they would not have made an updated version for our not too distant future.

Should be required reading for humanity
This book by Nevil Shute was written at the height of the cold war and it's still meaningful today. In fact, it's so relevant that it should be required reading for anyone in power, actually it should probably be required reading for everyone on the planet. Period.

On the Beach is set in Australia, and it becomes clear quite quickly that something horrible has happened. And that horrible thing is a full out nuclear war in the northern hemisphere of the Earth. Those left in the southern hemisphere are either dead or waiting to meet their end from the slow drift of radiation heading their way. The story follows several characters through to their respective ends: Dwight, a submariner from the US, Moira, a young woman who is bitter about her life being cut short, a young couple with a baby and a scientist who chooses to spend his last few months racing a car he probably shouldn't be driving. The way that the characters choose to live their lives, even after being handed a death sentence, provides you with a little faith in the general goodness of human nature. The dignity with which they carry themselves is a nice respite on the generally inevitable bad behavior that usually takes place in post apocalyptic novels They don't start rioting and destroying things around them, they just...go on. You get to know the characters and that's what makes the ending heartbreaking, their realness really drives home that this kind of thing could happen to normal people if we aren't careful. If this book doesn't affect you, well, there's something wrong with you.

Shute's style in this book is a little wonky and some of the prose seems a little stilted. Since he wrote it in the 50's there are some words that don't ring true today, but that doesn't detract from the book at all. I watched the movie right after I read the book because I was so enamored with it, but I ended up being disappointed with it because it didn't carry the same impact. Read the book, it makes you want to be a little bit kinder to everyone in the world.

Poignant and heartbreaking
A truly great novel. Nevil Shute's style is reminiscent of Hemingway in his ability to convey deep emotions and melancholy through seemingly simplistic language and straightforward sentences, while the novel's message about nuclear war is more relvant today than ever.

The characters drive "On the Beach" and each one is distinctive and arresting. The way each character goes about his or her final days in the face of impending and inevitable doom is deeply touching and provides a fascinating portrait of human tendencies and--though I run the risk of hyperbolizing here--the meaning of life.

In this novel, Nevil Shute juxtaposes the inability of the characters to comprehend death and the meaning of their own lives with the foolishness of humans to create weapons which are capable of wiping out life as we know it. "On the Beach" is a touching and emotional series of portraits as well as a stark warning to the world of the potential perils and tragedies of the nuclear age. If you enjoyed novels like Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms" and Vonnegut's "Galapagos," you will love and appreciate "On the Beach."