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On the Beach

3.88 of 5 stars 3.88 · rating details · 14,414 ratings · 952 reviews

Nevil Shute’s most powerful novel—a bestseller for decades after its 1957 publication—is an unforgettable vision of a post-apocalyptic world.

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Paperback, 296 pages

Published September 18th 2002 by House of Stratus (first published 1957)

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May 17, 2010 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: littry-fiction, the-end

it's the most pleasant apocalypse ever!there is war! there are bombs! and everyone in the southern hemisphere knows the rest of the world is dead dead dead and they are just waiting for the radiation to drift downwards where they will succumb to vomiting and diarrhea and weakness and eventual death. let me repeat: this is known. and so what do they do to prepare themselves? not a whole lot. they buy some presents for children they know are already dead in other parts of the world (yes, this mean...more

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May 12, 2010 Aerin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, apocalyptic, well-that-was-awesome, the-luxury-of-loneliness

I like reading sci-fi and spec-fic from the past. More than any historical description, these books really get at the hopes and fears of the time. Whether it's the terror that society will be destroyed by fascism or communism (1984, Anthem), or the excitement of the dawning space age (early Asimov and Bradbury), nothing says quite so much about an author's attitude toward the present as their vision of the future.

So, what did I learn about the fifties from reading On the Beach? Well, for one, th...more I like reading sci-fi and spec-fic from the past. More than any historical description, these books really get at the hopes and fears of the time. Whether it's the terror that society will be destroyed by fascism or communism (1984, Anthem), or the excitement of the dawning space age (early Asimov and Bradbury), nothing says quite so much about an author's attitude toward the present as their vision of the future.

So, what did I learn about the fifties from reading On the Beach? Well, for one, that people were shit-their-pants terrified of nuclear war. Of course, that's not much of a revelation, and books about potential nuclear holocaust are a dime a dozen, even today. But this book makes the implications of that threat stunningly real, and unlike most spec-fic from the time, it is neither outdated nor hokey. It is still bone-chilling.

The plot of the novel is simple: Three years prior, the U.S. and Russia (with the help of most of the other powers in the northern hemisphere) have destroyed each other with nukes. Now, the radiation clouds are spreading southward, slowly but inevitably, killing everything in their path. The protagonists live in southern Australia; at the beginning of the book, they know they have only about six months to live, and they struggle to understand and accept it. Unlike most books of this kind, we don't witness any explosions or destruction; there is no mass panic or anarchy. Life just goes on as best it can; the people, whether resigned or just self-deluded, continue their daily lives almost as if nothing's changed.

The book's power, then, comes from small moments: The American naval officer who refuses to believe that his family back home are dead. The young couple who work so hard planting a garden they know will never bloom. The submarine trip up to the northern hemisphere, searching for life, finding only pristine but empty cities.

It wrenches your heart out, again and again, and the last chapter is perhaps the most depressing 30 pages I've ever read. No wonder this book is a classic - I can only imagine how much more horrifying it would have been when it first came out, with the Cold War threat of nuclear war still very very real. But then again, that threat is still quite real, isn't it? (less)

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Jul 16, 2010 Amy Sturgis rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: postapocalyptic-dystopia, science-fiction-vintage, 20th-century

It's appropriate that I should review this novel on the 65th anniversary of the successful test of the first atom bomb in Alamogordo, New Mexico. On the Beach is set in what was the near future to British-Australian author Nevil Shute, writing in 1957: 1963, approximately a year after World War III. The northern hemisphere has been devastated by nuclear war, and those in the southern hemisphere wait for the nuclear fallout to reach them. The story follows the lives of several Australians and one...more It's appropriate that I should review this novel on the 65th anniversary of the successful test of the first atom bomb in Alamogordo, New Mexico. On the Beach is set in what was the near future to British-Australian author Nevil Shute, writing in 1957: 1963, approximately a year after World War III. The northern hemisphere has been devastated by nuclear war, and those in the southern hemisphere wait for the nuclear fallout to reach them. The story follows the lives of several Australians and one American in Melbourne, Australia, which is destined to be the last major city left alive on the planet before its inhabitants, too, die of radiation poisoning.

What the novel does, it does extremely well. It draws the reader into the lives of these individuals as they live out their final months, weeks, days, and hours, and in so doing it brings the tragic waste of their deaths into high relief. The slow, inexorable march of the fallout, and the way the characters deal (or refuse to deal) with it is played out soberly, and with restraint. This is not the story of heroic leaders fighting until their final breaths, or last-minute attempts to save humanity; it's the story of husbands and wives and sons and daughters and widowers and would-be lovers who are powerless to stop the inevitable, and so accept it as best they can. As a "What if?" scenario, and an overt warning, the novel is very effective.

I was, however, expecting a wider range of reactions, from religious reawakenings to last-minute scientific schemes. As the last surviving city, Melbourne didn't seem to be messy enough - socially, politically, religiously, literally - by the end. The characters behaved in surprisingly similar ways, and the world continued on with a coziness that sometimes felt contrived. Many of the most fascinating aspects of the post-apocalyptic scenario were only vaguely mentioned in passing, and I would've loved to see more of these ideas examined and explored. But perhaps Shute's narrow focus makes his point: in the end, with so much warning and so few ways to combat what is coming, people ultimately will just carry on, quietly accept, and then die.

As a book on the aftermath of nuclear war, it does not rival some of its contemporaries, notably the grand vision of Walter M. Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz (1960) and the haunting power of Mordecai Roshwald's Level 7 (1959), both of which I think are better novels. That said, I appreciate On the Beach's place in history, and I'm glad I read this quiet, understated, and sensitive work. (less)

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Apr 09, 2008 Carrie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: All Mankind

Recommended to Carrie by: My excellent English Tutor

Hmmmmm.....probably one of the most sobering books I have ever read....plausible, poignant, post accidental apocalyptic....it left me mad at Man; mad at His stupidity; mad at His ridiculous striving after world dominance, instead of striving after world harmony.

Nevil Shute's sharply perceptive understanding of Human emotions is pure genius (I would have written 'mastery' there but I understand in some lands that word can be considered offensive....in England, it is not....however, I have decline...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Book Concierge rated it 4 of 5 stars

This post-apocalyptic novel was published in 1957 and set in the future – 1963 (though current readers might consider it “historical”). It takes place primarily in and around Melbourne Australia. World War has decimated the northern hemisphere a year or two previously, and the nuclear debris is slowly spreading on the winds to the southern hemisphere. The population knows that the end is coming; in about nine months they will all get radiation sickness and die. But for now … the sun shines, peop...more This post-apocalyptic novel was published in 1957 and set in the future – 1963 (though current readers might consider it “historical”). It takes place primarily in and around Melbourne Australia. World War has decimated the northern hemisphere a year or two previously, and the nuclear debris is slowly spreading on the winds to the southern hemisphere. The population knows that the end is coming; in about nine months they will all get radiation sickness and die. But for now … the sun shines, people go to work (albeit on horseback or via bicycle since they have no petrol), babies are born, children attend school, sports matches are played, beach and picnic outings are had … in short, life goes on.

I cannot remember the last time I was so affected by a book. Part of my reaction, I’m sure, harkens back to my own days as a child during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War. I lived in a military town, and we felt we would be a prime target if bombs were launched against us. I remember the “duck and cover” drills, the discussions I had with my parents about what to do if “something happened” while I was at school. On a basic level, this book touched and awakened all those fears and insecurities.

I’ve had dreams about the situation these characters find themselves in. What would I do if I knew I was going to die? Would I plant daffodil bulbs I’d never see flower? Would I start a new course of study I’d always wanted to pursue, knowing I’d never finish it and never be able to get a job in that career field? Would I abandon my duties and obligations to indulge in hobbies? Would I give up and seek the numbing effects of alcohol? Would I embrace the chance at a new love? Would I kill my baby or my elderly parents to ensure they didn’t suffer? Would I end it quickly or die a slow agonizing death, knowing my loved ones, friends, neighbors, countrymen were all dying similarly?

It’s not a “teary” book, but I was in tears at the end. I’m really glad I finally read this book that has been on my tbr list for (literally) decades.
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Jun 13, 2011 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: not-mine-library, post-apocalyptic, favorites

Nevil Shute’s On the Beach, originally published in 1957, is a post-apocalyptic novel which takes place in Melbourne, Australia a year or so after a nuclear World War III. This final world war was so devastating that radioactive clouds are slowly traveling the earth, and killing all people and animals in its wake. Due to some (probably not very) complicated weather and wind pattern science, Australia and it’s surrounding islands are just about the last inhabited places to be affected by the radi...more Nevil Shute’s On the Beach, originally published in 1957, is a post-apocalyptic novel which takes place in Melbourne, Australia a year or so after a nuclear World War III. This final world war was so devastating that radioactive clouds are slowly traveling the earth, and killing all people and animals in its wake. Due to some (probably not very) complicated weather and wind pattern science, Australia and it’s surrounding islands are just about the last inhabited places to be affected by the radioactivity. And this is where the story takes place; the final months, weeks and days of some of the last people on earth.

Remember the T.S.Elliot poem which ends with the statement that the world will end, “not with a bang but a whimper”? Apparently Shute agrees. Scientists have predicted the approximate month when the radioactivity will reach Melbourne. The people we meet all very quietly go about their days, doing what they love to do, or what they must do. Although there is a bit more drinking, chaos does not ensue. Looting, theft, vandalism or any other sort of crime is not on the rise. Doctors continue to perform lifesaving (and life extending) surgery. Occasionally people will make statements such as, “It won’t be long now” and “We all have to go sometime, only now we know when that sometime will be” But for the most part, people in Shute’s novel live their remaining time in a state of …denial? Forced ignorant bliss? They talk about what will happen with their garden, cars, children, and jobs in the future even though there is clearly no future.

“Mary looked at her gratefully. “Well, that’s what I think. I mean, I couldn’t bear to – to just stop doing things and do nothing. You might as well die now and get it over.”
Moira nodded. “If what they say is right, we’re none of us going to have time to do all that we planned to do. But we can keep on doing it as long as we can.”

But that is all any of us can do under the best of circumstances, right? Granted, Shute chose to not write about religion, the breakdown of society, or the very American notion of “take this job and shove it” with the end of the world approaching. Even so, if you do what you love every day, why change that when your days start to quickly dwindle away? I found this novel to be a commentary on everyday life as much as anything else.

Finally, many reviewers have commented on what a nice, well behaved apocalypse Shute has envisioned. But I don’t believe this means his scenario is necessarily incorrect. After all, remember the five stages of grief? In case you don’t, the first one is denial. Clearly, you and I and anyone else reading this book, learning about the end of the world and contemplating our own mortality are going to freak out a little bit. On the Beach takes place a year (or two?) after a brief nuclear war. Shute’s characters have had time to work through their denial, anger, bargaining, and depression. We meet them as they reach the final stage of grief, which is acceptance.

On the Beach is heartbreakingly sad. Not so much in the where-is-the-box-of-tissues way, but in a way that affects you quite subtly throughout and long afterwards. I loved the characters in this story, the relationships, and the way people chose to face their deaths and resolve their lives. This is a book I most definitely recommend.
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May 04, 2013 Kruip Ruimte rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anthropology, history, thriller, war

Shute, landen in de post-apocalyptische wereld na een vernietigend nucleair conflict.
Waarom dit boek nu gelezen, nee, zo is het niet, maar ik moest er onherroepelijk aan denken dezer dagen, heb het boek helaas niet meer. goede reden om het weer eens op te zoeken. Ik weet niet of ik me de kaft goed herinner, maar die onderzeeër, komt bekend voor.
Het verhaal, de wereld is verbrand, alleen Australië is nog leefbaar, maar een niets ontziende wolk met radioactieve straling komt langzaam die kant op....more

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Mar 04, 2008 Granny rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who would prefer the world not be doomed

Shelves: fiction, stack-em-high-read-until-i-die

I read this book years ago and it still gives me chills just thinking about it. Seering and unforgettable.

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May 05, 2012 Bea rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I did not think I wanted to read one more bleak book and yet I was scheduled to read On the Beach which was published in 1957 and listed as post-apolytical.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed this book. The story is about people and their relationships and the setting is in Australia. Cobalt bombs have been dropped in the Northern Hemisphere and the radiation is slowly spreading to the south. The Australians are predicted to start dying from radiation poisoning in August or September....more

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Aug 13, 2008 Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, to-be-read-challenge, read-in-2008, obscure-references-book-group

"It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine..."

That line from the old REM song pretty much sums up Nevil Shute's "On the Beach." The world has ended and everyone's pretty much OK with it.

Written in the late 50's and set in the near future of the early 60's, "On the Beach" finds World War III has come and gone. The final battle was set off by a misunderstanding with the bigger nuclear powers shooting first and asking questions later. The result is the northern hemisphere is gone, nuk...more "It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine..."

That line from the old REM song pretty much sums up Nevil Shute's "On the Beach." The world has ended and everyone's pretty much OK with it.

Written in the late 50's and set in the near future of the early 60's, "On the Beach" finds World War III has come and gone. The final battle was set off by a misunderstanding with the bigger nuclear powers shooting first and asking questions later. The result is the northern hemisphere is gone, nuked to oblivion and the southern hemisphere is waiting for the radiation to slowly spread across the entire planet and kills the survivors.

It's these survivors that we meet in Australia. And they're all taking it pretty well. There's no chaos here. Everything is running fairly normally, except for the fact that we're all going to die in about six months. And not a pretty death, but a slow, painful one.

The big problem with this book is the quiet acceptance every character has of this. Yes, there are some characters deep in denial and some are planning for a world beyond six months from now, but never is there any sense of panic or desparation by anyone. The most panicked we get is they move up an auto race a few months becuase the time it's scheduled to take place will be after the radiation hits.

There are some moments of hope in the story that someone might be alive in the northern hemisphere or that the coming end might not come. But these are quickly dashed and then everyone accepts it with quiet resignation.

I'm sure when it was written, this book was strangely scary and virtually prophetic. But reading it now, it's a story that seems dated, with characters who fail to spark much interest for the reader. I haven't read a book since "Lucifer's Hammer" where I actively rooted for the apocolyptic event to happen already just to kill off some of the characters in the story and maybe get things moving. And that's the biggest flaw in "On the Beach"--nothing happens. We don't get to see the end of the world and nothing seems to make any impact on the characters. It's a hard book to read, not because of the subject matter but because virtually nothing happens and none of the characters are interesting enough to make the investment of time worth it in the end.
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Oct 01, 2008 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Michelle by: Aric

Shelves: scifi

I was struck by the down-to-earth human explanations, attitudes, and daily life of this THE WORLD IS ABOUT TO END cautionary tale.

I was surprised not to see the expected evangelist hordes or epic demolition that typically follows in such stories. A week before the last survivors' deaths, the worst complaints are the street vendors "seem to have run down." Everyone just goes about their daily lives because they can't imagine anything else. An entire society is in denial about the world ending. t...more I was struck by the down-to-earth human explanations, attitudes, and daily life of this THE WORLD IS ABOUT TO END cautionary tale.

I was surprised not to see the expected evangelist hordes or epic demolition that typically follows in such stories. A week before the last survivors' deaths, the worst complaints are the street vendors "seem to have run down." Everyone just goes about their daily lives because they can't imagine anything else. An entire society is in denial about the world ending. they talk about it like I talk about my car is probably going go soon, but I'll just get another car. They're going to die!

The only person who's reactions I understand come from the youthful, alcoholic Moira who's living her life to the fullest until she meets Dwight, the man she cannot have. she stops drinking, helps her folks out around the farm, and goes to school to impress Dwight (plus drinking all day, everyday for months got boring, I suppose). Dwight is impressed, but despite the FACT that the radiation spread to North America weeks ago and no one's heard a peep out of the entire hemisphere, he's going home to Sharon in a few weeks. SIGH.

But on a lighter note, what do the certifiably sane people of Australia do when the world's about to end? Open fishing season a few weeks early and hold the Grand Prix! Yes, we are certifiably sane... Another point, pharmacies are giving out free kill-yourself pills to everyone. A young man jokes with the female pharmacist about what flavors they'll be using. Seriously.

The book then takes a preachy tone that always grates on me in post (pre?) apocalyptic fiction. "Why did no one tell us nuclear (cobalt) weapons were bad for the environment? It should have been in the newspapers!" thank goodness the book ends with Moira's death, and no one else's. She's the saving grace of the bad turn the author took as everyone started becoming ill.

But my BIG question. Why was Antarctica so quickly dismissed? Every time someone mentions going further South to escape, it's written off b/c no one's there anymore. What?! Maybe in 1950s there weren't *many* people there, but still!

From Wikipedia (don't shoot me!)
"Antarctica has no permanent residents, but a number of governments maintain permanent research stations throughout the continent. The number of people conducting and supporting scientific research and other work on the continent and its nearby islands varies from about 1,000 in winter to about 4,000 in summer. Many of the stations are staffed year-round." SEE: People.

Halley Research Station, run by the British Antarctic Survey, was founded in 1956. And the Japanese one had been founded by that time too!

Well how would they get there? Careful reader, you picked up on that! THEY HAVE SUBMARINES! and people who know how to run them! Dude! They could have totally loaded up on blankets, dry foods and water, and headed down to found a colony on one of the islands. Yeah it would have been hard, but better than mass suicide! GAH!

You silly Aussies (and the occasional American/brit). You would not survive the zombie apocalypse. You would be still trying to plant a garden and find that perfect playpen not made in China while the hordes of undead rose up around you. Sigh.(less)

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Apr 25, 2010 David rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: wrist-slashingly-depressing, read-in-2010

(Revisited after a 35-year interval)

One can only imagine the conversation between Cormac McCarthy and Nevil Shute.

Written in 1957, at the height of the Cold War, Shute also imagines a post-apocalyptic world. Nuclear war has annihilated the countries of the northern hemisphere* and the radioactive plume is working its way slowly down south, killing everyone in its path. By the luck of geography, Melbourne will be the last major city to survive.

An American submarine has made it intact to Melbourn...more

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May 01, 2007 Jenn Myers rated it 3 of 5 stars

There's no way to do any definitive research on how the world would "end" after an all-out nuclear war, but I imagine that On the Beach is pretty close to how it'd go down.

This is a hard book to pin down. It's not flashy or dynamic; we enter the book two years after the last bomb has fallen, with only about six months until the radiation clouds get to where the characters are living. There is a slow build up where we are introduced into the characters lives, and get to know them. They are all a...more

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Jul 19, 2008 Maureen rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Maureen by: a high closet shelf

Shelves: novel, eschatology

When I was young, I had a talent for finding the books that my parents tried to hide and reading them. The first time I read this book, I think I was around nine or ten. It had caused a great sensation when it first came out, leading to the building of more bomb shelters in people's basements and the like. I did not have a basement, so I dug my own bomb shelter in my back yard, fueled by the conviction that the end was near.

I thought that this was a terrifying book as a child, so I went back and...more

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Jul 02, 2008 Anna rated it 2 of 5 stars

This really is not a good book. It's a combination between an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel where everyone just sits around having double brandies all day (but with no sex) and the Plague(but with no gory details.) The premise, an atomic holocaust has obliterated the northern hemisphere and all of Australia awaits a radioactive cloud that is coming to kill everyone on earth in 6 month of time. The whole book is just a count down in which you get to know some of the most boring and two dimensional ch...more

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Jan 15, 2009 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What I remember most about this book (from high school) is the intense discussion it sparked in my class about what you would do if you KNEW that nuclear fallout would shortly overtake your town and everyone would die, including your family.

Kill them prior to its' appearance so they won't suffer? Kill yourself? What method would you use? What about pets? Morbid, but high school kids are like that. Now that I've read it again I just find it unbelieveably scary and sad-imagine the most helpless fe...more

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Sep 25, 2007 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Probably the most heart-wrenching book I've read. It's the story of an all-out nuclear war. And, although Australia has been spared the bombs, the fallout is spreading and heading that way. It was so easy to deeply care about the characters as they live their final days...how they prepare...how they avoid preparation. Heavy, dark and emotional...but one of those books that envelopes you and that you never forget. I read it for the first time almost 20 years ago and it is still one of the best bo...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Beth Cato rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: in, 2009, science, fiction

The northern hemisphere has obliterated itself in nuclear warfare. In Australia, humanity continues to exist, at least for a time. In six months the radiation cloud will reach them as well. The book follows very different people as the end nears: the American submarine commander Towers; Moira, who drowns herself in drink and parties; Peter and Mary, working on their garden and worrying over their baby.[return][return]This is a creepy book. It's really a study of human psychology as humanity itse...more

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Apr 02, 2009 Dushyant rated it 4 of 5 stars

On The Beach, is Neville Shute’s attempt to show the world after a nuclear war that became an open possibility by the 1950s when both the US and the Soviet Union created innumerable bombs. The story is set during 1963 in Australia where the last people on earth remain alive after the destructive nuclear war in the Northern Hemisphere. The four main characters in Australia represent the innocent lives that would be taken if the world succumbed to nuclear fights. Dwight Towers is an American subma...more On The Beach, is Neville Shute’s attempt to show the world after a nuclear war that became an open possibility by the 1950s when both the US and the Soviet Union created innumerable bombs. The story is set during 1963 in Australia where the last people on earth remain alive after the destructive nuclear war in the Northern Hemisphere. The four main characters in Australia represent the innocent lives that would be taken if the world succumbed to nuclear fights. Dwight Towers is an American submarine commander who escaped the radiation during one of his tours of the Southern Hemisphere. Peter and Mary Holmes represent the innocent families that would be broken and destroyed, and the love that would be shattered. And finally Moira Davidson is the epitome of a person during the 1960s who had no idea what was going on in the world around them and was content with finding ways to make herself happy. The characters leave a lasting impression on one’s mind, especially since the possibility of the complete annihilation of civilization in one world war is a legitimate possibility given the number of countries that posses an arsenal of nuclear weapons.

The Cold War during the 1960’s was a time of great uncertainty and most of the average people, especially in the US thought of the atomic bomb as a toy. Shute presents them with the scenario they would be facing with the threat of a nuclear war between the US and the Soviet Union. Though there is no distinct conflict in the story Shute creates an underlying one of man vs. himself with the tone he sets throughout the novel, of impending death and destruction. He writes almost antithetically to Fitzgerald’s signature style of filling each and every line of his story with meaning. Shute chooses to rather spread meaning with the story he tells and not with comments he makes in his dialogue. The dialogues between his characters are used to incite feelings in his readers, whether hopeful or sad, he tells a true story of love. The truth in his words of emotion is what keeps readers excited to read on. Every page of the book has a set of predictable events and yet when one reads the lines in which the event is described, they are flabbergasted at the complexity of something they had only just thought to be so simple. In the end his characters show the resilient mentality that carried the world through the years of uncertainty and brinkmanship.

This story was exceptional and kept me on my toes till the end, even though the last scene could have been easily predicted by how the story began. I could not relate to the characters since they were from a different time period and had very different problems than what I deal with in my life. What I did learn from the story though, was that the foolish desires and decisions of a few can harm many others. This is a must read for anyone, and though this phrase gets thrown around a lot in high school English classes, this book is one of the few books that truly deserves it. On the surface, there is no flowery Steinbeck or descriptive Dickens, but on the inside, On the Beach is one of the greatest stories of the dangers faced by the growing power of mankind.
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Dec 23, 2008 Lucas rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book was recommended after my disappointment with Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." I cannot say it was an improvement.

The characters in the novel are largely one-dimension with little contrast and their interactions are superficial and or stereotypical. John is the lifelong geek who finally gets a thrill. Moira falls for Dwight based on a few half-drunk interactions; this kind of quick connection is the kind of poorly-earned romance typically found in bad movies. Mary is the stereotypical hous...more This book was recommended after my disappointment with Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." I cannot say it was an improvement.

The characters in the novel are largely one-dimension with little contrast and their interactions are superficial and or stereotypical. John is the lifelong geek who finally gets a thrill. Moira falls for Dwight based on a few half-drunk interactions; this kind of quick connection is the kind of poorly-earned romance typically found in bad movies. Mary is the stereotypical housewife of the 50's whose denial of the reality of what faces her borders on stupidity (count how many times she asks if it's really going to happen to them). In fact, as a more enlightened 21st century reader, there's a lot of subtle sexism and chauvinism in the book that I found rather unpalatable. The men are pretty much all stoics and the women are the only ones showing much emotion. Dwight's by-the-book mentality, even right at the end, is a bit difficult to stomach. I also found his method of coping with grief to be a bit too much to buy -- maybe I would have if everyone else didn't have some measure of it as well.

On the whole, I found most of the book difficult to accept as genuine. The author wanted denial to be an evocative and reoccurring theme of the book, but I never feel he earned it with what he wrote. Plus, he never really goes into any deeper issues of what coping with the end of humanity would be like. It's mostly kept on a mundane level. Plus, where's the diversity of reaction? Are we really to believe everyone reacts in mostly the same way? The book was emotionally empty.

There was little of interest in the plot. I don't need action to keep me interested, but much of the plot seems extraneous in that it didn't really advance the story. A lot of the narration could have been excised without really losing anything.

The author's writing was very unimaginative and rote. He overuses words far too much (count how many times you see the word "presently" and then count how many times it was unnecessary (hint: the numbers will match)). The characters often talk in very formal, stilted language. There was one bit of dialogue, no more than a page's width, that had the word "ought" three times. Most all of the descriptions are very plain and to the point and never access anything higher. He often introduces knowledge he wants the reader to know (such as why the war started, why there's still electricity, etc) in a forced and obvious way via dialogue through his characters.

I definitely would not recommend it.
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May 18, 2013 JP rated it 4 of 5 stars

A series of nuclear strikes escalate into total destruction of the northern hemisphere. The southern continents, Autralia alone by the end, along with two remaining nuclear US subs, wait out the final two years before the radioactive dust settles slowly southward. The author does a fantastic job at conveying the last grasp onto humanity. Everyone goes only slightly crazy while still maintaining their ordinary lives and future plans (racing autos, thinking of returning to the US, charging for ite...more

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May 13, 2013 Leon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nevil Shute’s most powerful novel—a bestseller for decades after its 1957 publication—is an unforgettable vision of a post-apocalyptic world.

After a nuclear World War III has destroyed most of the globe, the few remaining survivors in southern Australia await the radioactive cloud that is heading their way and bringing certain death to everyone in its path. Among them is an American submarine captain struggling to resist the knowledge that his wife and children in the United States must be dea

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Apr 18, 2013 Francis Gahren rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, post-apocalytic

On the Beach is a post-apocalyptic end-of-the-world novel written by British-Australian author Nevil Shute after he had emigrated to Australia. It was published in 1957.
The novel was adapted for the screenplay of a 1959 film featuring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, and Fred Astaire, and a 2000 television film starring Armand Assante and Rachel Ward. BBC Radio 4 broadcast a full cast audio dramatisation in two hour-long episodes as part of their Classic Serial strand in November 2008.[1]

The book take...more

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Apr 01, 2013 smetchie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, hippies-or-hate-or-lurking

Reminded me of The Sun Also Rises. Sassy dame. Excessive drinking. Fishing.
Except it's way more interesting because everyone is about to die in a few months from radiation poisoning! YEAH!! Plus the sassy dame is funnier, nicer, and drinks even more!! I know, I know. Hemingway and all that. But it's my review and I can compare this book to some classic if I want to. Anyway I don't like Hemingway. Please take that as saying more about me and my literary idiocy than it says about Hemingway and cra...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Margaret Gamez rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

On the Beach was a very moving experience for me. I read it years after I'd gone through the Cuban Missile Crisis at close range (the missiles were aimed at my city, and I was a very young child being prepared for possible evacuation – that was a very fearsome experience). Then, living through the experience of September 11th, when the World Trade Center was destroyed only a few blocks south of where I stood looking at it, added to this sense of impermanence.
Having grown up in an era when possi...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Hanna rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Psychology Majors

Recommended to Hanna by: Post Apocalyptic Literature class

On the Beach was an example of one author's idea of how most of humanity would act, knowing that they were going to die via the inescapable fallout of nuclear wars. I agree with another reviewer that many people would not have reacted so lightly to this news, if not a few people, taking the impending doom without attempting to survive elsewhere. There was an idea that was brought up to (view spoiler)...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Jbpg rated it 3 of 5 stars

A disclaimer: I read the book, I liked it, I had to skim a chunk of the beginning to get through it or I'd just have lost interest.

That said, this book is a very interesting take post-apocalypse: the Northern Hemisphere has died off in nuclear war and Australia, not involved in the fighting, is now waiting for the cloud of nuclear fall-out to drift South and kill them all, and nursing the increasingly doubtful hope of survival.

The plot occurs both on mainland Australia and on-board one of the l...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Ubik rated it 4 of 5 stars

DEEEEE-pressing. As has been pointed out before: there is no anarchy or any outright panic present at all. What you have is just pure sadness. This is a novel that will stick with me enough that Ill never need to read it again. Thats not to say that it wasnt good, but it accomplished what it needed to accomplish with me and thats that. Its very interesting to see the other possible scenario if it came down to a society knowing that they only had months more to live. Anarchy is usually the first...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Softymel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Tout d'abord, je vous préviens, ça n'est pas très gai... Une guerre nucléaire a ravagé la Terre, et pas de Bruce Willis pour nous sauver. Il n'y a plus de trace de vie humaine sur l’hémisphère nord, ceux qui n'étaient pas sous les bombes ayant succombé aux radiations.

L'histoire se passe donc en Australie, pays suffisamment éloigné pour gagner un petit laps de temps supplémentaire. Ainsi, au début du livre, il est annoncé qu'il leur reste encore 6 mois avant que les radiations n'atteignent finale...more

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Dec 15, 2012 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars

4 1/2 stars. Powerful story of a post-apocalyptic world. After a nuclear World War III has destroyed most of the world, the few remaining survivors in southern Australia await the radioactive cloud that is heading their way, bringing certain death. An American nuclear submarine and crew have survived and are now in Australia. The captain is dealing with the knowledge that his wife and children in the United States must be dead, and he also develops a relationship with an Australian woman, knowin...more

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About Nevil Shute

Nevil Shute Norway was a popular British novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer. He used Nevil Shute as his pen name, and his full name in his engineering career, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels. He lived in Australia for the ten years before his death.

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Quotes from On the Beach

“No, it wasn't an accident, I didn't say that. It was carefully planned, down to the tiniest mechanical and emotional detail. But it was a mistake.” — 13 people liked it

“It's not the end of the world at all," he said. "It's only the end for us. The world will go on just the same, only we shan't be in it. I dare say it will get along all right without us.” — 10 people liked it

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