This is an extremely imaginative story of some of the last surviving humans on earth following a nuclear apocalypse. This tale of a mixed-sex crew of...moreThis is an extremely imaginative story of some of the last surviving humans on earth following a nuclear apocalypse. This tale of a mixed-sex crew of a Naval ship tells of their realization of their status, their search for a safe harbor, and how they solve the unique problems they face in having full responsibility for continuing the human race.
Some reviewers complain that the author used too much nautical jargon. They should keep in mind that this was the story of the crew of a Naval vessel and, by definition, their everyday world involved extensive nautical terminology. It only adds to the realism. I loved the book.(less)
This novel is an EXTREMELY POWERFUL statement of what a environmental apocalypse would probably be like following a worldwide nuclear war. The book is...moreThis novel is an EXTREMELY POWERFUL statement of what a environmental apocalypse would probably be like following a worldwide nuclear war. The book is a "soft treatment" of what would gradually take place in a non-participant southern hemisphere country (viz., Australia) after the imbecilic initiation by a northern hemisphere third-world country (viz., Albania) of what would become an all-out nuclear war. I described this novel as having a "soft treatment" of this horrible subject, because it describes NOT the horrors experienced by those in the cities which were actually bombed but instead the inescapable penalty of gradually spreading radiation poisoning sickness which must ultimately be paid by the entire living population of all of the earth. The truly sad thing about this book is that it was written in 1957 but the threat remains just a real today, 55 year later.
The crew of an American nuclear-powered The U.S.S. Scorpion happens to be in the southern hemisphere during the war and ends up in Melbourne, Australia, the southern-most major city on the globe. The timeframe is about two years after the cataclysmic war in the north. The people of Melbourne are going about their lives as best they can but gradually having to get used to having no petroleum products to run their cars, ships, etc. (all petroleum comes from the northern hemisphere). For all practical purposes life has ceased to exist in the northern hemisphere, and from communications with other southern hemisphere cities/countries, which are more to the north of Melbourne, the radiation sickness is gradually wiping out the populations at these locations.
Because it is nuclear-powered, the Scorpion becomes the only naval vessel in the world that can still get underway. It undertakes a voyage to the American west coast, remaining underwater essentially the entire time it is in the extreme area of radioactive fallout. It monitors the extremely high levels of radioactivity and finds no remaining human or animal life there. After returning to Melbourne, the crew and the Australians with whom they interact resolve themselves to their fate and through various individual pursuits try to make the best of the time they have left.
The wife of the Australian Naval Liaison Officer to the Scorpion asks her husband: "Why did all this happen to us? Was it because Russia and China started fighting each other?" He nodded. "That's about the size of it," he said. "But there was more to it than that. America and England and Russia started bombing for destruction first. The whole thing started with Albania." "But we didn't have anything to do with it at all, did we - here in Australia?" "We gave England moral support," he told her. “I don’t think we had time to give her any other kind. The whole thing was over in a month.” “Couldn’t anyone have stopped it?” “I don’t know… Some kinds of silliness you just can’t stop,” he said. “I mean, if a hundred million people all decide that their national honour requires them to drop cobalt bombs upon their neighbor, well there’s not much that you or I can do about it. The only possible hope would have been to educate them out of their silliness.”
Again, I emphasize that Nevil Shute wrote this book in 1957. How sad it is that we have learned so little during the ensuing 55 years. About the only change needed to give this novel a little more accurate in today's world would be to substitute Iran or North Korea for Albania.
This book is both horrible in the picture of total devastation that it paints and incredibly important to use as a lesson on what very well could be if the world as we know it is not to succumb to a very similar fate. If only there were some way to “force” the key players of ALL THE POWERS THAT BE to read this novel and take to heart the lessons contained therein. Can’t we stop the madness that is driving us toward to possible brink of such destruction!?!?!? Can’t we – the peoples of the world – turn to whatever god we worship and believe in for guidance to avoid “such silliness”?
A fairly similar-themed book that I read last year is The Last Ship. The most significant difference between the two books is that The Last Ship deals with a mixed crew of both males and females. It is also a fascinating description of what might be. William Brinkley(less)
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