On the Beach

Rating:
Summary: A little boring in some places, but enjoyable regardless.
Review: The writing was somewhat dull, the bias against women was annoying (two women characters: one was a drunken slut, the other comparable to Rose of Sharon of the Grapes of Wrath, without coming into her own). So why did I enjoy this book? It's just one of those things. Such a classic portrayal of human nature stripped to the core is easily forgivable for any petty flaws. On The Beach was essential for its time. We all cringe to think about what the world would be like if we all knew when we would die, and how. Nevil Shute makes this a reality, bringing to life the unsettling details we've all thought about time and again. Maybe the writing is a little mundane, maybe the ideas are old-fashioned. Look past it. On the Beach is a worthwhile read.

Rating:
Summary: We never let this book come true.
Review: We were required to read "On the Beach" for our English class and thought it would a boring book. But, after I finshed I was shocked. How could we create such horrible weapons? If it were the end I think going out in a fireball on a race track would the best way to go.

Rating:
Summary: a chilling apocalyptic tale
Review: i recently read this book for the fourth time. i first read the book when i was 18. i am now 34. the book was as engrossing and chilling the fourth time i read it as it was the first time. from the first word until the final tragic ending, i could not put the book down. each time i have read the book, i have done so in one sitting. i must say that "on the beach" and "the stand" by stephen king are by far the best works of fiction i have read...

Rating:
Summary: No other book has made me cry so much...
Review: I think the reason I was so emotional over this book was because when I read it, the threat of nuclear war was weighing on us every day. Years later, I still remember it vividly. It was so chilling, even more so than any horror novel. I felt very lucky to be alive and appreciated my life much more after reading it.

Rating:
Summary: I encourage you to read this novel!
Review: I read this book 5 years ago and I still remember the story like yesterday! It's books like this one that should be required reading in school. It was truely a wonderful story that will keep you interested until the end.

Rating:
Summary: It is good
Review: I like this book Xena rule

Rating:
Summary: I'll never forget this book!
Review: I was sixteen when I read "On the Beach." It was required reading, and when I finished, I was sitting in my civic's class, but for a moment I wasn't sure where I was. The story was so captivating, I thought I was experiencing the end of the world myself. Thirty three years later and I still remember this novel as one of the best stories I have ever read. It makes you appreciate life and love and how it can all end suddenly.

Rating:
Summary: The only book that ever made me cry like a baby.
Review: This is the kind of novel that scares you to death when you realize that it really is not that far fetched. You want it to be a Stephen King, but it is much more terrifyingly realistic than that.

Rating:
Summary: A book that defines "I couldn't put the book down."
Review: Nevil Shute brings out the devastating truth of the victims of a nuclear war. The book is slow in the beginning, introducing characters and setting the plot, but less than half way throught the book I could not tear myself away. It is a clear picture presented to humanity about the devastion of a nuclear holocaust, and also brings in the thought of choosing one's own death.

Rating:
Summary: Slow and rather predictable, but worth a quick read...
Review: If you want to read a decent anti-war novel and you don't have much else to do on a gray and rainy day, pick this one up. It's somewhat dated, but at the same it speaks some truth about human behavior when faced with the end of the world.

The characters' behavior isvery predictable. And they are somewhat one-dimensional cut-outs from the 50's-60's era. However, the reader is still captivated by the submarine crew's search for life in North America.