On the Beach

Rating:
Summary: Good, Not Great, Post-Nuclear Literature
Review: Shute's "On The Beach," while an interesting character study on the aftereffects of nuclear war on a fairly remote population of people, makes for interesting reading, but is not especially outstanding in the realm of post-nuclear literature. The inevitability of the characer's demise leads them to dealing with their situation in many different ways, each of which is realistic and thought-provoking (what would YOU do?) but this book stands more as a study of human psychology in extreme conditions rather than one of the truly great "nuke/mass disaster" novels.

Shute's writing, however, is fantastic and his characters fully believable. The fact that the book is rather short on much except conversation and character development sections more or less shows where its interests lie. This book is definately more for the intellectual interested in the effects of impending doom on people rather than the thrill-seeker looking for a graphic description of nuclear war.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't feel realistic, but is nonetheless fascinating.
Review: Aside from the questions raised by other reviewers as to scientific credibility, the real question to me is: would people awaiting doom continue to act as thoroughly civilized as did the characters in this story? Seems doubtful to me; nevertheless, On the Beach was a fascinating story, moody and thought-provoking.

Rating:
Summary: A troubling apocalyptic nightmare
Review: This is not a post-nuclear adventure book-- nothing here for Mad Max or giant mutant rat fans. It is not even an up-to-date reading of what post-nuclear earth would look like; much more recent scientific speculation contradicts some of the picture here.

But it does give you what Shute does best-- ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. What would you do if you knew that you, and every other human around you, were about to relentlessly, unavoidably, painfully die? This is a powerful haunting hopeless book, but for my money the most realistically frightening picture of the end of human life ever set on the page.

Rating:
Summary: A classic worthy of its reputation
Review: Nothing much happens in the way of action in "On the Beach." The bombs have already dropped and the human survivors are mearly waiting for the end. As a reader, you know they are all going to die, which makes them even more compelling. This is apocalypse fistion at its finest. Shute doesn't cop out and give the story an artificial happy ending. I first read this book while in high school nearly two decades ago and the ending still haunts me.

Rating:
Summary: On the Beach and the edge of my seat
Review: Nevil Shute is brilliant in his answer to his own question - If you knew when and how you were definitely going to die, would you try to go out with a bang, or just wait for the end? Some of his characters go one way, others attempt to leave their mark on the world. This chillingly horrific and completely plausible story begs the question what would you do. Written in the late 50's, but taking place at any time since then (Moira's Ford LTD was still around in the 80's), Shute's vision of the outcome of a nuclear holocaust, and the war from whence it happened, are frightenly possible. I recommend that everyone read this book. I suggest that it be put into school curricula. This neo-classic is as important a story of modern times as Shakespeare is of yore. I still find chills running up my back when I peruse the pages of On the Beach.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely the Worst of the Genre
Review: I like this kind of book -- Alas, Babylon and Warday are among my favorite reading materials -- but I cannot abide Shute. His science is wrong, his people are wrong, everything's just wrong. He's so busy making a statement that he simply can't get *anything* right.

It's not the first time. In 1940, Shute wrote an apocalyptic book about the coming German bombing of London. As we all know, the Blitz was terrible; but in Shute's mind, the Blitz was literally going to be the end of the world. The only difference between that book and this is the addition of the prefix "atomic" to his favorite word "bombs".

Shute was a twit. Go read a good book. You won't find it here.

Rating:
Summary: Great Fiction with a Message
Review: I read this book many years ago and was reminded of it recently. While it was written during the cold war and some of the characters might seem dated it is as relevant today as it was when it was written. It is a compassionate credible story of the end of the world. It should be mandatory reading for every politician and every person so that the apocalyptic vision portrayed in this book never comes to pass.

Rating:
Summary: Deeply Disturbing
Review: I first read this book several years ago and it is one that I have returned to recently. The plot, that the world is going to end and there is nothing and nobody that can stop it, is deeply and profoundly disturbing. One almost wants to stop it, to hope that somehow, in the next paragraph or chapter that some escape route is going to be revealed. The slow and steady progress of the unstoppable radioactive cloud provides a backdrop of very real terror against the apparant normality of everyday existence. What makes this book all the more disturbing is the lack of blind panic, the lack of people losing their heads and the gradual acceptance of what is going to happen. I have read other books on this topic but none that has ever touched me in the way that this one did. It is a book I certainly will never forget.

Rating:
Summary: A Cold War Classic
Review: In conjuring up books that concern Cold War paranoaia, I am often reminded of Nevil Shute's masterful "On the Beach". This book is oriented for people below the age of 12. I believe this because of its dramatic intensity, explicity, and depressing ending. The story involves a navy captain who is attempting to lead a team of scientists through various radioactive plants. Their mission: to discover if in fact, radioactivity will lead to Earth's immineant destruction. The officer's wife begains to dissuade her husband from leading the expedition. However, fate intervenes and the government appoints him for the perilous mission. As they embark, each crew member will have to live in proximity 23 "mates". The main problem on the mission is that many of the crew members loathe each other even more than the expedition. Shute does an excellent job at forming mini-biographies surrounding each character involved in the expedition. Shute revels facts as: Where they grew up, family, characteristics, and numerous other obscure facts. Every integral character has a dramatic presents in each chapter. Exposition is filled with wonderful discriptions of each character and essence of story. Which leads me to the mext paragraph. The narrative is very atmospheric. Atmospheric in the fact that it highly corresponds to the Cold War confusion that plauged America in the 50's and 60's. Shute chooses a documentary style of writing to explain the mission more explicitly. However, Shute aknowledges that spectacle alone will never suceed, characters will! Shute's unabated intusiasm and boyant persona endorsed the narrative to the fullest. In conclusion, this book is a fascinating novel. If anyone chooses to explore and study character development, should be forced to study "On the Beach".

Rating:
Summary: Rather Sad
Review: This book was very intertaining. It is one of the few books that kills off ALL the main characters(and minor ones) and is still good. This book would be good to read for anyone who is interested in how things were during the Cold War.