On the Beach
by Nevil Shute
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Book Summary Information
Author: Nevil ShuteEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-08-01
ISBN: 0899683657
Number of pages: 250
Publisher: Lightyear Pr
Book Reviews of On the Beach
Book Review: Dead World Walking
Summary: 5 Stars
Having been published over fifty years ago (long before Al Gore "took the initiative in creating the Internet"), On the Beach is a bit dated. But the story, that of the survivors of a nuclear war, seems eerily realistic. The book begins on December 27, 1962, about a year after the end of the "short war," (p 9) "the Russian-NATO war, that had in turn been born of the Israeli-Arab war, initiated by Albania," and the "use of cobalt bombs by both the Russians and the Chinese..." during which (p 61) "about four thousand seven hundred" nuclear bombs were dropped. Only the inhabitants of Australia (where the story is set) and Antarctica have been spared death by radiation poisoning.
Royal Australian Navy LCDR Peter Holmes is posted "as liaison officer in U.S.S. Scorpion" under the command of thirty-three-year-old Submarine Commander Dwight Lionel Towers, U.S.N. Towers, former resident of Mystic, Connecticut is a bit of a paradoxical character. He believes in doing things by the book, and that "One ha[s] to live in the new world and do one's best, forgetting about the old," yet seems certain that he will one day be reunited with his (undoubtedly deceased) wife and two children. The Holmes family (Peter, Mary and baby Jennifer) invites Towers to their place one weekend and asks their neighbor, twenty-four year old Moira Davidson, to "Keep him occupied..." Of their future (the radiation is expected to arrive less than a year later), she tells him, (p 30) "It's like waiting to be hung," and (p 31) "It's not that I'm afraid of dying...It's all the things I'm going to have to miss..." But her attitude and behavior become more positive as her feelings for Towers become stronger. Holding fast to his idea of a perfect family reunion, Towers struggles a bit in maintaining an appropriate relationship with Davidson. Rounding out the cast is a relative of Moira, civilian scientific officer, John Seymour Osborne, who is hired to go on a submarine cruise to (p 39) "make observations and keep records of radioactive levels..." during which the actions of one crewmember are especially memorable, the mission being undertaken in part due to (p 29) "...radio transmission still coming from someplace near Seattle."
Alternately resigned to, and in denial of their fate, the Holmes' create a wonderful garden, Towers readies to see his family, and Osborne, prepares for the race of his life. Especially chilling is the various characters' contemplation of the use of suicide pills. On the Beach is a powerful, unsettling look about the aftermath of a nuclear war. Also good: Voices of Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich.
Summary of On the Beach
Following the war, a radioactive cloud begins to sweep southwards poisoning everything in its path. An American submarine captain is among the survivors left sheltering in Australia, preparing with the locals for the inevitable. Despite his memories of his wife, he becomes close to a young woman struggling to accept the harsh realities of their situation. Then a Morse code signal is picked up and the submarine must set sail through the bleak ocean to search for signs of life.Literary Books
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