On the Beach

My version is actually missing the T.S. Eliot quote:

This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper.

Indeed. A lot of things are dated here. The female characters are eyebrow raising at times, and at the time of writing, nuclear winter was not properly understood. But the way almost everyone in this novel is determined to continue with their little occupations and past times right until the end captures some truth about human nature.

Thinking about it further, there is a hint of a pessimistic philosophical undercurrent: The inhabitants of Australia die blamelessly, the war which brought on the lethal radiation was not theirs. And yet, their pastimes express an objectifying carelessness with nature and life. When one of anglers gives advice:

I like a little frog. You get alongside a pool you know about two in the morning with a little frog and put the hook just through the skin on his back and cast him across and let him swim about...

Or when each race of the final Australian Grand Prix results in dozens of car crashes with casualties.

Striking is also the speechlessness with regards to the war itself (which just so happened) and what could have been done to prevent it:

Newspapers, he said. You could have been done something with the newspapers. We didn't do it. No nation did, because we are too silly...

My reading is that western culture has an inherent defect which is blame for its demise. Its the old thesis that technical advancement with an essentially unchanged human nature will lead to catastrophe.

<spoiler>“Will you tell Sharon about me?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said. “Maybe she knows already.”

She stared down at the pebbles at her feet. “What will you tell her?”

“Lots of things,” he said quietly. “I’ll tell her that you turned what might have been a bad time for me into a good time. I’ll tell her that you did that although you knew, right from the start, that there was nothing in it of you. I’ll tell her it’s because of you I’ve come back to her like I used to be, and not a drunken bum. I’ll tell her that you’ve made it easy for me to stay faithful to her, and what it’s cost you.”</spoiler>

On the Beach is one of the saddest things I have ever read. The fact that everyone is so jolly and getting on with their lives, for however long that may be, makes it even more tragic. Not a single character is a villain, no one deserves to die, certainly not a horrible prolonged death. Radiation poisoning is one of the scariest things out there; with very little anyone can do to help.

It all starts off quite chipper. The short third war has destroyed the northern hemisphere but down in Australia, no one quite believes it will affect them, not yet. They are having to make do without petrol and aeroplanes, but life is continuing. Mary plans and plants her garden for next year. Inviting the American captain down and keeping him entertained so he doesn’t stop to think about his family; doesn’t see the baby and cry. Creating make-shift vehicles driven by cattle and pedal power.

They would much rather have another drink, than worry about it; Moira has decided to switch to brandy as gin rots the insides. There’s even rumours that getting pickled will increase resistance to radiation. It gives the whole thing a cosy catastrophe vibe.

Whilst the state of the world is without hope, there is optimism in human nature. These people don’t turn against each other or exploit the situation, instead they are helpful and kind. It is the kind of community we would all like to be part of if the end was nigh, not having to struggle in our final days, but just pottering along.

A sole American submarine is still in operation, stationed in Melbourne. A small crew take it out to take readings and study the movement of the radiation across the globe. At first I wasn’t that interested in the goings on of the Navy, however it provides a useful tool to relay information about the rest of the world. They are living in isolation, no news can come from lands where no one lives and the submarine is the only thing equipped to go close to radioactive areas.

All world leaders should be made to read this book. It humanises the horror of nuclear war more-so than any graphic telling of destruction. It’s the slow, inevitable wait for the extinction of the human race.

I read this literally on the beach, in one day. Despite it's age it holds up very well.

"...now that I've got used to the idea I think I'd rather have it this way."

This is a different type of post apocalyptic story. There is no chaos or turmoil, all of that is behind them and the people have moved on. The rest of the world has gone dark and there is no hope left. Now everyone gets by on what is around, go to classes, do their job and plan for a garden that they will never see. Everyone stays busy until their certain death contained in the nuclear fallout reaches them.

This story was amazing and the final pages of the book were incredibly moving. When there are months left to live and there is no chance of surviving I would like to think that life would carry on in a peaceful and calm manner instead of spiralling down in to a crime and looting filled rage.

Depressing book but a stand out amongst this genre, especially when you consider the publication date of it.

Ah, 1960s nuclear apocalypse, a genre nearly unto itself. Shute provides the reader a better than average rendition, choosing to focus on he reactions of individuals as they each try to come to grips with the fact that death, in the form of nuclear fallout, is heading their way. Sobering not so much from the anti-nuclear perspective, but moreso from asking 'how would I react?'.

Worth the read.

The world is slowly dying as a result of a nuclear holocaust, and the people of Melbourne Australia are doing what about it? Nothing! No one is struggling with knowing how much life is left for them, no one is trying to find a way to survive; they are just sitting there waiting for the radiation to float towards them. For a post-apocalyptic book, there is nothing happening in it; all the characters are playing nice and not even living life as though it would end in a few months (they continue to buy presents for their children, plant their garden, etc.) While I did enjoy the fact that I knew the cities in the book – Townsville gets a lot of mentions – I don’t think the plot progressed enough to recommend this book to anyone. If you want a slow moving post-apocalyptic book then I’d recommend Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Road; it’s dark, beautiful and has great characters.

Shute's book lays out a cruel apocalypse that is as slow moving as it is inevitable. Its ending is wrenching, evoking perfectly a sense of the terrible price individuals must pay for the hubris of mankind.