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A review by bonnybonnybooks
On the Beach by Nevil Shute
4.0
"Well, that’s what I think. I mean, I couldn't bear to – to just stop doing things and do nothing. You might as well die now and get it over.”
Moira nodded. “If what they say is right, we’re none of us going to have time to do all that we planned to do. But we can keep on doing it as long as we can.”
A very 1950's view of the apocalypse. Published in 1957, it imagines a near future in 1963 where escalating tensions have caused countries to release 100s of nuclear weapons that have wiped out all life in the Northern Hemisphere. In this world, nuclear fallout produces some kind of circulating killing gas that does not dissipate. The Southern Hemisphere is unaffected for now, but they know the gas is coming, sweeping down on the global air currents. Our heroes in Melbourne live in a world that is forecast to end in September.
While some people get drunk and others get into deadly high speed races, for the most part people continue on with their lives as before. One of the main characters is Australian submariner Peter Holmes, who has a wife and young baby. His wife spends most of the book in denial, planning to plant flowers and trees that she will never see grow.
This book is both more nihilistic and more optimistic than most modern apocalyptic novels. Nihilistic because every last human being dies - no one goes into space or underground or in a submarine to survive. Humanity is completely wiped out. But also more optimistic because of the stiff upper lip and good nature of the humans we meet, despite their impending doom. I am not sure if all of Melbourne would be this genteel about the whole thing, but it is certainly one of the individual responses that would likely occur. Human beings do often allow inertia to pull them forward, or they continue on in a state of denial. Even if we were told that the world would end in a few months - and other cities and continents have already blinked out - there would still be people trying to maintain "normality."
Moira nodded. “If what they say is right, we’re none of us going to have time to do all that we planned to do. But we can keep on doing it as long as we can.”
A very 1950's view of the apocalypse. Published in 1957, it imagines a near future in 1963 where escalating tensions have caused countries to release 100s of nuclear weapons that have wiped out all life in the Northern Hemisphere. In this world, nuclear fallout produces some kind of circulating killing gas that does not dissipate. The Southern Hemisphere is unaffected for now, but they know the gas is coming, sweeping down on the global air currents. Our heroes in Melbourne live in a world that is forecast to end in September.
While some people get drunk and others get into deadly high speed races, for the most part people continue on with their lives as before. One of the main characters is Australian submariner Peter Holmes, who has a wife and young baby. His wife spends most of the book in denial, planning to plant flowers and trees that she will never see grow.
This book is both more nihilistic and more optimistic than most modern apocalyptic novels. Nihilistic because every last human being dies - no one goes into space or underground or in a submarine to survive. Humanity is completely wiped out. But also more optimistic because of the stiff upper lip and good nature of the humans we meet, despite their impending doom. I am not sure if all of Melbourne would be this genteel about the whole thing, but it is certainly one of the individual responses that would likely occur. Human beings do often allow inertia to pull them forward, or they continue on in a state of denial. Even if we were told that the world would end in a few months - and other cities and continents have already blinked out - there would still be people trying to maintain "normality."