Rating: 
Summary: Chilling
Review: "On the Beach" is one of those books that you read for the concept and the story, but not for the quality of the writing. The plot centers around the lives of a few remaining survivors of a nuclear war who live in Australia. Since the was has taken place in the northern hemisphere, Australia has largely escaped unscathed--for the moment. But as prevailing winds approach Australia, they carry lethal doses of radiation with them. The implication of this is that all of the characters in the book--in fact everyone in the world--will inevitably be extinguished."On the Beach" has a profound psychological impact because it is devoid of the intense action that usually accompanies nuclear apocolypse films. The destruction has already occurred elsewhere and the citizens of Australia are largely going about their business knowing they will soon die. The fact that their infrastructure has not been destroyed and that all of their social aparatus is still intact makes their fate all the more sad and earie. Although this book is set in the Cold War it's outcome is still relevant and feasible today. The nuclear warheads generated by the arms race haven't gone away. The former Soviet Union is a desparate, chaotic place, and as several reviewers pointed out, more small countries are joining the nuclear club. One could say that Nuclear madness has merely transformed itself, but its danger certainly hasn't disappeared. I think everyone should read this book to be reminded of the possible future we all face.
Rating: 
Summary: Humans incapable of hopelessness on mass scale...
Review: I must admit, that at first I wasn't overly intrigued by this book, its premise of post-nuclear holocaust being over-familiar and tired in my mind perhaps from incessant repetition in Hollywood (this was a pioneer book in the genre though, it should be understood). The book starts out slowly enough, with a sunny day in Australia sometime following a far-off, disasterous nuclear war. A naval officer, Peter Holmes, with a wife and baby at home, learns of a new job for him from the Australian navy. Shute spends lots of time preparing our setting and elucidating his characters, rolling everything out in what seems at first languid fashion but his is a style that does start to draw you in. What was so fascinating about the book however, is the human element- we learn along the way, maybe halfway through, that at least 4700 nuclear weapons were detonated across the world- and in equally casual fashion we learn that the radioactive wind currents of certain and painful death are slowly descending upon Melbourne. The reader becomes aware of this almost, it seems, in conjunction with the characters, which through the course of the book take on a really vivid aura, which helps make this so depressing and so incredibly powerful. Shute is essentially saying, through all of this, that human beings are incapable of hopelessness on a mass scale, even in a time when it seems that hopelessness is the only viable future. There is lots of partying and reverie early but as the months wear on this even diminishes, to the chagrin of some of my classmates, who seem convinced that the world would devolve into anarchic chaos and debauchery as the end approaches, but it seems that Shute would posit that this may have been the case at first, but as the months wear on most people want to die with a sense of "dignity." As Commander Towers would say, to do things right, even to the end. We see people in utter denial, even in the end, that it can happen to them, people who drink and party any threat of reality away, people who stick to principles, and so on and so on, all the while there is never any doubt that death is coming, and soon. Truly a bone-chilling account, perhaps one of the most ominously powerful books I have ever read, whose incredible strength grows as you read along, probably reaching its peak and staying there about two-thirds of the way through. One of few books that has the power to depress and unnerve so well, and one of the few books that has the power to hook its reader so well.
Rating:
Summary: The end of the World
Review: When he wrote this novel the end of the world in a nuclear holocaust was a very real prospect. Time has passed, and the nuclear threat has receeded. The expectation is that "On the Beach" would become terribly dated as a result. But it is not. The reason may be that Shute concentrated his novel on the people, on how they cope with the end of the world, rather than on the technology, the how and the why. As time goes by the radiation spirals further and further south to threaten the Australians. In response they attempt to go about their business with what normality they can muster. The book raises the interesting questions over how each of us might act when death comes knocking on the door. Do you want to go out in a blaze of glory, vent your anger at fate, or curl up in your own bed and sleep the end away? A great read, it stands the test of time.
Rating:
Summary: Startlingly simple and powerful
Review: Nevil Shute's "On The Beach" is a classic for good reason. Shute takes the most horrific event one can imagine--a worldwide nuclear event--and then turns the microscope on it, focusing in on just a few ordinary people who must wait for death as it drifts over to their hemisphere. We see military personnel, housewives, businessmen, and more. They come alive because they are just like you and me and the people next door. Shute's very great accomplishment here is to examine how each of the characters deals with their certain death. Everyone knows they'll die eventually; these characters have the difficulty of knowing that death will arrive soon, and that it will be slow and agonizing. What do they do? Each reacts differently and the humanity and humility with which some of the characters make their choices is startlingly powerful. Especially in a time when the world seems so uncertain, so cruel, this is an important book to read--or re-read if you picked it up years ago. Prepare yourself for a powerfully moving experience.
Rating: 
Summary: There are many better post-apocalyptic novels out there
Review: On the Beach by Nevil Shute is one of many post-apocalyptic novels conceived during the Cold War. The story is not, however, set in one of the countries that was a major figure in the nuclear arms race, but in Australia where, following an atomic armageddon that engulfed most of the rest of the world, a nation awaits the global airstreams to bring upon them the lethal fall-out let loose by massive nuclear detonation. Some turn to alcohol and other vices; some follow their usual routines, denying the inevitable poisoning and some vow to live each remaining moment to its fullest. It is certainly an interesting premise. Sadly, Mr. Shute proves himself unfit to explore it aptly. I was surprised to read that the author had written more than a dozen novels before On the Beach because the book is so amateurish. Unimportant details are given overwhelming emphasis, use of description to color a scene is basically absent, and never is the novel given any noticeable tone. On the Beach would have benefited greatly from a major revision, one that would perhaps add some flavor and depth to it. With so many stronger post-apocalyptic novels still in print (A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter Miller Jr., Earth Abides by George R. Stuart, The Last Ship by William Brinkley, Alas Babylon by Pat Frank) this monotonous, poorly written book should be disregarded.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting....
Review: I have read this book twice now - with a space of 14 years in between - and I found I got a lot more out of it and remembered quite a lot from the first time. It was and remains the only book I've ever read that caused me to have tears streaming down my face at the end. The realism with which Shute presents his plot and its concept - the immediate after-math of an atomic/hydrogen war and the slow spreading of a radioactive envelope in the earth's atmosphere toward the Southern Hemisphere - is scary. With the approaching radioactivity comes the DOOM of the main characters of the story who live in Melbourne, Australia and who include among them a displaced U.S. submarine captain. What Shute offers us here is the ultimate "what-if". What if this REALLY happened? How would any human being react if he/she could literally see the End coming and could not stop it? Shute's characters are haunting in that they are so REAL themselves just in the way they lash out in anger and moral injustice or recoil in overwhelming despair or even just succumb to numbing apathy. It is the infinite care and love with which Shute creates and develops them and portrays them to us that makes this not a hysterical sermon but a human story. Then he leaves them to die. As a reader you are devastated because you are left with nothing. Each of the characters in the end has to find their own way to die and the very last one is the one who seemed to have the most life and the most promise and the most vitality. Do I recommend this book? YES. You will never forget it.
Rating:
Summary: This Book is Probably The Sole Reason WW3 Never Happened
Review: I read this book about 44 years ago when I was a kid and still remember passages. One of the best novels ever written! So strong was it that it's being said that it was so realistic no nation has ever dropped an atomic bomb on another nation since WW2. I caught the movie on TV yesterday the end with the empty streets of Australia when the radiation cloud finally arrives and the last people on earth are dead, makes one want to cry (and it did when I was younger)...but now as I have gotten older and seen too much of the brutality of mankind, my mind has changed and I think maybe it's time to nuke the whole place. People haven't and won't change. They'll just keep murdering each other until they are finally extinct. Funny how time and seeing too much of humanity changes one's perspective on this book.
Rating:
Summary: The end of the World
Review: When he wrote this novel the end of the world in a nuclear holocaust was a very real prospect. Time has passed, and the nuclear threat has receeded. The expectation is that "On the Beach" would become terribly dated as a result. But it is not. The reason may be that Shute concentrated his novel on the people, on how they cope with the end of the world, rather than on the technology, the how and the why. As time goes by the radiation spirals further and further south to threaten the Australians. In response they attempt to go about their business with what normality they can muster. The book raises the interesting questions over how each of us might act when death comes knocking on the door. Do you want to go out in a blaze of glory, vent your anger at fate, or curl up in your own bed and sleep the end away? A great read, it stands the test of time.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely thought-provoking
Review: I picked this book up at the recommendation of a friend, having an interest in dystopia/apocalyptic books. Despite being dated somewhat in language ("swell") and time, the messages of this book are still very current. I highly recommend this book both as effective literature and a warning of what humanity can do to itself. Two things I found most effective in this book: first off, Shute does not blame the bombs for humanity's destruction; it is our fault. And secondly, I think about two-thirds of the way through, I understood finally that this book could only have one ending, but the subtlety of the book lent a great more depth to my emotions since the reader is left to discover this without help. For those who want a plausible consequence of the abuse of nuclear power, I highly recommend this book. (And for those who need a lift afterwards like I did, I highly recommend Good Omens by Gaiman and Pratchett for a very funny take on the apocalyspe.)
Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: If you do not like this book, then can we conclude you do not like books?? This is a well written book which I think is now considered a something of a classic. Need we say more. The subject is depressing but it gives us pause to think about our humanity. The black and white movie was fabulous for the period, especially the scenes off the coast of California involving the telegraph key. And the empty rail station in Melbourne is haunting. A must book on any book shelf. But that is just my humble opinion. Jack in Toronto.
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