On the Beach

By: Nevil Shute

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

A war no one fully understands has devastated the planet with radioactive fallout from massive cobalt bombing. Melbourne, Australia, is the only area whose citizens have not yet succumbed to the contamination. But there isn’t much time left, a few months, maybe more—and the citizens of Melbourne must decide how they will live the remaining weeks of their lives, and how they will face a hopeless future.

Published in 1957, On the Beach is considered a classic nuclear holocaust novel, and a masterpiece of speculative fiction.

©1957 Nevil Shute Norway (P)1991 Recorded Books, LLC

Mood is strong in this one.

_On the Beach_ by Nevil Shute receives five stars from me. I want to give it four, but. I can't seem to do that.

Why? It places the reader into the position of the characters. They are waiting around for the end to come; they know it is coming; they get reports of the radiation getting closer. We, the readers, are waiting. for it; we are waiting for anything extraordinary to happen--the god machine to show up. But we know it won't. We know it won't. I think this aspect was very strong, but has a downside to it--that the novel is less engaging, less exciting as it might otherwise be.

At times I felt it was a bit soap Oper like. It has this woman who is getting drunk at every turn, chasing a man who she can never have. A wife pretending that nothing is wrong. People carry on with their lives as they have always, making plans for the next spring. People going back to school and getting an education. They all know what's going to happen, but they seem to be ignoring it. However, they are not. All thought out the novel they stop and talk about the coming radiation. Do you think it will really happen? When? What will it be like.

During the novel with all this waiting, moments appear where the characters address and discuss real issues. The conversation with the submarine captain and the sailor who left the ship was one that really hit me. I felt it was beautiful and depressing and honest.

This was an audiobook read by Simon Prebble. Excellent reading. His voice fit the voice of the narrator. His cadence reflected the mood of the piece as well. He is recommended.

Themes? In many ways this is not a strong thematic novel. There are themes, but few, and they are not discussed as strongly as in other novels. For me this is more about mood, and plot. As strange as that might sound--plot is important in this novel. It is the plot that reveals the waiting; it is the plot that opens the characters for their discussions; it is the plot that we are following along.

Recommended: yes.

Wonderful rendition but for frequent mispronunciation of Australian cities

This is the first time I have listened to On the Beach and the third time I have read it. It is wonderful storytelling. Unfortunately those mispronunciations did jar a little. There were sooo many. Nevertheless Five star overall!!

Enough about brandy!

Where does On the Beach rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I saw the movie adaptation of this several years ago, and decided to read the book. The premise was interesting, and I liked the story. I just didn't love it, and at times, it was downright annoying.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The story takes place after a nuclear war, where the only the Southern hemisphere was spared. The radiation fallout is apparently moving South, and the scientists believe that everyone has six months to live.

The book follows several characters and how they choose to live out their remaining time. The characters were well developed, and I liked all of the story lines for the most part. By far, my favorite part of the book was the Australian Grand Prix, and the concept of an auto race where all of the participants have nothing to lose.

The problem I had with the story is that the author would dwell on certain topics, and it became annoying. One of the characters spent her time as an alcoholic, and every few minutes of her dialog would be about brandy, drinking brandy, going somewhere to drink brandy, etc.... It got old. The second idea that was overplayed was actually a pretty good concept, just overplayed to death. Many of the characters would make long term plans for things that would be years away, despite that they only have a short time to live. This denial seemed realistic, and I thought it was very clever the first couple of times it happened, but the author keeps dragging this concept to the forefront again and again, and after a while it got really old.

Overall, I liked the book, but I was really ready for it to be over by the end of the book. Well, a couple chapters before the end.

Any additional comments?

The narration was very good.

Frightening but memorable.

Post-apocalyptic books are always thought-provoking. I find them interesting. And I really like the way that Nevil Shute writes his stories. I have read this one a couple times.

Lessons for our time

I read this book many years ago and think about it whenever tensions escalate between super-powers. It is one of the most depressing book ever written. By our own hand, we could lose the wonderful gift that is this planet of ours. One thing leads to another; things get out of hand. It's so plausible that it almost seems inevitable. The narration captures well the somber story line.

A true Classic

An amazing, yet completely depressing story. Having seen the Gregory Peck/Ava Gardner movie more than a dozen times since I was a kid, this was my first foray into the novel. It held my attention completely and if the ending does not have you in tears, then you have no Soul.

Wonderful narration

Excellent and haunting performance. Simon Prebble does a masterful job with the narration--very enjoyable.

What an extraordinary book!

What an extraordinary book! I can honestly say that I loved this book, even though it's subject matter was a bit dark.

Interesting premis, well written

Neither the story or the characters really capture you. The end is laid out for us right away and we are supposed to enjoy the steady decline to death. Not really a page-tiurner, but you'll want to know how it ends.

Marvelous book.

As poignant today as it was in '57. Amazing characters. This book is a joy to read again.