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tjrtucker's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lucieeleanor101's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
domicspinnwand's review against another edition
4.0
We read that in my English class when I was about 17 or 18 years old, I really liked it though it was also a bit scary (Tschernobyl was only a few years before we read it...)
mcloonejack's review against another edition
4.0
“On the Beach” is a startling read, but not in the way most people interpret “startling.” There’s not much, if any, in the way of big action, despite taking place after a month-long nuclear war wiped out the majority of the planet. There’s some unbridled hedonism as the prospect of a radiation sickness death drifts towards the story’s home in Australia, but nothing too crazy.
No, what’s startling—and, to my mind, also shockingly feels true—is that even with certain death looming on a consistent timeline, people just… continue living their lives, for the most part, whether they acknowledge their coming doom or not. The military carries out missions they know will be foolhardy but to both have something to do and to grasp onto hope. Families plan gardens and care for farms they’ll never see the fruits of the labor from. Men who lost their wives and children in the initial bombing continue to speak and plan as if they’re alive.
It’s the monotony of our looming deaths that “On The Beach” captures, and while it’s times remarkably dated, it also has moments where it’s truly gorgeous. All told, I highly recommend it.
Now would I recommend it as one’s subway read, as I did with my paperback? No, probably not lol
No, what’s startling—and, to my mind, also shockingly feels true—is that even with certain death looming on a consistent timeline, people just… continue living their lives, for the most part, whether they acknowledge their coming doom or not. The military carries out missions they know will be foolhardy but to both have something to do and to grasp onto hope. Families plan gardens and care for farms they’ll never see the fruits of the labor from. Men who lost their wives and children in the initial bombing continue to speak and plan as if they’re alive.
It’s the monotony of our looming deaths that “On The Beach” captures, and while it’s times remarkably dated, it also has moments where it’s truly gorgeous. All told, I highly recommend it.
Now would I recommend it as one’s subway read, as I did with my paperback? No, probably not lol
amyl123's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
peebee's review against another edition
4.0
Making two protagonists be whitebread naval officers with the exact same personality, and jumping from one to the other with a random aside instead of a chapter break, or even a line break between paragraphs made it impossible to recall who'd said what to whom and/or who did what at what time, except as in the cases where either of the women (ditzy housewife or wild party flapper, in true 1960's fashion) in either guy's life was involved in the scene. It didn't really matter anyway as the four of them are almost never out of each other's hair, and mostly reacted to external events all at the same time and place, so it rarely led to confusion with the actual motion of the plot.
Otherwise, it takes the buildup to what would be the macguffin salvation climax in any dumbass book or movie made nowadays and lets the air completely out of it, around the halfway point of the book. And the rest is just people coping with the inevitable hopelessness afterwards. No one has any agency except how they choose to die.
Maybe a bit too little agency. They mention the southern hemisphere had 2 years to prepare for the eventual deposition of fallout with a halflife of 5 years. Seems like you could have perhaps built some sort of bunker in that time, with food enough for 5-10 years for a couple dozen people, but that would make it a different book.
Only for like half a page in the whole thing does he indulge in the 'We shoulda done something, shoulda said something when we had the chance!' That every entry in the genre spends half its time wallowing in, usually.
Otherwise, it takes the buildup to what would be the macguffin salvation climax in any dumbass book or movie made nowadays and lets the air completely out of it, around the halfway point of the book. And the rest is just people coping with the inevitable hopelessness afterwards. No one has any agency except how they choose to die.
Maybe a bit too little agency. They mention the southern hemisphere had 2 years to prepare for the eventual deposition of fallout with a halflife of 5 years. Seems like you could have perhaps built some sort of bunker in that time, with food enough for 5-10 years for a couple dozen people, but that would make it a different book.
Only for like half a page in the whole thing does he indulge in the 'We shoulda done something, shoulda said something when we had the chance!' That every entry in the genre spends half its time wallowing in, usually.
daja57's review against another edition
4.0
1963. There has been a nuclear war in the northern hemisphere. Everyone seems to be dead. A radioactive cloud is drifting south. Melbourne is the furthest south big city. The inhabitants are waiting to die.
The story revolves around Australian Navy officer Peter Holmes, his wife and baby; US Submarine commander Dwight Towers, missing his presumably dead wife and children, consoled by wannabe girlfriend Moira; and scientific officer John Osborne. Each of them try to continue as if nothing is happening. Peter and his wife worry about the baby's health and make plans for their garden; Moira's father puts in fencing for his farm; Dwight buys presents for his (probably dead) wife and kids; John wants to win the very last grand prix race. Some people keep working, others get drunk.
A stunning, beautifully written study of human behaviour, and the quest for meaning in life, when faced with inevitability.
Of course, it is of its time. The women are fundamentally passive, seeking a life of housewifery and motherhood. Patriarchal attitudes are everywhere. But the predominant attitude is stiff upper lip.
The story revolves around Australian Navy officer Peter Holmes, his wife and baby; US Submarine commander Dwight Towers, missing his presumably dead wife and children, consoled by wannabe girlfriend Moira; and scientific officer John Osborne. Each of them try to continue as if nothing is happening. Peter and his wife worry about the baby's health and make plans for their garden; Moira's father puts in fencing for his farm; Dwight buys presents for his (probably dead) wife and kids; John wants to win the very last grand prix race. Some people keep working, others get drunk.
A stunning, beautifully written study of human behaviour, and the quest for meaning in life, when faced with inevitability.
Of course, it is of its time. The women are fundamentally passive, seeking a life of housewifery and motherhood. Patriarchal attitudes are everywhere. But the predominant attitude is stiff upper lip.
captlychee's review against another edition
3.0
NOt the most psectacularly written book, but it does my home town proudd. Strange mix of fictional suburbs and real ones, for reasons I don't know about and probaly wouldn't understand. But it does show a time when Australians weren't the grab bag opf grizzling fuckwits our own media portrays us to be nowadays. It's finest moments are when it describes people stoically taking things as they come. It makes us seem brave.
One of the few books where the movie (the 1960 one) is better than the book.
One of the few books where the movie (the 1960 one) is better than the book.