Review of Nevil Shute's On the beach
This books' story takes place in Southern
Australia. It tells us about our earth after a nuclear war. A war that lasted
for a few weeks only, but destroyed or will destroy all mankind. The
whole Northern Hemisphere is dead, the only human beings still alive are the
Australians.
But their 'happiness' will only last for a few
months - it's the wind that spreads the radioactivity towards them. And
everybody knows that the radioactivity will cause radiation sickness, which
will kill the little rest of the human race within a few days.
Peter Holmes is on the lucky side, too.
He works for the Australian Navy and lives together with his wife Mary and his
very young daughter. One day, he is asked to go on a cruise with an American
Submarine with the other main character, John Osborne. The goal of the cruise
is to watch out if there is still anybody alive in the Northern Hemisphere or
- not. And it is the bitter truth: They even find cities with no damage
at all - but radiation sickness has killed everything.
'On the beach' tells little stories about
the young lady Moira Davidson who drinks a lot to stand what happens; about
John Osborne, who starts practising in really dangerous car racing and about
Peters wife Mary, who just doesn't want to believe what happens and tries to
live like she used to do before.
Nevil Shute made me think about life and
its end again. What's the sense of our life? To play 'the game'? To start an
own business, to succeed in making money? Nobody can give a general answer,
valid for everyone.
