On the Beach

Written by: Nevil Shute












What inspires someone to read a book about the end of the world?  Whatever it is, it catches me about once a year, and this time manifested itself in reading a discarded library copy of Nevil Shute's "On the Beach."  And, with all due respect to Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," I don't think I've ever read a book so harsh and bleak.

The protagonist, Dwight Towers, is one of the last surviving American naval officers, the US (along with most of the northern hemisphere) having been destroyed in an all-out nuclear war.  He and his crew take refuge in Australia - one of the last inhabitable places on earth - where they continue their service until the end of civilization as the earth's atmosphere is slowly overcome by radiation.

It's amazing how well Shute raises some pretty primal questions about humanity, given how simple his book may seem at the surface.  For example, what would you do if you knew you only had a month to live?  How would you spend your time?  How would you spend your money?  What would you do with yourself?

Shute reflects on some interesting aspects of human nature, and how they backfire when faced with the end of humanity.  For example, just after the nuclear war, everyone took as much gasoline as they could and hoarded it.  But, with less than a month to live, many realize that they saved more gas than they will ever be able to use.  The same goes for alcohol: a social club which has stockpiled rare vintages of wine for years, only to discover that many of the best will never be enjoyed.

"On the Beach" is a hard read, emotionally.  It raises, in an all-too-realistic way, questions of every individual's mortality and the limits of our lives.  Yet, unlike most novels, Shute's book offers no hope.  Instead, according to this book, we are all ultimately doomed.  We will never amount to much, and there will never be quite enough time to see all we want to see, do all we want to do, or to live the lives we've dreamed about.

For those who can't face their own inner-dreads, the book can also be read as a time-piece.  It is a distorted mirror for what might have been during the cold war - a reflection of the psyche of almost all of humanity when the world's most powerful nations were constantly moments away from pushing the button that would end civilization as we know it.

It will be hard to forget this book, though I would be lying (in a way) if I said I enjoyed it.