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On the Beach

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On the Beach

By: Nevil Shute
Narrated by: James Smillie
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About this listen

Australia is one of the last places where life still exists after nuclear war starts in the Northern Hemisphere. A year on, an invisible cloak of radiation has spread almost completely around the world.

Darwin is a ghost town, and radiation levels at Ayres Rock are increasing. An American nuclear-powered submarine has found its way to Australia, where its captain has placed the boat under the command of the Australian Navy. Commander Dwight Towers and his Australian liaison officer are sent to the coast of North America to discover whether a stray radio signal originating from near Seattle is a sign of life.

©2009 The Trustees of the Estate of the late Nevil Shute Norway (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Submarine War
All stars
Most relevant
Really creates a stark, dark but very human experience. Moving and eerie, very well read.

eerie and powerful

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Overall it was a good story and performed well. My only annoyance was the volume seemed to drop terribly in places when the reader was “whispering” in character, which is fine for the role except makes it hard to hear and was having to turn volume up and down numerous times.

On the Beach

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This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper. And all so very ordinary.

Topical yet again.

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On The Beach is a novel about folly on a grand scale and the inescapable consequences for humanity. Read it for the quietly stated themes or read it for the glimpses into life in another decade. Deeply moving.

Confronting and thought provoking

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The narrator was excellent and a chilling story of what is still possible today, if world leadership fails.

Sad Tale

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The terrifying reality of the end of life. The horrific amplified by the mundane, the sadness of it. It probably will be like this, people going about their lives right up until the last.

Brilliant.

That’s how it will go down

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Wow, it’s like it’s all happening again with Russia invading Ukraine and a simmering undertone of nuclear catastrophe just waiting to happen. Haven’t they learnt anything from history? Shute has done a fantastic job of making it so real and authentic. It’s a great book and should be essential reading in the school curriculum to enlighten our young people about what can and highly likely may happen if people don’t pull their heads in. HighMy recommended.

Phew…

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What a book to read during extended lockdown in Melbourne! excellent and harrowing. great performance.

Brilliant and depressing.

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The performance was a bit wooden and the text somewhat dated. But the plot was compelling and thought-provoking. Worth listening to if you want a light exploration of the scariness of stupidity in humanity.

A bit dated but compelling story/plot/concept

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Take around 8 hours of character and world building before any mention of a beach.

Good listen despite the name.

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