Terug On the Beach (1957)
by
Nevil Shute
He was born in London in 1899 and he died in Alice Springs, Australia, in 1960. Almost all the stories in his books take place in Australia. Some examples: A town like Alice, The Far Country. He very often wrote about warsituations. His work has never been taken very seriously.
Information about the book
A nuclear war has destroyed the whole northern hemisphere. Australia is spared from the direct consequences, but the nuclear dust is spreading slowly around the world. Peter Holmes works in the Australian submarine. He and his wife Mary have just had their first child, Jennifer, when the nuclear war begins. They decided to keep on living their normal life, in spite of the constant threat. They have put their heads in the sand and act as if nothing is going on. When the radio-active dust-cloud is coming nearer by day, they realise the end is coming near. Talking about this hurts.
Contents
Peter wants to talk to Mary about the uncoming threat, because he has to go on a cruise for his work. He wants to tell her what is going to happen when you get the radiation sickness and what she will have to do when this happens, but she doesn't want to talk about it. "You can tell me all about it nearer the time. When we know it's coming", she says. Peter tells her it will surely come and that they are all going to die of it. He wants to tell her now, because he may not be here when it happens, so she will be prepared. Reluctantly she listens to him. He tells her all about the sickness and what she must do when she and Jennifer get it and he is not around. When they get the sickness and it gets too bad, they will have to kill themselves by taking a pill. He tells her how to get these pills. She doesn't want to do this, because if she killed herself Jennifer would be left alone. Peter says Jennifer is going to die as well, like every other living thing. He tells Mary she will have to kill Jennifer as well if it should get too rough. Mary goes mad when he says this and accuses him of having another woman. Angrily he says that if he isn't with her when the cloud arrives, he will be dead already! He tries to work on her feelings by telling her that Jennifer will die an awful death, if she dies before Jennifer does. "This is a time you have to show some guts and face up to things", he says. Mary runs out of the room, sobbing. He does not go to her. Instead he pours himself some drinks and sits down on the veranda. He sits there talking to himself till midnight. He goes to the bedroom, lies down next to Mary and falls asleep. At about two in the morning he awakes and hears Mary sobbing. He tries to comfort her and she apologizes for being a fool. Next morning he puts the fake pills in the medicine cupboard in the bathroom. In each box he has put a little note explaining what she has to do to get real ones. He adds to each note a few words of love, thinking that she might well read it after he is dead.
What is the relation between the fragment and the book?
This fragment puts forward the awkwardness of the situation and how hard it is to talk about dying that way. I find it very representative for the whole book. This fragment is situated in the middle of the book.
My own opinion
I think this can become reality. We have enough nuclear bombs to destroy our world and if it comes to a war, they can be used. It's sad but true. This story is a good picture of the truth.
Terug