On the Beach
- 311
- Pages
- about 6 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“On the Beach” is a dark, moving novel about people in Melbourne waiting for the end of the world. After a nuclear war in the Northern Hemisphere, deadly radiation drifts south, and Shute follows a mixed group who each meet the approaching end in their own way. Some readers find much of it unrealistic and are won over all the same. Its subject is how people behave when nothing can be done.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
On the Beach is an apocalyptic novel published in 1957, written by British author Nevil Shute after he immigrated to Australia. The novel details the experiences of a mixed group of people in Melbourne as they await the arrival of deadly radiation spreading towards them from the Northern Hemisphere, following a nuclear war some years previously. As the radiation approaches, each person deals with impending death differently.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.5 across 169 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 53% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Science fiction average of 7.8. That is how 7.6 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.5 | 8 | 5% |
| Hardcover | 7.5 | 161 | 95% |
Frequently asked
How long is On the Beach?
It has 311 pages — shorter than 78% of the ranked books in Science fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Science fiction — and a score of 7.6, the closest to this book.
