Grim movie.
Of course now we know that white Australia is going to perish the slow and ugly way—either third world immigration or Chinese domination.
I’ve read On The Beach several times and it’s a great read. Very few books end like this one.
I have read everything from Nevil Shute. By far, his best novel is “Trustee From The Toolroom”
I was thinking of the cute teenage girl who said that, when the time came, she was going to take her suicide pill with a strawberry peppermint milk shake.
This is a book I wish I’d never read. It haunts me to this day. I was up way past my bed time to get to the end. I felt I owed the characters that, to stay with them to the bitter end. Sounds weird but true readers will understand.
It is one of the great anti-Western Civilization books of all time.
Based on false “science”, designed to demoralize the West to allow the takeover by Communists.
Well written, and very effective propaganda. Terrible fake science, designed to demoralize.
The two basic scientific premises of the book:
1. that enough long-term, horriffically strong fallout could be created to kill off most of life on earth
and
2. That men cannot organize a whole civilization to allow for a few hundred to survive for 20 years sheltered from fallout.
Were known to be false at the time. They were essential to the propaganda premise of the book.
Thanks for posting.
It’s always good to get a gentle reminder to go poke about Steynonline to see what’s been up during the last week or so.
From the article, here is a statement from the movie:
“Every man who worked on this thing told you what would happen,” Julian argues. “The scientists signed petition after petition. But nobody listened. There was a choice. It was build the bombs and use them. Or risk the United States and the Soviet Union and the rest of us would find some way to go on living.”
Simply and completely false. Essentially, better Red than Dead. Steyn is usually better on his science.
Stopped reading right there. No particular reason. Just stopped.
I read the book in my late teens. I should probably read it again.
I never saw the movie.
Stanley Kramer…. ‘Message movies’ that beat you over the head. Even ‘Judgement at Nuremberg’ was …. Ugh. Although I’ll watch anything with Marlene Dietrich.
$.99 on Kindle
Avoid the remake. It’s crap.
Thing is, he was also behind The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T with Dr. Seuss (another lefty). But I must confess I don't see a lefty message in it.
Never heard of it before, but I just watched “On the Beach” (1959) and liked it a lot.
It is free streaming (with limited ads) on Tubi, which is a streaming channel on Roku and similar platforms.