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A review by aaronj21
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
3.0
Alas, Babylon reminds me a lot of Nevil Shute’s On the Beach, this fact has as much to do with my reading both books relatively close together as it does with the novels’ similarities. The books are comparable though, both were written in the 1950’s and both deal with the aftermath of a global nuclear war, focusing on a group of survivors trying to live as best they can in the post war fallout (pun intended, no, I’m not sorry and I’d do it again too).
However, these books are very interesting when read comparatively for the crucial differences they evince.
Pat Frank’s novel revolves largely around plucky, prepared, intelligent individuals coping with the crisis of nuclear war and being cut off from the rest of the country. The main character, Randy, has a brother in the air force who warns him of the coming Armageddon. Randy immediately leaps into action, buying supplies and stocking up before the bombs even fall. Afterwards as things fall apart, he steps up as the unofficial leader of a band of survivors in Fort Repose Florida, making the tough calls that need to be made and ultimately shepherding his people through the worst of the disaster. While the nuclear annihilation in the novel is no joke, something like 70% of the country is bombed and made uninhabitable, the overall tone is somewhat positive, at least in my reading. Yes, America suffered a terrible attack, but the government is mostly intact, the U.S. managed to bomb the enemy even worse, and our survivors adapt so well that by the end of the story they refuse the offer of an airlift out of town. The chapter detailing the devastation of the war seems more like a footnote and less like the point of the novel. The point of the novel is that clever, hardworking Americans can survive anything, even nuclear war by golly.
Contrastingly, On the Beach has no such hopeful reading, it’s a major downer from beginning to end. To begin with, the nuclear war in Shutes’ novel is far more mysterious and pointless (as if nuclear war could ever have a point) than the attack in Alas, Babylon. In this novel full scale war comes about due to a misunderstanding, human error, and no matter who got the most bombs off in the end, the whole world loses. Indeed, the Australians in Shutes novel had nothing at all to do with the war, and yet they’re going to pay the price like every other country on earth as the radioactive fallout inevitably makes its way towards their island continent. It hardly matters how resourceful or intelligent the survivors are, there is simply nothing they can do in the face of such a devastating and global catastrophe.
I found Shute’s point both far more persuasive and more closely aligned to reality. If a nuclear war were to break out there’s precious little people could do to protect themselves, let alone survive or thrive like Randy’s band of survivors in Florida. On the Beach reads like a scathing and thoughtful indictment of the very existence of nuclear weapons. Alas, Babylon, for all that it’s a well written action story, reads like fanfiction a character from GI Joe would write.
However, these books are very interesting when read comparatively for the crucial differences they evince.
Pat Frank’s novel revolves largely around plucky, prepared, intelligent individuals coping with the crisis of nuclear war and being cut off from the rest of the country. The main character, Randy, has a brother in the air force who warns him of the coming Armageddon. Randy immediately leaps into action, buying supplies and stocking up before the bombs even fall. Afterwards as things fall apart, he steps up as the unofficial leader of a band of survivors in Fort Repose Florida, making the tough calls that need to be made and ultimately shepherding his people through the worst of the disaster. While the nuclear annihilation in the novel is no joke, something like 70% of the country is bombed and made uninhabitable, the overall tone is somewhat positive, at least in my reading. Yes, America suffered a terrible attack, but the government is mostly intact, the U.S. managed to bomb the enemy even worse, and our survivors adapt so well that by the end of the story they refuse the offer of an airlift out of town. The chapter detailing the devastation of the war seems more like a footnote and less like the point of the novel. The point of the novel is that clever, hardworking Americans can survive anything, even nuclear war by golly.
Contrastingly, On the Beach has no such hopeful reading, it’s a major downer from beginning to end. To begin with, the nuclear war in Shutes’ novel is far more mysterious and pointless (as if nuclear war could ever have a point) than the attack in Alas, Babylon. In this novel full scale war comes about due to a misunderstanding, human error, and no matter who got the most bombs off in the end, the whole world loses. Indeed, the Australians in Shutes novel had nothing at all to do with the war, and yet they’re going to pay the price like every other country on earth as the radioactive fallout inevitably makes its way towards their island continent. It hardly matters how resourceful or intelligent the survivors are, there is simply nothing they can do in the face of such a devastating and global catastrophe.
I found Shute’s point both far more persuasive and more closely aligned to reality. If a nuclear war were to break out there’s precious little people could do to protect themselves, let alone survive or thrive like Randy’s band of survivors in Florida. On the Beach reads like a scathing and thoughtful indictment of the very existence of nuclear weapons. Alas, Babylon, for all that it’s a well written action story, reads like fanfiction a character from GI Joe would write.