Review: Ocassional brilliance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 5, 2013
"On The Beach" is a book that has left me conflicted in my emotions. It is the story of a kid who has refused to grow up. This is a recognisable scenario for a novel, the question really becomes one of whether the plot manages to rise from this to become a thing of originality and interest.On the beach is, at times, very beautifully written. At times it seems to drag a little as the monotony of our hero's life is made abundantly clear. Essentially it is a book to nothing, that leads us nowhere but takes us on a journey of realisation that we all make choices and not all of them are rational and not all of them are in our own best interests.Does it rise to become a thing of originality? Not necessarily, or at least not obviously. It is a fine story and one that does compel us to find out what happens to Lenny but its major impact is in the occasionally brilliant descriptive writing style of the author.