On the Beach

I saw the movie On the Beach many years ago. It was a good movie. Though my recollection of it has faded very much, I do have a fairly clear memory of a couple of scenes and the overall story. As I read the book, I thought, "Could this be one of those rare instances where the movie is better than the book?" But it is the ending of the book, after the submarine Scorpion returns to Melbourne, that On the Beach comes into its own. On the Beach doesn't ever really reach a climax, but rather it is more the inexorable realization of the inevitable finality. I can't think of the right word to describe the last third of the book. Enthralling, gripping, captivating - no, none of those is right; Moving, perhaps - that's not really it either. Stirring, sadly stirring - that's the best I can come up with.

You'll just have to read the book to know what I mean.