EARTH ABIDES: A WELL-ORDERED APOCALYPSE
No discussion of great post-apocalyptic books would be complete without mention of George R. Stewart’s 1949 classic, EARTH ABIDES. It’s been reported that it was Stephen King’s inspiration for THE STAND, and worthy inspiration it is. This book is part Robinson Crusoe, part brilliant speculative anthropology, and part Moby Dick, all laid out in scenes of decay like the ones depicted in The History Channel’s LIFE AFTER PEOPLE. This book portrays what it would be like to lose our technology, nearly everything from the bow and arrow onward, and start anew in our tribes.
But EARTH ABIDES doesn’t begin with loincloths and venison roasting on the spit. It begins with young Isherwood Williams alone in the Northern California wilderness, performing research for his graduate thesis. The tension begins immediately. He’s bitten by a snake and then he contracts a nasty virus, but he recovers from both. He then tries to end his lonely and quite nearly life-ending sojourn by driving into the nearest town—only to discover that the people are gone. He drives further into the town, blaring his car horn, but there’s no response. He gets out. Finally he reads the last edition of The San Francisco Chronicle, a single folded sheet carrying the headline: CRISIS ACUTE. (more…)