Earth Abides

[kcs_hiker]

just finished this classic. I'm not sure why I hadn't read it before...

anyway, I found the first 2/3 of the book rather monotonous... engaging but nothing new (although I grant that it WAS new, as Stewart may have been the first with some of the ideas, just not new to me).

the last 1/3 of the book however I thought was magnificent! Ish as an old man... tears streamed down my cheeks as I finished the last few pages. Although I am often moved, even to tears, by what I read... this particular passage was intimately touching. As a sensitive 'bookish' man, prone to worrying overmuch about trivia, moving towards old age (I know I know, 48 isn't old.... but it isn't young either, as my body never fails to remind me), I can easily and completely identify with Ish.

Anyway

felt like sharing a bit, hope I didn't come across as too corny or sappy

[j. d. worthington]

Well, I'm not sure he was entirely "new" even when the book was written... but his development of the character and the theme were both quite good, insightful, and summed up very well the paradox presented between such a man and the society around him.

I think the book works on many levels, the least of which is the most obvious -- plot. And, of course, one of the things I most appreciate about the book is that he avoided either a truly optimistic ending (the old order restored, as it were) or a truly pessimistic one (everything going to hell), and instead was very realistic... to use another quote of the same sort: "To every thing there is a season...." The fact that we can see ourselves in Ish's place, both himself and those things he believes in and holds dear being replaced as part of the nature of things not because of cruelty, or some evil, or a conspiracy against him, or even a fault on any side, but simply because life is change... that's what provides this book with its poignancy, I think....

[The Wanderer]

Just got this on the SF Masterworks series, haven't read it yet, also 'More than Human' Theodore Stugeon, 'Star Maker' Olaf Stapledon and Bring the Jubilee' Ward Moore

All Classic I've been Informed

PS I wouldn't advise getting books from www.Play.com, the books don't really come in a condition that is satisfactory, it looks to me like they take on rejected stock from bookshops

Not really worth the quid less you pay for them, not at all

[j. d. worthington]

I'd agree that they are classics (though with some flaws). However, a word of warning about Moore's Bring the Jubilee... the style is perfectly suited, I'd say, to the novel, but it can be a bit off-putting to some; if this proves to be true in your case, I nonetheless highly recommend persevering, as the book is well worth it....

[The Wanderer]

'More Than Human', 'Star Maker' have flaws?

[j. d. worthington]

LOL... I've yet to read a book which doesn't have some flaws.... I just tend to warn people this way because what are small flaws to some are large to others; so if a little cautious leaven helps them to get past the occasional blemish.....

[The Wanderer]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

LOL... I've yet to read a book which doesn't have some flaws.... I just tend to warn people this way because what are small flaws to some are large to others; so if a little cautious leaven helps them to get past the occasional blemish.....

Too True, Moby Dick is a classic book, but damned if I could get through Whale Morphology bits, skipped them anyway, loved the book despite that - it's good to mark which chapters to skip before you start actually - not cheating honest

[tarifa]

Earth Abides is one of my top ten. I love the pace, the down-play, the evolution (bio/psych/social).

It may not be 'new', it may never have been, but I think Stewart hit a note all his own.

[Winters_Sorrow]

I really enjoyed Earth Abides. It was one of the first 'post-apocalyptic' books I read as a teenager and it was one of the better ones. I particularly liked some of the disputes which arose later in the book around the murder (and it was murder) of the drifter to prevent his influence on the rest of the society. Raised all sorts of moral issues without any 'happy ending' as such.
I thought each segment of the book (coming to grips with the lonliness of thinking you are the only survivor, struggling to survive on your own, the joy of discovering you aren't the only survivor and struggling to build a functional society) were all very well done. I also cracked a smile at the couple who filled their house full of lamps, tea sets etc to 'insulate' themselves from what had happened to the rest of the world.