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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
Read for my American Novels Since 1900 class.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I cannot stop admiring Jack London, his estimations from a century ago are just mind-blowing.
This book drew my interest as one of the first apocalypse novels written. I read it knowing that it was going to be 'of it's time'.
I read it in one sitting and still have to say I enjoyed it for what it was despite references to 'civilised' and 'non-civilised' peoples, the primitive nature of the working classes, the enslavement of women and references to the 'Aryan race' repopulating the world. Ok it sounds bad right? But wading through all of that, is the very poignant message that 'the fleeting systems lapse like foam'. All we've done as humans can be wiped from this earth so quickly - so what can we say we have really achieved?
The biggest thing that blew my mind at the end was reading the short biography of Jack London - he was from a working class family, grew up in poverty with little access to formal education, was imprisoned and was an active socialist. He also wrote a lot of novels with celebrated 'strong female leads'. All of that makes me rethink the Scarlet Plague as satirical rather than moralistic. So it gets four stars for holding my interest and being more than it first seems.
I read it in one sitting and still have to say I enjoyed it for what it was despite references to 'civilised' and 'non-civilised' peoples, the primitive nature of the working classes, the enslavement of women and references to the 'Aryan race' repopulating the world. Ok it sounds bad right? But wading through all of that, is the very poignant message that 'the fleeting systems lapse like foam'. All we've done as humans can be wiped from this earth so quickly - so what can we say we have really achieved?
The biggest thing that blew my mind at the end was reading the short biography of Jack London - he was from a working class family, grew up in poverty with little access to formal education, was imprisoned and was an active socialist. He also wrote a lot of novels with celebrated 'strong female leads'. All of that makes me rethink the Scarlet Plague as satirical rather than moralistic. So it gets four stars for holding my interest and being more than it first seems.
As dystopian stories go, this is one of the better ones. Sure, it has all the hallmarks of a story written in the 19th century, despite being of 1912 origin, and feels like a story [a:H.G. Wells|880695|H.G. Wells|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1392678719p2/880695.jpg] wrote, but this is a particular achievement, given that the story was written not by Wells, but by [a:Jack London|1240|Jack London|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1261338500p2/1240.jpg], better known for pessimistic potboilers of the 'Man vs. Wild' variety. The story opens with a brief introduction to the characters, but this is merely a framing device for the actual story, the old man's description of how the titular plague started and spread. Unlike other writers of science fiction at this time, Jack London is quite specific in his description of what took place and where - the vivid recollections of bacteriologists succumbing to the plague within minutes of discovering a serum bring to mind scenes from (the movie adaptation of) [b:World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War|8908|World War Z An Oral History of the Zombie War|Max Brooks|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1386328204s/8908.jpg|817], and scattered moments from [b:The Walking Dead, Book One|30071|The Walking Dead, Book One|Robert Kirkman|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1366215267s/30071.jpg|14795009]. In fine, the story isn't that long - the author has had the graciousness to provide us with a zombie story that's only a little over 100 pages, so compared to the impressive tomes of [a:James Michener|6497164|James Michener|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-e89fc14c32a41c0eb4298dfafe929b65.png] or [a:Wilbur Smith|4043|Wilbur Smith|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1337749545p2/4043.jpg], this should be a doddle.
I thought it was a fun little take on the apocalypse, surprised it doesn’t get a bit more love. I’d have loved a full novel from it, and the “old man talks a lot” style might not appeal to everyone, but- it’s an incredibly short read, it’s not like you’re gonna get lost or bored. It’s just not as tight as possible, but honestly the ideas presented make up for that imo. I’d also see how some might balk at the small bits regarding class/workers/socialism, but for me it really wasn’t much of a non-sequitur and could very well be how we ultimately look back on things- it’s not outside the realm of possibility for a survivor to comment on the capitalist system, is all, and the fact that we know London’s politics should kinda be kept separate- if you care about capitalist critique, awesome, if not, hey it fits the story and it’s like a paragraph or two. Besides that all the details make sense, paint a pretty foreboding picture, and the story kinda foreshadows all the “end of the world” stuff that has become popular as of a more recent date. It’s far from perfect, I wanted the story to grow and keep going personally, but for a quick old school story with some modern relevancy it kicks all sorts of butt.
An excellent short story written about 100 years ago set in "the future" of 2075 after the Scarlet Plague wiped out most of humanity in around 2013. Worth the read for sure.
http://apolloreborn.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-scarlet-plague.html
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Mentiría si dijese que este libro no se siente como una cosa innovadora, porque lo es, y mucho, aún con lo sencillo que es el relato. No solo digo esto porque esta novela es una de las primeras muestras de novela de catástrofe, sinó por cómo está contada, tomándose en serio aún siendo casi un relato largo.
Esta novela corta (si la podemos llamar así) es muy eficiente creando tensión y, aún teniendo los años que tiene, se siente muy cercana, acertando hasta, según mi criterio, en la descripción de los EEUU en 2012. En cuanto a los personajes principales, el abuelo y sus nietos, genera una pena y compasión por el abuelo muy realista, dejando su narración a medio camino entre una historia que debe ser tomada en serio y las cavilaciones de un viejo sobre tiempos pasados, y esto último, teniendo en cuenta la oscuridad de lo que se cuenta tiene mucho mérito.
Lo único que me chirría es su final y el discurso del abuelo, que se siente irreal y hace que el punto de vista que ha ido construyendo se caiga de golpe. Es por eso que la narración, aún siendo muy buena, no me ha terminado de convencer
Leyendo esta obra he cometido un gran error, no leerla de una sentada. Siendo tan atmosférica como es, debería habermela leído en una tarde para no salir del universo que London construye hasta que terminase su descripción. Estoy seguro de que, si hubiese hecho esto, la obra me hubiera cocnvencido mucho más.
Para terminar, nombrar a la editorial que nos ha traído esta hermosa versión del relato, Libros del zorro rojo, cuyas ilustraciones y edición son maravillosas.
Esta novela corta (si la podemos llamar así) es muy eficiente creando tensión y, aún teniendo los años que tiene, se siente muy cercana, acertando hasta, según mi criterio, en la descripción de los EEUU en 2012. En cuanto a los personajes principales, el abuelo y sus nietos, genera una pena y compasión por el abuelo muy realista, dejando su narración a medio camino entre una historia que debe ser tomada en serio y las cavilaciones de un viejo sobre tiempos pasados, y esto último, teniendo en cuenta la oscuridad de lo que se cuenta tiene mucho mérito.
Lo único que me chirría es su final y el discurso del abuelo, que se siente irreal y hace que el punto de vista que ha ido construyendo se caiga de golpe. Es por eso que la narración, aún siendo muy buena, no me ha terminado de convencer
Leyendo esta obra he cometido un gran error, no leerla de una sentada. Siendo tan atmosférica como es, debería habermela leído en una tarde para no salir del universo que London construye hasta que terminase su descripción. Estoy seguro de que, si hubiese hecho esto, la obra me hubiera cocnvencido mucho más.
Para terminar, nombrar a la editorial que nos ha traído esta hermosa versión del relato, Libros del zorro rojo, cuyas ilustraciones y edición son maravillosas.