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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
Written in 1959, the parallels in political circumstances both international and internal are astonishingly similar. Gender and race relations in this pre-civil rights era novel set in the Southern U.S. are slightly more backward than today, and the overall tone is still one of 'might makes right'. This is an adventure story about a small group of people who survive a day of worldwide nuclear war and then must learn to adapt to living without modern conveniences.
Though the subject matter makes this seem almost prophetic, the novel is definitely a product of its time and thus a little cringeworthy in certain passages ("The more he learned about women, the more that there was to learn except he had learned this: they needed a man around.") It would be a 4 star book for me if it didn't seem so patriarchal.
Though the subject matter makes this seem almost prophetic, the novel is definitely a product of its time and thus a little cringeworthy in certain passages ("The more he learned about women, the more that there was to learn except he had learned this: they needed a man around.") It would be a 4 star book for me if it didn't seem so patriarchal.
Sci-Fi lit spawned from the Cold War holds a certain fascination with me. I find it so interesting to see how authors thought about the future and how those specific historical events shaped their vision. This book was written right in the midst of the Cold War and presents a what-if scenario. What if the USSR did push that red button and bomb not only the US, but all over the world? What if the US retaliated? Set in Florida (so even more interesting since that is where I'm currently living), the book follows the lives of a small community and how they survive post-bombing.
It is interesting to note that since this book was written in the 50's, the attitude towards African-Americans and women is very noticeably dated. While this can be annoying at times (particularly the woman thing!) it is also interesting as a historical study of the time period. Overall, I really recommend reading this one. I'm very glad I did.
It is interesting to note that since this book was written in the 50's, the attitude towards African-Americans and women is very noticeably dated. While this can be annoying at times (particularly the woman thing!) it is also interesting as a historical study of the time period. Overall, I really recommend reading this one. I'm very glad I did.
Reading this again for the first time since high school or college, there are some things that strike me now which I missed as a youth. The book is an odd combination of naivete and bleakness. On the one hand, a nuclear war that wipes out most of the U.S. affects our cast of characters mainly in terms of cutting off their access to electricity and gasoline. They have plenty of food and water and most of the hardships they face are overcome by a single moment of struggle: highwaymen preying on the town stay away after a single run-in with authority; a month of dwindling food supplies is resolved when they get slightly better at fishing; even the fallout is polite enough to stay outside of town. All in all, it's a very cozy catastrophe.
There are undercurrents of weird darkness, though. Our hero Randy, needing help to bury a body and some radioactive debris and unable to solicit volunteers, pulls a gun and orders men to help out, resolving to kill any one of them who might try to resist. This isn't done in the heat of an emergency, either. Later, when Randy is given some nominal legal authority to act as representative of what remains of the Federal government, he muses that while he may not previously have had the right to compel labor at gunpoint, he does now. He wastes no time hunting down a group of bandits plaguing the town and orders the one survivor to be hung in town square, and the body left up as a warning to any other potential thieves. This is par for the course in a post-apocalypse story, but none of the characters ever seem to reflect on the massive shift this represents from their lives of just a few months ago.
Still a fun read, but harder to accept uncritically from a more mature viewpoint.
There are undercurrents of weird darkness, though. Our hero Randy, needing help to bury a body and some radioactive debris and unable to solicit volunteers, pulls a gun and orders men to help out, resolving to kill any one of them who might try to resist. This isn't done in the heat of an emergency, either. Later, when Randy is given some nominal legal authority to act as representative of what remains of the Federal government, he muses that while he may not previously have had the right to compel labor at gunpoint, he does now. He wastes no time hunting down a group of bandits plaguing the town and orders the one survivor to be hung in town square, and the body left up as a warning to any other potential thieves. This is par for the course in a post-apocalypse story, but none of the characters ever seem to reflect on the massive shift this represents from their lives of just a few months ago.
Still a fun read, but harder to accept uncritically from a more mature viewpoint.
This book was written in the 1950's, but it is a timeless classic.
This is the 3rd time I've read this book.
It's full of ideas we'd think rather ridiculous now in some ways but on the bonus side it is a great users manual for tips on how to survive the apocalypse.
I like to think of it as a sort of time capsule of the ideas and mores of the time period and the place. If you read through that lens it is utterly fascinating.
The narrative structure is sold and it is easy to read pretty quickly. Nothing seems too out of place and yet it builds enough tension to keep you hooked. The characters are easily distinguished and well rounded.
The rhythm of the book has a little hiccup near the end. As you read the end of the book it almost seems like a 2nd book or that the book should have one ending (where they apprehend the bandits) and then another epilogue after that. Then ending as it is written seems like an after thought.
It's full of ideas we'd think rather ridiculous now in some ways but on the bonus side it is a great users manual for tips on how to survive the apocalypse.
I like to think of it as a sort of time capsule of the ideas and mores of the time period and the place. If you read through that lens it is utterly fascinating.
The narrative structure is sold and it is easy to read pretty quickly. Nothing seems too out of place and yet it builds enough tension to keep you hooked. The characters are easily distinguished and well rounded.
The rhythm of the book has a little hiccup near the end. As you read the end of the book it almost seems like a 2nd book or that the book should have one ending (where they apprehend the bandits) and then another epilogue after that. Then ending as it is written seems like an after thought.
This book was so hard to get through at times. The minutia of each and every situation was described in such explicit detail that the story plodded along at times. Not my type of book.
This book is probably one of my favorite dystopian, post-apocalyptic novels out there.
I’d heard my father talk about the “drills” they had when he was in school, drills where the kids would take shelter under their desks from nuclear bombs (as if a flimsy flip-top desk would protect them), but I didn’t understand why. Thirteen-year-old me didn’t understand the effects of a nuclear bomb / radiation or why it was a threat.
This novel didn't give me instant wisdom on that topic, but I did go out and research nuclear war. And then I bought as many dystopian novels as I could ([b:On the Beach|38180|On the Beach|Nevil Shute|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327943327s/38180.jpg|963772], [b:The Giver|3636|The Giver (The Giver #1)|Lois Lowry|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342493368s/3636.jpg|2543234], [b:1984|5470|1984|George Orwell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348990566s/5470.jpg|153313], etc.).
Worth the read.
Read the full review here: www.ravenoak.net
I’d heard my father talk about the “drills” they had when he was in school, drills where the kids would take shelter under their desks from nuclear bombs (as if a flimsy flip-top desk would protect them), but I didn’t understand why. Thirteen-year-old me didn’t understand the effects of a nuclear bomb / radiation or why it was a threat.
This novel didn't give me instant wisdom on that topic, but I did go out and research nuclear war. And then I bought as many dystopian novels as I could ([b:On the Beach|38180|On the Beach|Nevil Shute|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327943327s/38180.jpg|963772], [b:The Giver|3636|The Giver (The Giver #1)|Lois Lowry|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342493368s/3636.jpg|2543234], [b:1984|5470|1984|George Orwell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348990566s/5470.jpg|153313], etc.).
Worth the read.
Read the full review here: www.ravenoak.net
You all need to read this book. It is so captivating and is one of my favorite post-apocalyptic books. It will clearly feel dated to modern readers but it puts you right in the shoes of someone during the Cold War. I look forward to rereading this book and becoming immersed in it all over again.
dark
emotional
reflective
Not bad at all. I found the build up a little boring as the military talk was quite dense, but I really enjoyed the story once it got started. The book has aged very well, and I expect many of the same problems would be present if this were to happen now. My biggest problem was the attitude to women, though I suppose this is only to be expected.