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nauwer's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
la peste de camus est meilleur pff
meganac's review against another edition
4.0
The human race is doomed to sink back farther and farther into the primitive night ere again it begins its bloody climb upward to civilization.
A young friend of mine, much too wise for his age (and by age, I mean 13), recommended this to me. He insisted I read it at once, and so I did. It's not a lengthy book, so I read it in one sitting. The Jack London I knew wrote about the wild and dogs, but this book isn't about either of those things. It's about the end of civilization with the coming of a plague that sweeps the earth too quickly to be prepared for, apprehended, or stopped. It's a plague that strikes everyone regardless of their health status, their position, or their attitude, carrying them off into death - some, in mere minutes. For others, it takes hours. As we would expect from what we've seen of riots, most of humanity degenerates rapidly and begins plundering the homes of the sick, wandering the world with weaponry, causing mayhem. The rest gather their courage and hole up somewhere they can easily defend themselves against marauders, but they can't defend themselves from the plague and are forced to flee as more and more of their own fall sick.
It's a vivid picture of what life might be like if a plague were to undermine all our efforts for progress, and though it wasn't mindblowing for me, worth the read.
A young friend of mine, much too wise for his age (and by age, I mean 13), recommended this to me. He insisted I read it at once, and so I did. It's not a lengthy book, so I read it in one sitting. The Jack London I knew wrote about the wild and dogs, but this book isn't about either of those things. It's about the end of civilization with the coming of a plague that sweeps the earth too quickly to be prepared for, apprehended, or stopped. It's a plague that strikes everyone regardless of their health status, their position, or their attitude, carrying them off into death - some, in mere minutes. For others, it takes hours. As we would expect from what we've seen of riots, most of humanity degenerates rapidly and begins plundering the homes of the sick, wandering the world with weaponry, causing mayhem. The rest gather their courage and hole up somewhere they can easily defend themselves against marauders, but they can't defend themselves from the plague and are forced to flee as more and more of their own fall sick.
It's a vivid picture of what life might be like if a plague were to undermine all our efforts for progress, and though it wasn't mindblowing for me, worth the read.
eisneun's review against another edition
3.0
Good novella, somewhat dated, but definitely a precursor to books like [b:Earth Abides|93269|Earth Abides|George R. Stewart|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320505234l/93269._SY75_.jpg|1650913]. Well worth the few hours it takes to read.
susana82's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Nice little read. Good, clean writing, engaging even.
Our old man ends up being the narrator of the story, as he is talking most of the time and telling his grandchildren what happened during and after the pandemic that wiped out most of the human population. And he does so in a way that keept me engaged in the story.
The author nailed some things about the story, such as how a disease might spread and the number of the population in the future! Other things were not accurate, such as the use of telegraph, but hey, he did mention wireless, so he wasn't so far off.
I quite enjoyed this little read and it was my first from this author.
Our old man ends up being the narrator of the story, as he is talking most of the time and telling his grandchildren what happened during and after the pandemic that wiped out most of the human population. And he does so in a way that keept me engaged in the story.
The author nailed some things about the story, such as how a disease might spread and the number of the population in the future! Other things were not accurate, such as the use of telegraph, but hey, he did mention wireless, so he wasn't so far off.
I quite enjoyed this little read and it was my first from this author.
flyintothestorm's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Hay algunos puntos en los que se le nota la edad al libro... y mucho.
queenofodas's review against another edition
1.0
El protagonista es el personaje menos confiable que he leído en mucho tiempo. Eso fue interesante.
La historia persé fue muy aburrida, lol
La historia persé fue muy aburrida, lol
cathodg's review against another edition
3.0
Hard to believe this was written a 100 years ago. The shortness is disappointing as you can't really get to grips with characters but overall a good short story
blackbird27's review against another edition
3.0
A brief post-apocalyptic novella that is more extended parable than story, with some Naturalist pessimism as a chaser. London's pulpy imagination is the strongest thing about it, far better than his grasp of bacteriology, linguistics, or sociology. As he was a firm believer in both social darwinism and socialism, he's always going to be a problematic fave: but the influence of this story on the emergent sci-fi genre is probably incalculable. It predicts everything from Metropolis-style inequality-poetry to present-day zombie movies; a half-decent screenwriter could make a properly downbeat thriller out of it.