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A review by geekwayne
The Scarlet Plague by Jack London
4.0
'The Scarlet Plague' by Jack London is a book I was unfamiliar with until Dover brought it out in there Dover Doomsday Classics Series. I found it a really fun read.
Originally written in 1912, the book takes place 60 years after the great plague has wiped out humanity in the distant year of 2013. An old man, called Granser, tells his unruly (and mostly unlearned) grandsons the story of what happened. Apparently Granser was a college professor, but he can't communicate ideas like math or longer vocabulary words with his grandsons because they simply can't or won't comprehend them. We learn that sometimes when the plague comes, the people who take power are the ones we consider to be the least among us, as we see in the cruel and barbaric Chauffeur.
It was fun to see the vision of our present from 100 years ago. The setting is the bay area, where cities are now very far apart, and the remains of civilization are all around, or buried in the shallow sands of the beach. I've read Jack London, but I've never heard of this short novella. I think it holds up pretty well considering when it was written and I recommend it to any fan of dystopian fiction.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Dover Publications and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
Originally written in 1912, the book takes place 60 years after the great plague has wiped out humanity in the distant year of 2013. An old man, called Granser, tells his unruly (and mostly unlearned) grandsons the story of what happened. Apparently Granser was a college professor, but he can't communicate ideas like math or longer vocabulary words with his grandsons because they simply can't or won't comprehend them. We learn that sometimes when the plague comes, the people who take power are the ones we consider to be the least among us, as we see in the cruel and barbaric Chauffeur.
It was fun to see the vision of our present from 100 years ago. The setting is the bay area, where cities are now very far apart, and the remains of civilization are all around, or buried in the shallow sands of the beach. I've read Jack London, but I've never heard of this short novella. I think it holds up pretty well considering when it was written and I recommend it to any fan of dystopian fiction.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Dover Publications and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.