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guypaul 's review for:
Alas, Babylon
by Pat Frank
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.