Earth Abides

A masterful post-apocalyptic novel set in California. It is almost a cosy-dystopia, following the life of one man and his gathering tribe. The prose is excellent and the dramas of family life are well documented.

I can't believe this book was published in 1949: it feels more like the late '60s or early '70s.

This 1962 novel was the first I read of this genre, and it stuck with me. While somewhat dated (a lot), it held my attention again a few years ago. Not many can hold up for so many years, and what it relates still resonates today.

This novel appeared in 1949 and is eminently readable still—wise and unpredictable—about a plague that decimates the globe before it became fashionable as a topic. Stewart was a professor of English at UC Berkeley. First read it as a teenager, and several times since over the years. It holds up! Stewart was way ahead of his time—and writes a terrific story.

Global pandemics are far more enjoyable to read about than to live through. Probably the most influential novel about a pandemic is Earth Abides, written way back in 1949. The main character, Isherwood Williams, is bitten by a rattlesnake while out in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the west of the USA. After recovering from this, he returns to civilization only to discover that civilization no longer exists because a plague has spread across the world, killing much of the population. The initial chapters of this book are wonderfully evocative and terrifying. Though I must admit that I found… show more.

Earth Abides is the Grandparent of modern apocalypse novels. I read it for the 1st time in my early teens; it captivated me. I don’t generally reread books, but I reread Earth Abides more than once a decade. Despite its age, 75, it still reads well, it is not a page-turner, but the world building and the story are so strong they will pull you through. Isherwood, the central character, wakes up after barely surviving a snake bite after spending a season doing research in the wilderness. He returns to ‘civilization’ to find that, though many things are still working,… show more.

While this novel was written in 1949, its subject matter is shockingly close to our current circumstances. Scientist Isherwood Williams is on a research trip in a remote area when he is bit by a snake and spends several days in his cabin in a feverish state. When he recovers, he emerges to a world that has been devastated by a plague, leaving few survivors behind. What follows is a story of finding others and building community, but also how the earth and all its creatures react when humanity falls, which for me, is one of the coolest things about… show more.