Disappointed | Earth Abides | George R. Stewart

Simple, quiet book but you'll never forget it | Earth Abides | George R. Stewart

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	• Earth Abides George R. Stewart Del Rey, 2006 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 266 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Thought Provoking and Relevant

This was by far the best book I've read in a long time, in terms of pure quality. Coming off a run of John Grisham books before it (and after, I'm reading another Grisham story now), it was amazing how different the quality of the story was, and how much more thought-provoking. Grisham tries for some philosophical stuff in his books, but didn't come close to what you find here.

The story itself was Ok...not fascinating alone, though surprising. A few things I certainly didn't expect to happen transpired. But what made it worthwhile was the "what if" factor. Imagine living through the apocalypse. Ponder the questions it raises:

- What would I do? Seek other people? Focus on survival? How to judge others, and how easily to settle in with them?

- How strong are the author's, and lead character's biases in the story? We get their perspective so strongly it's not clear sometimes what the reality is?

- What about Charlie? There's no way I'd make the same vote as the characters in the book - so I think. But if I had lived as they had for 22 years, would that change my opinion? How can I know? (answer to that last question - I can't).

Is there some deeper answer in the book about what the meaning of life really is? If we strip everything we have today away, we go back to a more primal state where the search for food, water, shelter and safety are paramount in our minds. So how much of what we experience now is a product of civilization and society, rather than our true nature? The memorable line which was something like (I don't have the book for a direct quote) "I'm happy. Things are as they are and I'm a part of them." says a lot doesn't it? Goes back to Buddhist philosophy really - focus on the present. When there's no guarantee of the next meal, when there's no shelter because a fire can burn it all down, when wild animals lurk, how much time do we have to ponder, to worry, to debate? And does that make us happier - meeting our primal drive to just...be?

I'd highly recommend this book, my "top" recommendation whatever that means. It covers ecology, philosophy, sociaology and so much more...

I waited almost two years to read it. It's a shame I waited that long.

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Disappointed

I was looking for a good "end of the world" type novel, and after the amazing reviews, chose this one. Disappointed hardly describes it. This is one that as a quick reader (usually finishing a novel in less than two days) it took me over a week of forcing myself to keep picking this back up. This was so anti-climatic it was boring.

The most interesting thing about the story wasn't even told! One day, Ish wakes up to the aftermath of a world stripped of most humanity. Personally, I would have liked to read about the actual acts of the end of days, not the leftover start over.

So Ish decides to drive all over the U.S. just observing, meeting some people along the way. Again, pretty dull. It is described well, and the writer is a good writer, but he doesn't seem to have anything to tell. He could have had more conflict, more interesting character, but it lacked this. In fact, until the end of the book, I didn't even know how old Ish was in the beginning. For a book that focuses on this main character, and pretty much the first quarter of the book is all about Ish, there is very little backstory and knowledge of him. Unacceptable.

Instead the focus is on everything going on, well not going on, around Ish. The lack of people. The mess. The fires and fallen trees. Where has electricity and where doesn't. The looting.

The most interesting thing he actually wrote about was the rise and fall of other species. I would have LOVED to read more about THAT! However, his telling of the ants, which was brilliant, was summed up in a few paragraphs while he took ages to tell the most boring parts.

It also was unbelievable to me. Granted, this was written in the forties. But I hardly think for as long as time passed, even in simpler times, that people would live as they did without making more adjustments until they absolutley had to. I suppose some people might be that way, and I guess we'll never know until it happens.

Honestly, I would have been more interested in reading about the other survivors than Ish, who was a procrastinator and thought very little of those closest to him.

I would not recommend this book. Yes, it does stick with you. But not in a good way.

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Simple, quiet book but you'll never forget it

I did a comparison of this book with Childhood's End for A-level English. Two more different sci-fi books would be difficult to come by and that was the point. Earth Abides is a quiet story, full of the thoughts of Ish and the story of the community he helps found after a plague wipes out most of humanity. There is no scientific details as none of the characters have the expertise to know them. It a human story - not a science one. Some details are given of how the impact of humanity is gradually wiped from the planet and how the survivors - well survive.

Don't expect explosive action or tales of daring-do. What you will get is an insightful book - even after all this time - what you will want to read a second and third time. Definitely one to keep - close!!

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A disease of unparalleled destructive force has sprung up almost simultaneously in every corner of the globe, all but destroying the human race. One survivor, strangely immune to the effects of the epidemic, ventures forward to experience a world without man. What he ultimately discovers will prove far more astonishing than anything he'd either dreaded or hoped for.

From the Paperback edition.