Earth Abides
by George R. Stewart
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Book Reviews of Earth Abides
Book Review: The end of the world
Summary: 3 Stars
George Stewart has crafted a science fiction tale that stands up fairly well to the test of time. Although it was first published in 1949, the language and ideas are still immediately relevant today. What would happen to you if civilization fell apart? How would you survive? How would people treat each other?
The tale unfolds gradually, without suspense. For me, this was not quite the memorable novel that the highlighted reviewers described. I read the whole thing, but I could have easily put it down halfway through, since I did not develop a deep emotional attachment to the story or its characters. The novel is told in the third person, but through the eyes of Ish, the main character. This unusual point of view puts the reader at a distance. I didn't feel that I really knew any of the characters in the book, except for Ish.
Ish has a bland personality. He is one who accepts his lot in life, even his lot in death. As the workings of civilization fail, he notes their passing. In the end, he does little to oppose his tribe's drift back into the stone age. This engendered my main disappointment with the novel. Why did the author make the protagonist so weak? There have been great novels fashioned out of weak characters, but ultimately I did not find greatness in this book. It is well written, but it did not fulfill my expectations.
Book Review: Orginal and inspiring, well writen
Summary: 5 Stars
I've gotta confess I was not very excited to read this book, having obtained on a bargain and postposed its reading for about a year, when I eventually got to it, I was absolutely blown away
the writting, althought not brilliant, is very polished and takes you throught the wonderful adventure of the end of mankind as we know it, throught the vast territory of a deserted united states, and tells us how it would slowly and rapidly decay in its various facets, until it would stand almost naked, a fertile ground for life anew
coming throught the plagues caused by the broken ecosystems and among the difficulties tapped by the human intervention we give for granted, it sets up a perfect place for the second half of the book, in which civilization begins again, necessarily different of how it came about in the first place, offering us exciting reflections on how we are and how we'd be, on values and life and growth, we age with the original characters, and by the time Ish is an old man we can see this new world throught the eyes af an old man, we understand and are subjected to the same hoplesness as him in the development of the new world, yet the hope of life, free of our cultural bagages and preconceptions, grows and leaves you a great aftertaste
an incredible novel, terribly underrated, which should be cherished and shared
Book Review: Decent but not that good...
Summary: 2 Stars
I read some of the rave reviews by others which made me decide to order this book. Of the end of the world genre, I would say this rates near the bottom.
I guess what annoyed me the most was how far off the author was to guessing how the world would decay... I'll list a few examples and let you decide for yourselves.
1. The rate of decay of everything was grossly exagerated. Rail lines reduced to nothing but a pile of rusty chips in only 30-40 years? Entire houses rotting away and completely gone in just 10-15 years? Huge dams rotting and breaking after only 5 years? Very silly scientific assumptions.
2. The lack of doing anything worthwhile for a so called smart man. He can only teach just one child to read? Doing basically nothing to improve his life over the course of 40 years?
3. He comletely underestimated human will. The children in the tribe lacked any kind of basic intelligence. The author probably never had kids and assumed they are stupid without a formal education.
You know what, this isn't even worth my time to continue listing all the flaws. Trust me, spend your time watching one of the recent Discovery Channel episodes on the end of the world without man, it would be much more compelling then this book.
Book Review: An Interesting Read, With A Few Issues
Summary: 3 Stars
I enjoyed this book and appreciated the thoughtful way in which the author depicted how the world could be with only a few humans left in it. Stewart covers a lot of topics (religion, education, environment, race, family, marriage, etc.) and how they would evolve or devolve over several decades. He describes a world where random people are left alive and those people may not be the most suitable people to live under the new conditions. The story moves along fairly quickly and generally kept me interested, if not fascinated.
Some other reviewers mentioned how the main character, Ish, seems a little devoid of emotion at times. I agree, but I found another trait in main character more annoying. He spends a large amount of brainpower philosophizing and lamenting the lack of intelligence and motivation in the rest of the tribe. While Ish does some teaching, the children never learn reading or basic math skills. They also never work on any improvement projects or learn to recreate any of the basic disposable items they use regularly. My complaint is that Ish doesn't do any of those things either. I blame him for many of their failings. You could say that his shortcomings are realistic, but it drove me a bit crazy.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read.
Book Review: Depressing, ultimately frustrating
Summary: 2 Stars
I was really looking forward to reading this book as I have lately been going through a post-apocalyptic literature jag. After thoroughly enjoying "On the Beach", I purchased "Earth Abides". While "On the Beach" centers on humanity's ability to stay hopeful while facing the inevitable, I was confused by the intended message of "Earth Abides". The book's protagonist, Ish, likes to think of himself as the forward-thinking leader of a new civilization, but he comes across as more of an apathetic dreamer. In the twenty-plus years following a devastating plague, Ish and his companions evolve from foraging through supermarkets for food to....foraging through supermarkets for even older food. And I guess that is the really frustrating element of this book- in all that time no one has the foresight or gumption to make more than half-hearted attempts at creating some sort of self-sustaining community. The 'Gilligan's Island' crew did more in two years to create a society than this motley crew does in thirty!
Kidding aside, I am sure that the author is making a statement about mankind that others have picked up on and that has apparently gone way over my head. I actually look forward to reading more learned reviews of the book to figure out what I missed.