Earth Abides

“Men go and come, but earth abides.”For a story that was first published in 1949, Earth Abides remains relevant now more than ever. Mass plague vectored through air travel has been featured in a number of recent films (i.e. Contagion, Outbreak), TV shows, and yes, even the news. Set between the European Black Death of the late 1600s and the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s Earth Abides explores the waning hopes, hardships, and resignation of plague survivors of present-day California.With only a tiny fraction of the world's population persisting after a catastrophic event in civilization, how would you fare? What wisdom would you pass on to those younger than you?In George R. Stewart's post-holocaust novel, protagonist Isherwood “Ish” Williams, discovers that a virulent plague has wiped out nearly all of humanity, leaving only a handful of shell-shocked survivors in its wake. Armed with little more than a hammer and his philosophical prowess, Ish attempts to reestablish American civilization in a small suburban community overlooking San Francisco Bay. While the rest of the survivors live day-to-day and subsist on vast stockpiles of canned food, Ish strives to retain the knowledge of the past, preserving libraries, teaching his offspring—including his gifted son, Joey—all the facts and achievements of his bygone civilization. In time, Ish becomes an almost God-like figure, the "Last American" in the eyes of the younger generations, his old hammer being the symbol of his power. Uncomfortable with his deification and his near absolute authority over the tribe, Ish realizes that the people have become far too complacent and dependent upon him. When new threats emerge and the crumbling infrastructure no longer supports his community, Ish must abandon his dreams of resurrecting society and teach his people the most basic and practical skills of survival.Ish is a very cerebral and introverted fellow—a walking Farmer’s Almanac, if you will. At times, readers may be frustrated by his constant brooding and pale, clinical views. Many may be turned off by his questioning of a mentally challenged girl’s right to reproduce. Conversely, Ish becomes a more interesting character near the novel's end whilst standing in stark contrast to his descendents, a simple hunting and gathering tribe. Primitive-like children with no concept of technology, history, literature, medicine, and all other forms of knowledge, obeying the rudimentary laws of nature; and although they’re aware that they’re living amidst the ruins of a dead civilization, they can only perceive the makers of that collapsed society as the mythical beings.Earth Abides isn't without its shortcomings. There's not much in the way of dialogue or character development; the pacing is dawdling and sensationalist action is nowhere to be found. To its credit, the novel is a thoughtful tale of a devastated culture struggling to survive. Plodding albeit wonderfully written, Earth Abides is brilliant and thought-provoking in regards to its sober examination of not only human integrity but also the questions of what makes a civilization work, and how to reestablish one from the ruins. Readers looking for escapist literature will see this book as hard reading, but others will hopefully appreciate the book’s philosophical insight and poignant message about the human condition that remains true today.

I read this book back in the 1970s and thoroughly enjoyed it back then. Re-read it recently (with my girlfriend) and enjoyed it just as much the second time around.A young man (Ish) goes on a solo mountain trip in northern California for some quiet time to finish his college thesis. After several weeks of isolation, he gets bit by a rattlesnake. He gets deathly sick and after about a week of fever and delirium in his cabin, he finally gets well enough to drive down off the mountain…..only to find that some kind of virus has wiped out nearly all of mankind in his absence. He rationalizes that the snake venom must have provided him a natural immunity to the virus.After the initial shock and adjustment period, he spends the next year or so searching for fellow survivors in his hometown area (San Francisco/Oakland). The story then focuses on Ish and his small group as they struggle to survive and maintain some semblance of society.This is a very realistic portrayal of how civilization might gradually de-volve, generation by generation, after any worldwide cataclysmic event. It’s one of those stories that will stay with you (in the back of your head) for years and years.Although the book is ‘set’ to the 1960s and 70s, the ‘dating’ only applies to the first couple of chapters. Once the virus wipes everyone out, the story could apply to any generation since then.The best PA story I have ever read.

Somehow I missed this great book when growing up. At the time, post apochaplal novels focused on the nuclear threat, like On the Beach were in vogue. No harm, this book is perhaps even more timely now when civilization ending threats have multiplied. Stewart obviously gave a lot of thought to the key issue, which we still face: the speed with which our technology and thus our entire culture can disappear, literally in the span of two or three generations. Down to earth and not burdened by aliens or even radioactivity, this book was not only very well written, but downright scary! It's a must read for anyone concerned about the fragile nature of our modern technology based existence.

I saw one review in which the writer called this a "pointless book". I can only assume that the writer is also pointless and I am very glad NOT to know them.The book is very well written and the plot is very engaging, especially in 2020 in the midst of the Corona Virus emergency. This is at least the third time I have read Earth Abides and each time I enjoy it as much as the last.Read it for yourself - it will not disappoint.

After thinking about the book for a while I decided to join two stars camp. I think it's a pointless book that has bland characters and a total lack of action, not very profound either. It's not a badly written book but as one of the two stars reviewers wrote "a thoroughly disappointing one". Most characters in the book are reminiscent of cows, mild, docile and content to eat what they find under their feet, no spark of life or intellect, no rebellion. I agree with other reviewers who calls the book racist but I would add misogynistic as well. Women's main role is breeding, like cows and to support their men. Civilization is in ruins but Ish, main character, wakes up late, comes to breakfast served by his wife and expects to be served, he plays no role in the child raring as well until the children apparent ignorance starts to upset him. I wouldn't call this book a science fiction book either, Steward either ignored or didn't know about basic scientific facts, e.g. when one of the socially retarded characters is given no partner because they don't want the girl to pass on her genes although it's quite clear that her retardation came from isolation in her childhood.The fact that the book is only concerns the America is also irritating. The main character calls himself The Last American, because he is the last person left from the Old Times before the Civilization died. Why does it have to be an American? By the logic of that book other people would have survived in other parts of the world. There is a whole continent of Latin America, where life probably didn't change that much after the plague but I guess Steward only acknowledged the American way of life as an example of civilization. A very unsatisfactory book on all levels.

I have read this a few times over the decades and never tire of it. Post apocalyptic (mysterious plague in this story) are very much in vogue just now, but this still stands out as one of the best. Seen from the viewpoint of Isherwood Williams, this may feel dated to some but it was written not long after WW2, in simpler times. In short, a timeless classic.Ray Smillie

Isherwood Williams has been on a field trip in the wilderness for a while when he is bitten by a snake. For a few days he’s out of it, feverish as the poison works through his system. On recovering, he drives to the nearest town only to discover that while he’s been in isolation, a plague has destroyed nearly all human life. He sets out on a road journey through America, looking for other survivors and gathering material for his forthcoming travelogue…OK, I made up that last bit, but honestly that’s what this feels like – a guide book to America written by someone rather boring. Maybe it would resonate more if these were places I knew or had some kind of emotional response to, but I don’t, and so it’s just a list of street names interspersed with amazing insights like, in the absence of man, weeds sprout between paving stones, and dogs go hungry.I believe later in the book he finally meets some people and sets up a kind of back-to-nature life, but I gave up at the 20% mark – rapidly becoming the standard point where I abandon books for boring me to death. To be fair, this may have seemed more original when it first came out in 1949, but it’s been done so many times since, and done better. It doesn’t compare in any way to the brilliance of The Day of the Triffids, for example, published just two years later, or more recently to the unsettling starkness of The Road. Where both those authors recognised that the primary thing that makes even post-apocalyptic novels interesting is the interaction of humans, Stewart chooses to have Ish, as he’s known, feel superior and judgemental towards the few remnants of humanity he encounters, and quickly decide he’d rather be on his own than with them. So all that’s left is endless unemotional descriptions of the effects of nature returning to a world without humanity, sometimes through Ish’s eyes, and sometimes through annoying little inset sections in italics where Stewart chooses to give a kind of running lecture on the subject.And perhaps because our own pandemic has allowed us to have a tiny insight into how the world reacts when man retreats, I didn’t even feel he’d got it right. He says, for instance, that wildlife continues to shun the cities – not what happened during our various lockdowns when the internet was awash with pictures of all kinds of creatures revelling in our absence and dancing in our streets. He also has Ish constantly fearing he’ll come across piles of the dead, but he doesn’t. Where are they all? If everyone suddenly got sick all at the same time, so sick that most of them died, who on earth buried them? Stewart hints that everyone died in hospitals so has Ish avoid them, but no hospital system in the world has capacity to take in the entire population simultaneously, a fact of which we have all recently become only too aware. Ish wanders round New York and sees no corpses, smells no putrefaction, etc. It’s as if humanity has been vaporised by aliens rather than killed by disease (which frankly would have been a more fun story).I’ve been abandoning an excessive number of books this year, due to my own plague-inspired blues, so perhaps I’d have had more patience with this at another time, and perhaps it becomes more interesting once Ish finally becomes part of a community. But right now it’s simply boring me, so I’m giving up the struggle and don’t see myself ever returning to it. As post-apocalyptic books go, this is the dullest I’ve ever tried to read. In a world full of interesting people, what a pity that tedious Ish is the one who survived...

Seems to have provided the framework for a whole genre of post-apocalyptic novels such as "The Road". Realistically encompasses the full range of human emotions and likely responses in the face of catastrophe. In fact it is more of an exploration of the human psyche than anything else. A deeply satisfying read. A classic.