Earth Abides by George Stewart
08 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in But I digress..., What I'm Currently Reading Tags: apocalypse, apocalyptic, book review, Earth Abides, fiction, George R. Stewart, novel review, pandemic, zombie apocalypse
Earth Abides by George R. Stewart is a novel about a small group of people attempting to survive in a post-apocalyptic America. Purportedly one of the first novels in the post-apocalyptic genre, Earth Abides follows the life of “Ish” and his tribe comprised of other survivors of a terrible pandemic that wipes out most of the earth’s humans. The book is broken into three parts with sometimes significant amounts of time either glossed over or left out. Upon reading the novel for the first time the first section leads you to believe that “Ish” is going to be some sort of “Omega Man” who takes on the task of cataloging what happens to the institutions of man after the collapse of civilization. Ish describes how the bridges, buildings, and other man made infrastructures begin to be reclaimed by nature. Stewart craftily provides a few false foreshadowings when Ish encounters a few mysterious and endearing characters only to have them never appear again throughout the book. I initially found this frustrating but realized this method by Stewart was intentional, if we are to get inside the head of Ish we have to be prepared for the idea that there are going to be some things that are never explained. For an introverted over thinker like Ish it can be assumed these incidents would be particularly frustrating.
Eventually Stewart introduces the character of “Em,” Ish’s anticipated “Mother of Nations.” This part in the book is where I appreciate the boldness of Stewart’s writing when we discover that Em is a light complexioned African American. When he finds out about her racial background he says to her, “Oh, darling, everything is smashed and New York lies empty from Spuyten Duyvil to the Battery, and there’s no government in Washington. The senators and the judges and the governors are all dead and rotten, and the Jew-baiters and the Negro-baiters along with them. We’re just two poor people, pricking at the leavings of civilization for our lives, not knowing whether it’s to be the ants or the rats or something else will get us. Maybe a thousand years from now people can afford the luxury of wondering and worrying about that kind of thing again. But I doubt it. And there are just the two of us here, or maybe three, now.” Seeing as the book was published in 1949 makes this statement by Ish all the more compelling and daring. Of course, it also leaves one to surmise about the nature of the statement and Stewart’s intention in putting it to paper. My preferred supposition is that Stewart is making an argument against all the racial discrimination of the time by pointing out its triviality; we are all human in the end. To the contrary of this assumption, there is also the possibility that Stewart was pessimistically stating that racial equality will never be realized until a catastrophic event happens making survival the top priority. Either way, Ish’s relationship with Em and his aforementioned statement was sure to raise a few eyebrows.
The remainder of the novel chronicles the trials and obstacles faced by Ish’s little tribe. The false foreshadowing becomes even more apparent in the remainder of the book when Stewart lures you into becoming attached to certain characters only to crush your hopes in the end by killing them off. In case you want to read the book I will not spoil it for you by providing too many details. The book is full of good intentions by Ish and the other adults as they try to raise their children amidst the decaying remains of a once great civilization. In the end I wasn’t sure if I should be extremely disappointed and angry with Ish for allowing things to devolve to the point they had with the ensuing generations or, if I should be contented with the mere fact that civilization had come full circle in spite of the groups efforts to retain some of the old ways. Along with this pondering of the natural life cycle of civilization, Stewart also introduces some other scenarios where the group has to act in sometimes not so ethical ways. One particular incident comes to mind when a new member to the group is punished for a “crime” (and I have this in “” because without civilization there really aren’t any laws) even before it was committed rationalized by the simple fact that the small group couldn’t afford the risk of allowing the possible infraction. Ish constantly worries if he is doing the right thing and, thanks to Stewart’s writing style, the reader can join him in that struggle of right and wrong and the question of ethics. Many times these struggles are quickly disrupted or forgotten due to the lax-a-dasical temperament of the group.
Having grown up loving the zombie apocalypse genre, I kept expecting something unwordly would creep out of the barren wasteland to create a catalyst in the story, but it never happened. I would like to say the suspense of having that in the back of my mind was worth it, but it wasn’t. All in all the book, albeit dry at times, was an interesting read and offered a very realistic theory of how man would survive in a post apocalyptic environment.
Want to read a review of the novel by someone more interesting than myself click here.
