Earth Abides
by George R. Stewart
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Book Summary Information
Author: George R. StewartEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-03-28
ISBN: 0345487133
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Del Rey
Book Reviews of Earth Abides
Book Review: Disappointed
Summary: 3 Stars
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.
Summary of Earth Abides
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.
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