Earth Abides

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Summary: Should be required reading for all ages!
Review: George Stewart provides a compelling "thumbnail" picture of mankind and how adversity can bring out the best and worst in people. This mini-saga is so well written and loaded with such a rich mix of characters and situations that the reader cannot help but wonder what tomorrow might bring. If you enjoyed Sarum you will love this

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Summary: Life altering experience into the basic instincts of man
Review: I was introduced to this book at a time when the world was beginning to fully envelope the "benefits of technology." As part of the computer generation, for whom the desires of the world could be acquired at the click of a mouse, Earth Abides awoke in me a deep appreciation for the distance we have come and the importance of the most basic lessons in life. For more than 15 years I have been looking to recapture the insights I discovered in reading the book as an impresionable teenager. How ironic that is technology that now presents me with the opportunity to read it again

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Summary: The Day After: Ebola, Black Death, and Plague
Review: Global plague vectored through air travel has been featured in recent films, television specials, and the news. Set between the European Black Death of the late 1600s and this decade's African Ebola, Earth Abides deals with the hope, struggles, and resignation of modern-day plague survivors. With fewer than one percent of the world's population surviving, how would you fare? What wisdom would you pass on to those younger than you? The Center for Disease Control intimates that world-wide plague is more a question of When, rather than If. So... how do we begin the day after? Over the years, I've read this provocative book several times, and have enjoyed it more each time. For those who enjoy Crichton's works (Jurassic Park, Congo, or Eaters of the Dead), Earth Abides is a rare find. Kay O'Cullane.

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Summary: Timely, Provocative, Challenging
Review: This story is as contemporary as it was when it was first published in 1949. Except for a few references to the availability of hand cranked phonographs, there is no indication that this disaster and it's aftermath didn't take place in the present. The story is told entirely in the third person. This would generally seem to be tedious, however is simply does not loose its hold on you. The writing is careful, the author is economical in the use of words that describe concepts. The premise of the story is simple: a deadly virus sweeps the earth and within a few weeks all of mankind is gone. There remains only isolated individuals who eventually find each other and begin life again in the altered world. I first read this book in my early thirties. It impacted my life to the point that I always referred to the reading of this book as one of the turning points in my life. I have now reread it with the perspective of 20 additional years and it has the same impact. I was so struck with the understanding Stewart conveys of the emptiness of contemporary life. This emptiness is not to be construed as useless. The grand civilization we have constructed is great, is a monumental, exciting and dynamic achievement. But if you put all these achievements against the needs of a group of people that will eventually have no access to prepared foods, electricity on demand, water and heat or cooling, instant access to far away members of their family, by telephone, car, plane, fax, etc., you soon see what the hero saw: What the emerging generations needed was a basic knowledge of hunting and gathering. Laws become obsolete, customs change to suit the need of the group, language changes and a thought that resonates within me, is the idea of the God of the Bible. Because the Bible refers specifically to groups of people and their interaction, what is there to refer to, when the groups and the interaction are gone? For me, the consummate fundamental Christian, this is very thought provoking and brings me into another dimension: to examine my faith and trust and what it is I have faith and trust in and for. This book should be required reading for Sociology, Anthropology and Psychology students. Absolutely wonderful!!

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Summary: Haunting, moving and thought provoking!
Review: After reading this book in a college Sci Fi class at Berkeley almost 20 years ago, it remains one of my all-time favorites of any genre. It is positively amazing that it is almost 50 years old because it reads so thoroughly modern and relevant. The story grabs you right from the outset and doesn't let up. What makes "Earth Abides" so special is that it can be read on many different levels. While reading it for the first time, I often had to peer out the window to make sure there were still people around! Don't miss this sure bet

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Summary: A book to appreciate again and again
Review: I have spent twenty years "selling" this book to friends and acquaintances as a must read. Some "got it". Others didn't. Read it. If you "get it", you will re-read it many times again! If you "don't", hey, it takes all kinds

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Summary: YOU COULD BE THERE!!! - EXCELLENT OUT-LOUD READING!!!!!
Review: Stewart did an excellent job of putting your hand on the hammer! Classic tale of "What if I were the last man on earth?" Best read out loud at least twice in your lifetime.

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Summary: An "eleven" on a scale of ten.
Review: This magnificent book tells the story of one man's struggle to recreate and rebuild society in a world where society has abruptly ceased to exist. Set in the Bay Area and rife with haunting moral and ethical questions. Every student - heck, every HUMAN - should read this one at least once. I've been through it more than ten times since I read it in college. TIMELESS.

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Summary: One of My All Time Top 10 in 55 Years of Reading
Review: As the lead character copes with the demise of civilization, we find an elegant creativity that challenges the mind and helps us see the world in new ways. This is one of the greatest books I've ever read and certainly one of the most haunting. I strongly recommend it to anyone. Another along the same lines is Malevil

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Summary: Best of its Kind
Review: This in one of the finest "Last Plague" genre I have ever read. Fascinating from beginning to end. It is the ACKNOWLEDGED inspiration for THE STAND by Stephen King !!