What's wrong with us? Why our fascination with the end of the world? Why is it that every year we hear about some new delusional group holed up somewhere waiting for the predicted end-of-everything-as-we-know-it? And why, for crying out loud, do such groups continue to emerge after several thousand failed predictions of the end?
Go ahead and laugh! But before you answer, please consider your personal fascination with the-end-of-all-things. If you are reading this, its likely that you enjoy apocalyptic literature, and maybe have apocalyptic beliefs of your own. For whatever reason, humans (that's you and me) are drawn to the idea of world-shattering events like moths to a fl ... sorry - bad metaphor. You don't believe me? Consider our history.
Clay tablets from nearly 5000 years ago speak about the imminent end of the world. The early Romans were fearful that the world would end soon. Nearly every major religion has an "end times" prophecy. Hardly a year has gone by over the past 1000 years without someone, somewhere, declaring an impending end of the world, and gathering followers to prepare for said doomsday. Some of these were very strange. Many came to tragic ends. Some proved quite amusing. My favorite is the Englishman Richard Brothers who in 1790 called himself "God's Almighty Nephew", declared that the end-of-all-things was nigh, and that he would lead the lost tribes of Israel and be named king of England. He ended up in an insane asylum instead. However, anyone willing to take the moniker "God's Almighty Nephew" gets a vote from me for creativity alone.
Anyway - we are fascinated by The End. Admit it. I am. That's why I love post-apocalyptic literature so much. But notice, please, the "post" aspect of post-apocalypse. My interest lies not in the apocalyptic part, but more in the "what comes after." How do people behave when it all falls apart? How do they soldier on when all hope is lost? How do they begin that long journey to reclaim what once was? That's what I love - the story of the iron will of humanity to survive and flourish against impossible odds. That is why I shed tears every time I watch the movie Rudy. Every. Time.
That's my interest in the genre. So - what's yours?
Showing posts with label apocalyptic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apocalyptic. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Monday, January 21, 2013
After the End of the World
Hey, campers! We all survived the End-of-the-World, AKA The Mayan Apocalypse. That's good news, unless you gave all your stuff away or ran up your credit card debt.
Back to literature. You might have noticed that there are two types of apocalyptic novels: Apocalyptic, and Post-Apocalyptic. The first deals mostly with "How the world ends". The second deals mostly with "What people do to survive and rebuild after the world ends". Some are hybrids, dealing with both the end and the aftermath. Different readers may prefer one type over the other. In that vein, I've listed below my favorites by type.
You'll notice very few straight up end-of-the-world novels. Readers want hope, generally. But sometimes we love to wallow in the misery of a hopeless story. I recently watched the movie "Melancholia". Without spoiling it, the movie was utterly hopeless to the bitter end, so much so that it literally depressed me for a couple of days afterward. However, my main criteria for any "great" story is that it touches me deeply. In that sense, Melancholia was a great story.
End of the World:
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
- On the Beach by Nevil Shute
After the End of the World:
- Shore of Monsters by David Nix (that's me)
- Blood Red by Moira Young
- City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
- Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
- Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt
- A Gift Upon the Shore by M. K. Wren
- The Postman by David Brin
- Through Darkest America by Neal Barrett Jr.
- Z for Zechariah by Robert C. O'Brien
- Daybreak 2250 A.D. (Star Man's Son) by Andre Norton
End of the World and What Comes After:
- The Passage by Justin Cronin (reading this right now, in fact)
- Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
- A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller (although this is harder to place; more like what comes after, and then the end of the world again)
- The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
- The Death of Grass (No Blade of Grass) by John Christopher
- Earth Abides by George Stewart
- The Tripods by John Christopher
- Vault of Ages by Poul Anderson
Back to literature. You might have noticed that there are two types of apocalyptic novels: Apocalyptic, and Post-Apocalyptic. The first deals mostly with "How the world ends". The second deals mostly with "What people do to survive and rebuild after the world ends". Some are hybrids, dealing with both the end and the aftermath. Different readers may prefer one type over the other. In that vein, I've listed below my favorites by type.
You'll notice very few straight up end-of-the-world novels. Readers want hope, generally. But sometimes we love to wallow in the misery of a hopeless story. I recently watched the movie "Melancholia". Without spoiling it, the movie was utterly hopeless to the bitter end, so much so that it literally depressed me for a couple of days afterward. However, my main criteria for any "great" story is that it touches me deeply. In that sense, Melancholia was a great story.
End of the World:
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
- On the Beach by Nevil Shute
After the End of the World:
- Shore of Monsters by David Nix (that's me)
- Blood Red by Moira Young
- City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
- Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
- Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt
- A Gift Upon the Shore by M. K. Wren
- The Postman by David Brin
- Through Darkest America by Neal Barrett Jr.
- Z for Zechariah by Robert C. O'Brien
- Daybreak 2250 A.D. (Star Man's Son) by Andre Norton
End of the World and What Comes After:
- The Passage by Justin Cronin (reading this right now, in fact)
- Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
- A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller (although this is harder to place; more like what comes after, and then the end of the world again)
- The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
- The Death of Grass (No Blade of Grass) by John Christopher
- Earth Abides by George Stewart
- The Tripods by John Christopher
- Vault of Ages by Poul Anderson
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)