#earth abides

[elordick]

𝐴𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝐿𝑢𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑔 ⬪ 𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝐴𝑏𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠

[myhikari21things]

Title-Earth Abides

Author-George R. Stewart

Year of Publication-1949

Summary-Ish was bit by a rattlesnake and it might have saved his life. Because when he recovers his hand might be swollen and throbbing, but he can’t remember the last time he heard a car go by. His home town is empty and all he can find as to what happened are newspapers talking about an acute crisis. He finds a few people, but these people are too shy to approach him so Ish packs his car and hits the road. Over the course of his cross country drive he meets a few more people, but gains only a beagle dog he dubs Princess as a companion. Even with Princess Ish is starting to feel the loneliness become too much even as he returns home. Loneliness and boredom since he’s finally learned to keep the ants out of his house. This is how he meets Emma who is the first person not to run and is still in reality. So Ish and Emma decide to make the best of things. Over the next 22 years they meet Ezra who has Molly and Jeannie as wives and George and Maurine. Children also begin to appear. But Ish is still worried the growing tribe is too reliant on the old ways and that eventually they will need to learn to grow their own food instead of eating out of the dwindling supply of cans. The tribe is now also being touched by disease that the children aren’t immune to and are learning prejudice against outsiders. One day when Ish is an old man and Emma and his friends dead he still doesn’t know if humans will fully recover from whatever happened, but it’s now out of his hands.

Pros-The first part had a very claustrophobic melancholy feel to it before coming hopeful and then uncertain. Including the parts explaining how domesticated animals and crops are returning to the wild. The beginning with Ish and Princess driving around and seeing what happened to other parts of the country.

Cons-I find it odd that Ish never found any clues as to what killed off most of the population. Unclear as to how much time passed.

Overall Rating-4.8/5

[aarontveit]

EARTH ABIDES | 2024 EP05: The Return

[aarontveit]

EARTH ABIDES | 2024 EP04: Predators

[telenyx]

[vikingsbifrost]

[vikingsbifrost]

[verdantachillean]

SPOILERS FOR EARTH ABIDES

Dude I LOVE post-apocalyptic stories when focused on like the anthropological aspect, Earth Abides is AMAZING! Showing how people were each choosing to deal with their grief from the pandemic, each struggling, like I LOVE the scene in the city where the few people are choosing to drink their grief away, the scene where the main guy almost goes old yeller on his dog in the middle of the desert. But also, the way their society adapts kind of slowly going back to old technology like bows and arrows as their resources slowly diminish.

A lot to be said about that book! But I also love when multiple societies are shown and differ in a post-apocalyptic world, like when people settle in like grocery stores or hospitals and have different ways of life depending on the resources they have at their disposal.

What I’m saying is, if there was basically an Earth Abides that took place in a theme park with many different sections each based on a different genre and each section had their own society that took place over the years. I think American family did this, but it took place over probably only a few hours to a week and was just a gimmicky concept for the single episode, but I want something that COMPLETELY leans into the anthropological aspect.

If it doesn’t exist, one day maybe I shall make a wattpad about it

I also love when this idea is kinda shown in Community when that safe haven saloon type thing exists.