# EARTH ABIDES: A lost classic **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 5, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959 "2001-12-05T03:06:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/1 "2001-12-05T03:06:17Z")
Has anyone else read “Earth Abides” by George R. Stewart? It’s the best book I’ve ever read, but I’ve never met another person who has ever read it. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/2 "2001-12-05T03:27:04Z")
I’ve read it. I’ve loved it. ‘Earth Abides’ is the best, most realistic, most tragic post-apocalypse novel I’ve ever read, and it is also the most hopeful. I hope I am never the Last American, but I hope I could face the end as Ish does. Ish is one of my favorite main characters, and he’s an atheist to boot. 😃 It’s all coming back to me now … ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/3 "2001-12-05T03:28:50Z")
Really? Geez, you’re not hanging with the right people. It’s a classic! Well, it’s a post-apocalypse classic anyway. Not my favorite in that genre – that’d be **A Canticle for Liebowitz** , but I remember being deeply affected when I first read it. Betcha lots of Dopers have read it. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/4 "2001-12-05T03:36:18Z")
I’ve heard of ‘A Canticle for Lebowitz’, but I’ve never read it. I’ll probably get around to it pretty soon, though. You probably should have picked a better thread title, **clayton\_e**. Something along the lines of ‘Who here has read the modern classic, ‘Earth Abides’?’ would be much more suitable for this thread. Email a mod and see if you can’t get something done. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/5 "2001-12-05T03:37:58Z")
Just checked it out at Amazon. Looks interesting enough to add to my Christmas wish list! May I suggest _A Bridge of Years_ and _The Harvest_ by Robert Charles Wilson? ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/6 "2001-12-05T03:45:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\*I’ve heard of ‘A Canticle for Lebowitz’, but I’ve never read it. I’ll probably get around to it pretty soon, though. > > You probably should have picked a better thread title, **clayton\_e**. Something along the lines of ‘Who here has read the modern classic, ‘Earth Abides’?’ would be much more suitable for this thread. Email a mod and see if you can’t get something done. \*\* Thanks, will do Derleth. I knew this would be the place to find ppl who have read it. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/7 "2001-12-05T07:32:48Z")
We studied “Earth Abides” in my university sci-fi class. Muchly enjoyed it and count it as one of my top 20 faves. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/8 "2001-12-05T14:02:54Z")
Well, I’ve got to say, I hated that book. Having read “A Canticle for Leibowitz” (definitely one of my all time favorite books) before I read “Earth Abides,” I thought that Earth Abides was poorly written, contrived, and just plain unbelivable. I wish I could cite examples, but it’s been a long time since I read it and I don’t remember a whole lot. I do remember that the ending was lame-o. I hate to say this, and I’m sure that it’ll have a lot of people screaming for my blood, but “Earth Abides” was as badly written as a lot of bad Heinlein or Asimov can be, without the benefit of being something new and original. I suppose I’d suggest reading it if you’re into the genre, but it does not top my list by a long shot. [slight hijack] Oh, by the way, anyone read “Parable of the Sower” and sequels by Octavia Butler? I only read Parable of the Sower, and thought it was all right. Are the other ones decent? [/slight hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Juniper200](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@Juniper200](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juniper200)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/9 "2001-12-05T14:12:25Z")
I read Earth Abides as part of my Geography 100 class, ostensibly because of the description of Ish’s journey across the country and back. Really, I think it was because the prof loved the book. I like it quite a bit too, and I’ve read it several times since. I think the overall plot and the scenario of society re-forming hold up, but I do have my doubts as to whether power and water really would have been available that long. The power doesn’t go off for a coouple of weeks (I think…the book’s back in Michigan) and they have running water for what, ten fifteen years after the plague? Seems pretty iffy. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/10 "2001-12-05T14:37:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eonwe \* > **I hate to say this, and I’m sure that it’ll have a lot of people screaming for my blood, but “Earth Abides” was as badly written as a lot of bad Heinlein or Asimov can be…** No problem. Even bad Heinlein is better than most of the stuff I’ve read. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/11 "2001-12-05T14:49:39Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by Ethilrist_ **No problem. Even bad Heinlein is better than most of the stuff I’ve read.** Not to get off on a completely different topic (maybe I’ll start a thread a bit later) but to each his/her own I suppose. When I like Heinlein I really like him, but some of his stuff I think has just _stunk_ (case in point… um, can’t remember the title, but the one in which the old guy gets his brain implanted into the body of his cute secretary but her consciousness is still in there). Now back to your regularly scheduled thread about Earth Abides (sorry for throwing down the gauntlet in this thread, stay tuned in _Cafe Society_ for a “why is Heinlein so great”-type thread). ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/12 "2001-12-05T14:52:10Z")
Thread title changed at request of OP. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/13 "2001-12-05T15:56:46Z")
I read it in my Geography of Regions class. It looks like someone else had to read it for their class as well. i thought it was okay, i was disappointed that society went out with a whimper, i think there would be riots and horror like in The Stand (we are a bunch of sick-oes, after all…). I also thought it would have been more interesting to follow the children as they went across the country and saw how society had changed, instead we just saw them leave and come back with the dirty guy. And i am reading Heilein right now (Number of the Beast, supposedly i make an appearance later in the book!! he he he!) ---
**Author:** ![Lao\_Tsu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lao\_Tsu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lao_Tsu)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/14 "2001-12-05T17:01:01Z")
Count me in for liking Earth Abides also. I would have to agree that many science fiction fans have not read this book. I found out about it when my friend took a university science fiction class, and then the science fiction book club offered it as a selection. I would also agree that A Canticle for Leibowitz is a better book. I found the ending of Earth Abides to be very realistic. If you like these, you may want to check out Lucifer’s Hammer if you haven’t read it already. I think I gonna had to read Earth Abides again tonight. Oh yeah, like pizza and sex, there’s no such thing as a bad Heinlein or Asimov. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/15 "2001-12-05T17:10:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Oh yeah, like pizza and sex, there’s no such thing as a bad Heinlein or Asimov. What about a Heinlein with olives and feta cheese? Ugh! ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/16 "2001-12-05T17:23:51Z")
I must have read _Earth Abides_ many years ago, because it sounds very familiar. I guess it didn’t make that much of an impression on me because I don’t remember much about it now. I guess it wasn’t too bad, or IMO very good, either. Started on _Leibowitz_ once, haven’t read _Lucifer’s Hammer_. There’s a lot I’m painfully aware I haven’t read… ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/17 "2001-12-05T18:10:17Z")
Yeah, I liked it when I read it. Makes THE STAND look horribly unoriginal in retrospect, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/18 "2001-12-05T18:12:18Z")
I liked both Earth Abides and Lucifer’s Hammer. I still think of the line in Lucifer’s Hammer where the main character mentions that peppercorns had historically been worth more than gold. In a post-apocalyptic California, it’ll be a long while before anyone gets peppercorns again! ---
**Author:** ![Lao\_Tsu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lao\_Tsu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lao_Tsu)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/19 "2001-12-05T18:47:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eonwe \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > Oh yeah, like pizza and sex, there’s no such thing as a bad Heinlein or Asimov. > > What about a Heinlein with olives and feta cheese? Ugh! \*\* Oh man, a Heinlein with olives and feta cheese is my favorite. Of course, you have to pick those damned raw tomatoes off. And a good dose of sex with Asimov and chicken, sure it’s not my favorite, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow. 🙂 If you want a real bummer ending try On the Beach… very depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959/20 "2001-12-05T20:29:14Z")
Yes: I liked _Earth Abides_; No: It was not as good as _Canticle for Leibowitz._ > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eonwe \* > \*\*[slight hijack] > Oh, by the way, anyone read “Parable of the Sower” and sequels by Octavia Butler? I only read Parable of the Sower, and thought it was all right. Are the other ones decent? > [/slight hijack] \*\* So far I think the only sequel is “Parable of the Talents.” It follows “Sower” well; if you liked the one you’ll like the other. They’re… icky, but compelling. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-abides-a-lost-classic/96959.md?page=2)