I think that’s one of the classics that I keep missing - it is now wishlisted as well.
I think I watched the movie “On the Beach” but have not read the book. I should be able to get that one from the library.
Alas, Babylon is a good book as long as you keep in mind it was written in 1959. It posits a fairly limited nuclear war, which was realistic at the time. And it was set in 1959 Florida which means there are some passages about race that are dated.
Well as long as we’re compiling a list,
No Blade of Grass (a/k/a The Death of Grass) is good but hard to find. Premise is that all the world’s grasses, including all cereal crops, are destroyed by disease. Starvation and potato-eating ensue.
The Pest House by Jim Crace is worth a read.
Day of the Triffids - David Wyndham. A really weird post-apocalyptic premise, but a gripping read nonetheless.
Some earlier Dope threads on PA fiction:
I think you mean John Wyndham.
Also, another novel of his - The Chrysalids - is a great post-apocalyptic story, but set much farther in the future.
Yeah, thanks.
And speaking of my screw-ups, it’s Pesthouse (one word).
Not exactly a book, but there’s an awesome awesome thread over on ZS about a zombie apocalypse. It’s written in journal format as a stay-at-home mom deals with the disaster. Very engaging, and the comments are hilarious.
My wishlist has gotten large because of this thread too.
I read it as an alternate history, I find that it helps. But it’s certainly one of my favorite books. It’s modern equivilent in One Second After by William Forstchen
But One Second After really sucked!
I thought of another favourite zombie book (I think I got the recommendation here originally) - World War Z. I didn’t think I’d like the format originally - it’s told as a series of almost journal entries or articles, but it made a lasting impression on me and I ended up enthralled by the book.
And although it was written at the end of the 1950’s the nuclear war wasn’t started as a USA vs. USSR thing.
It was also the first of the genre that I remember where someone died simply because there was no modern technology. Because there was no way to refrigerate insulin one minor character died.
Amazingly only $3 on Kindle right now!
I enjoyed Lights Out better for a post-emp world. It seems more realistic no roving bands of cannibals. It isn’t the greatest piece of work ever written, but entertaining to read.