About this title: In this profound ecological fable, a mysterious plague has destroyed the vast majority of the human race. Isherwood Williams, one of the few survivors, returns from a wilderness field trip to discover that civilization has vanished during his absence. Eventually he returns to San Francisco and encounters a female survivor who becomes his wife. Around them and their children a small community develops, living like their pioneer ancestors, but rebuilding civilization is beyond their resources, and gradually they return to a simpler way of life.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Good. 0449213013 Good Condition, Some Shelfwear & Edgewear, Corners Bent, Tear to Cover, Book Shows Signs of Browning & aging, Ships Fast. read more
Description: Reader copy. By George R Stewart; ISBN: 0552094145; Pub. : Corgi; Pub. Date: 1973; Media: Paperback; Weight: 17.76 oz.; Just about everything that can be wrong with a book is wrong with this one, but the pages are all still totally readable and enjoyable. by George R Stewart; ISBN: 0552094145; Pub. : Corgi; Pub. Date: 1973; Media: Paperback; Weight: 17.76 oz.; Just about everything that can be wrong with a book is wrong with this one, but the pages are all still totally readable and enjoyable. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Ace Star, New York
Date Published: 1949
Description: Fair. No Jacket. This book has some shelf wear as well as marks and tanning on the cover and pages. There is creasing on the spine and the cover. This book is 318 pages. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Fawcett Crest
Date Published: 1971
ISBN-13:9780449015513ISBN:0449015513
Description: Good. This is a nice undated M1551 paperback copy. No names, no stickers. Binding is tight and square. Text is clean and bright. Light edge and corner wear. Small dot on bottom edge. We recommend PRIORITY MAIL for even faster delivery! read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Fawcett Crest, New York, NY, USA
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780449213018ISBN:0449213013
Description: ACCEPTABLE. Reading copy ONLY! Old and showing it's age--cover has lots of creases, wear and a 1/2" surface-paper tear on the top spine edge. Multiple spine creases; all pages intact. No writing or highlighting but ownership stamp on closed outside page edges. 011308 (kcam7) read more
Description: Very Good. 0449213013 Mass Market Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light discoloration due to aging and other light wear. read more
Description: Very Good. 0449213013 Mass Market Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light discoloration due to aging and other light wear. read more
Edition: First Thus
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Ace Books, New York
Date Published: 1962
Description: Good. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Minor edge and corner wear, lightly scuffed and scratched, spine is lightly creased, pages are toning, book is slightly warped, some shelf wear, overall a nice clean used first Ace Books paperback edition! Color illustrated wrapper with green and red lettering. 318 very clean unmarked and uncreased adventure-filled and action-packed pages! "America----the world----had been destroyed by a catastrophe so total and horrible that few humans survived. Young Isherwood ... read more
Description: Very Good. 0449213013 Mass Market Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light discoloration due to aging and other light wear. read more
Description: Very Good. 0449213013 Mass Market Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: ORION PUBLISHING CO Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9781857988215ISBN:1857988213
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 320 pages. (320 pages) returning from a field trip, isherwood williams discovers that a mysterious plague has destroyed civilization during his absence. eventually returning to san francisco, he finds a female survivor and together they and their children build a small community, living like their pioneer ancestors. (Paperback) read more
At first, Stewart's anthropological examination of post-apocalyptic America is fairly intriguing; he takes a 'World Without Us' approach to how the Earth would respond to humanity's absence, and it's interesting enough (even though it's hard to tell how accurate his depiction is).
Problems arise when Stewart's contemptuous narrator, Ish, joins a community of other humans. Though written in the late '40s, Stewart's ideas regarding what construes civilization are a bit too simplistic. Ish seems to believe that the tradition of being 'civilized' resides in learning to read; never does he really question the order of society, the hierarchy, the assigning of talents, law, etc... His view is imperialistic, that he must merely 'tame the brutes', though without questioning why. Since nothing really happens in the book--there's no real drama, no suspense--the narration hinges on its ideas, and that is where it falters.
Earth Abides is regarded as groundbreaking, the first of its kind, and part of me admired it on that basis alone. But the ideas presented are too narrow and dated--even for its time."
"One of the first, and best, post-apocolyptic novels of the form we've come to enjoy. There have always been stories of the Eschaton, or end-of-days, but never before have we been so convinced of a scientific path to extinction.
I like this story because of it's pacing, and it's thoughtfulness when it comes to rendering a world where most everyone is dead of disease. The various plagues, the effort that it takes to sustain a level of knowledge. In the end, giving up a great deal of what Ish stood for for simple lack of time and energy. It's about the inevitable entropy of knowledge that comes with catastrophic loss of life. It's about humanities tenacity and ability to adapt, even it if means adapting backwards.
"In George Stewart's Earth Abides, we follow the protagonist, Ish, as he struggles with first his own survival, then a budding society, his own ideals of rebuilding civilization, and finally, reluctant godhood. It is interesting to follow Stewart's vision of how civilization-specifically, U.S. civilization-would rebuild in the midst of our manmade constructs, recorded history/knowledge, and culture. Just as the roads and bridges decay, so does the memory of acquired knowledge and practices of cultural traditions.
Stewart's writing style flows well, not wordy as a review on Amazon said. Ish is contemplative at times, but every word is important to the character and story.
I understand the draw of this book and why it has endured so long. We, like Ish, are the observer to things that can and cannot be changed. There is a lesson to this, especially in Ish's final days, that we can apply to our lives now."
"I started this book without a clear picture of when or where it was written, just knew it was "a classic." It started out with the stereotypical "lone survivor surveys the empty cities" scenes and moved on to a cross country jaunt to see what humanity survived. However, there was a scene where he came across a couple, a "negro" couple, whereupon he began to wonder if he should just stay there, become their master and have them provide for him. My first thought was "WFT?" My second was "When was this written anyway?" and my third was, "Yeah, good luck with THAT."
So that's when I realized this was written in the 40s. Paradigm shift for sure, I gained quite an appreciation for the novel. And it was really eye-opening how little the human animal changes, regardless of the technological advances around. The universal themes of solitude v lonliness, need for community and so on were indistinguishable from something that would take place today. Except for small "tells" here and there, I never would have guessed that it was 60 years old."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
