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| Credit: Pixabay.com |
As we all know, the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic continues to rise and there’s no sign of it stopping. It’s like the black plague reincarnated. And we’re all seeing the effects of it. The store shelves are going empty. I actually bought nearly the last of four 1-quart bottles of spring water at my neighbourhood super market because all the two-gallon jugs were gone. Schools and colleges are closing indeterminately. And, worst of all, people disease the world over are dying from this. Hell! Even some of our government leaders are getting the virus! Kind of sounds like the science fiction we read and watch, doesn’t it?
Maybe we’ve arrived at a science fiction moment in time. It makes many of us wonder, how many more days, months, years, etc. we, the human race, will be around. Considering the ongoing advancement in artificial intelligence, will the world be left to the robots? It even makes me wonder if we’ve reached the end times according to my own religious beliefs, and I don’t even take all those beliefs literally. But I will not get into that here because I know many of us come from various religions and some of you no-religions.
I will say, however, that legends and myths have been telling stories about the end times for almost since the beginning of the human race. And those legends and myths continue today not just through our religions but also through our story-telling entertainment such as movies, TV and books. And most of these stories in pop culture at least suggest survival of humanity in one sense or another. Some are more optimistic about that survival than others. I prefer the optimistic outlook.
No, we don’t really know where we are going with this world-wide plague. But because we are a species and an intelligent one that’s main motive is to do all we can to continue to live, we will survive, to slightly alter the main line of Gloria Gaynor’s disco song. (In fact, she’s been promoting hand-washing with that song in light of the pandemic. I applaud her with my washed hands totally.)
Because fiction helps make sense of these uncertain times, I decided to provide you a reading list of post-apocalyptic sci fi and horror. Some of these books have been made into movies as I point out below. I have not read all of these books, so I’m providing the list mostly without reviews or comments. The books that I have read I’ve either commented on briefly or have linked to earlier blogs where I talk about the book. The ones I haven’t read will give me, and hopefully you too, plenty of new material to read if I or any of you happen to be quarantined for several weeks or if the nation is put on lockdown like Italy has been. But I hope to God that neither of those two will happen any of us.
Post-Apocalyptic Sci fi Reading List
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| Credit: Pixabay.com |
“The Andromeda Strain”, Michael Crichton: Movie adaption- “The Andromeda Strain”, directed by Robert Wise, starring James Olson, 1971.
“World War Z”, Max Brooks: Movie adaptation- “World War Z”, directed by Marc Forster, Starring Brad Pitt, 2013.
“The Stand”, Stephen King
“The Years of Rice and Salt”, Kim Stanley Robinson
“Oryx and Crake”, Margaret Atwood
“The Last Man”, Mary Shelley
“The White Plague”, Frank Herbert
“The Fireman”, Joe Hill
“Plague Ship”, Andre Norton
“Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allen Poe: More apocalyptic than post-apocalyptic. Still, I’m including it because, since we’re not over this world crisis yet, it may match this moment in time more than any of the other stories in this list. In this short story, the evil Prince Prospero hides himself and his courtiers in his castle against a plague. But even the wealth and power of royalty cannot be exempt from death. Movie adaptations- “Masque of the Red Death”, directed by Roger Corman, starring Vincent Price, 1964; “Masque of the Red Death”, directed by Larry Brand, starring Patrick Macnee, 1989
“Mask of the Red Death: A Radicalized Novella”, Cory Doctorow
Please feel free to add to this list in the comments box below.
Until next time . . . (and there will be one.)
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| Credit: Pixabay.com |
I've never read The Stand but I did see the television miniseries from the nineties.
ReplyDeleteThere is a Skipp and Spector book where something threatens to destroy all life on Earth, but I don't remember the title. Spoiler - it succeeds and world blows up. Hated that ending.
And if this is a sign of end times, please bring on the Rapture really soon...
I haven't read The Stand either. I haven't seen the TV mini series. I've never read any of Skipp and Spector's books before; I'll have to check them out. Sometimes I really wonder if this is the end of times. Even so, as you seem to, I have my faith and I believe my soul's prepared. They also say that where there's an end there's a new beginning.
ReplyDeleteNice commentary on the possible end of times... I thought of a couple of post-apocalyptic movies I love and realized Kevin Costner must like those too - Waterworld and the Postman; also just watched Interstellar; and love the Mad Max reboot with Charlize Theron. Planning a Matrix marathon this weekend! And an old fave book - Battlefield Earth.
ReplyDeletealso wanted to thank you for stopping by my Beast World campaign at Alex’s
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