Bassability Books: Reading the Apocalyspe

Before I started writing down my thoughts on the books I read, I didn't realize that I read thematically.  I mean, I start with one book, and I'm drawn to books along the same them for a while after I finish that first one.  I don't always do this on purpose... But with this theme, I found that I did want to see how authors treated the situation of the apocalypse.  I devoured these books.  Even though this isn't the most uplifting subject, these books left me feeling... well, good actually.

Ratings:

*** 3/3 - Couldn't put it down.  I may have taken a day off work to finish it.

** 2/3 - Glad I read it.  Passed the time, probably won't read it again.

* 1/3 - Finished it.  Still don't know why I bothered

0/3 - Didn't finish it.  Life's too short for bad books.

Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky: This was the most recently published of what D calls my "Apocalypse List."  Without giving too much away, much of the story takes place in Russian subway stations where people are forced to live in the year 2033 after a nuclear war.  Its bleak, much like most Russian lit I've read; but you can't help but love the main character.  He's so curious that it makes you root for him, even when you probably shouldn't.  I found it ingenious how the author explains how they live, and eat in these stations.  So clever.  This is a sci-fi, so expect normal sci-fi twists and turns. (***)

Alas, Babylon by Paul Frank:  Alas, Babylon was written at the height of the cold war.  It was like Frank took a picture of American Southern society and wrote about the fears of the future through a 1959 lens. In this story, the cold war becomes hot, and the United States is bombed with nuclear warheads.    All throughout the story, I was amazed that people treated the deaths and catastrophe in stride.  I couldn't even guess what I would be like in a similar situation.  Sometimes the characters reminded me of a line in Robert Frost's poem "Out, out" "...And they, since they/ Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs."  You would think such a book would be overwhelmingly sad, but  the book was not a downer, there was the theme of hope through all the actions of the people in Fort Repose.  The plot follows the protagonist, Randy Bragg, as he morphs from apathetic bachelor to brave leader of a small Southern town in the midst of the fallout.  And I wanted him to be successful.  (***)

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut:  Its no secret around this part that I love Vonnegut.  I've read all his books now.  This one is my favorite, because the apocalypse comes as an accident.  There is not war, just an accidence of science.  I think Vonnegut is writing about being careful with the power that science has.  As a student who studied Humanities in college, I totally agree with the message.  For all their intelligence, I don't feel as much a connection with the characters in the story.  I was more interested in their circumstance. But every time I read this book I think about something new.  (***) 

Patron Saint of Plagues by Barth Anderson: Have you ever played the game Pandemic 2?  This book cited the apocalypse as a international pandemic.  What I love about this book is the author's construction of the political state of the world.  The head of the world in Anderson's future is Mexico led by a over-zealous Catholic party.  It is fascinating the laws and obstacles that theocracy put in the main character (an epidemiologist's) way to solving the world health crisis. (***)

Now, I don't feel better prepared to survive the Apocalypse, but I do feel more hopeful... In all these books the theme of hope shines on through.  Humans stand a chance, regardless the circumstances.  And that's good news to me.