Earth Abides

By: George R. Stewart

Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon

Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

First published in 1949, award-winning Earth Abides is one of the most influential science-fiction novels of the twentieth century. It remains a fresh, provocative story of apocalyptic pandemic, societal collapse, and rebirth.

The cabin had always been a special retreat for Isherwood Williams, a haven from the demands of society. But one day while hiking, Ish was bitten by a rattlesnake, and the solitude he had so desired took on dire new significance.

He was sick for days—and often delirious—waking up to find two strangers peering in at him from the cabin door. Yet oddly, instead of offering help, the two ran off as if terrified. Not long after, the coughing began. Ish suffered chills and fever, and a measles-like rash on his skin. He was one of the few people in the world to live through that peculiar malady, but he didn't know it then.

Ish headed home when he finally felt himself again—and noticed the strangeness almost immediately. No cars passed him on the road; the gas station not far from his cabin looked abandoned; and he was shocked to see the body of a man on the roadside near a small town.

Without a radio or phone, Ish had no idea of humanity’s abrupt demise. He had escaped death, yet could not escape the catastrophe—and with an eerie detachment he found himself curious as to how long it would be before all traces of civilization faded from Earth.

©1946, 1976; 2020 George R. Stewart. Introduction by Kim Stanley Robinson (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Odd story

I am a fan of the post apocalyptic story. I rarely finish one because they all seem so similar. World ends...it seems only bad people remain except one soldier with PSTD and guns and one damsel in distress. Fights ensue with excruciating detail, blah, blah, blah. Rarely does something different come along.
This story was written decades ago, and is different. It assumes most people are not evil. Most people would band together to make things work. Most people would be concerned with living and not hunting others out to take their stuff.
The story is a bit naive, and the writing is simplistic and silly in many places...but I do believe in reality there would be something between fighting hoards and simple folks. I did at least finish this very long story.
It would be nice to see more stories written that look for some good and talk more about the struggles of life after an extinction event. There are a few, but I am thinking I must have read them all, because I can’t find one now.

must listen if you're into civilization

absolutely loved it

save the introduction to the end of the story. I felt like it spoiled some of the storyline for me

The birth of a genre

From what I understand, this is the first of the "post-apocalyptic" genre that is now so popular. the story itself is a little dry and at times slow, but that is more than made up by the character development of its main character, Ish. I came to this book from the video game series "The Last of Us" , where a minor character is named after this story's protagonist.

2020 Intro has major spoilers!

Loved this story and narrator. It's not action packed but didn't need it. Intellectual, poetic, relatable and timeless.

A Timeless View of the End of Modern Civilization

Despite being written in 1949, the author's vision of the a people surviving the sudden end of modern society remains relevant. His view of survivors peacefully working together is a refreshing turn from the typical apocalyptic novel of today, where survivors are continuously dodging violent zombies and/or roving gangs of felons. Stewart's story follows protagonist "Ish" through his many experiences and observations until his passing as "The Last American." Despite the absence of violence, I found the story to be absorbing and thought provoking. As I am now senior citizen, the story triggered much thought as to my own experiences and views of society. One somewhat disturbing aspect of Stewart's writing was his seeming acceptance of racial superiority and eugenics, which, as I recall, was widely accepted in the white society of my childhood. Narration of the audiobook was pleasant and easy to follow. Because, in my view, 'Earth Abides" is more of a drama than a fast moving action story, older readers will probably find it more enjoyable than will younger readers.

feel good post-apocalyptic story

sometimes it's great to have a story that doesn't revolve around total evil and constant attacks. it's what I think the world would be like if there was a catastrophe people just trying to survive and sure there will be ugly times as there was in this book but in general it would be quiet peaceful.

Unique and wonderful

One of the classic books about a world after most of the human race has been eliminated in a pandemic. All told through the eyes of one man. Simple, powerful, creative and groundbreaking when it was written in 1949. Remarkably prescient with only a few PC stumbles because if there’s in which it was written.

An intelligent story

This story is skillfully written by a deep thinking author. It’s not an apocalyptic story so much as a study into human society, traditions, myth, religion, all in a smart way.

Biblically insightful

This book helped me to understand the entire human perspective of religion & history, specially my own, are necessarily naive.

A beautiful and thought provoking story

A beautiful and thought provoking story that had be thinking of everything from the origin of superstition, the fragility of civilization, to the short memory of humankind.