Which books Give you the Best Literary Visions of the End of Civilization and end of the World ?

[Khuratokh]

Die Letzten Kinder von Shewenborn
(The last Children of Schewenborn)
Gudrun Pausewang 1983

Spoilers follow!

A young family go to visit their grandparents in Schewenborn. Halfway there, all major cities are nuked. It is presumed most population centres are gone, but because of the story's narrative, we don't know for sure until the epilogue. One by one they die of starvation and radiation sickness. Their new baby brother is born blind. Others are born with worse defects. After a while, only the children remain.

There is a memorable scene where they come across a stray dog, which seems to be overjoyed to be in the company of humans again. The group is happy too, for now finally they have something fresh to eat.

It ends with things finally looking up. The children have built a little community which has been steadily growing the past 2 years. Indeed the narrater is telling newcomers they won't make the same mistakes the elders did.
But then he notices that his hair is starting to fall out...

 

[BAYLOR]

Die Letzten Kinder von Shewenborn
(The last Children of Schewenborn)
Gudrun Pausewang 1983

Spoilers follow!

A young family go to visit their grandparents in Schewenborn. Halfway there, all major cities are nuked. It is presumed most population centres are gone, but because of the story's narrative, we don't know for sure until the epilogue. One by one they die of starvation and radiation sickness. Their new baby brother is born blind. Others are born with worse defects. After a while, only the children remain.

There is a memorable scene where they come across a stray dog, which seems to be overjoyed to be in the company of humans again. The group is happy too, for now finally they have something fresh to eat.

It ends with things finally looking up. The children have built a little community which has been steadily growing the past 2 years. Indeed the narrater is telling newcomers they won't make the same mistakes the elders did.
But then he notices that his hair is starting to fall out...

Sounds interesting.

 

[BAYLOR]

The Dancers At The End Of Time - ennui as art-form

An excellent choice.

 

[BAYLOR]

When Worlds Collide by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer

 

[2DaveWixon]

So the world ends. Not with a bang, but with a whisper...

(Have you ever wished that would build a little sound-effect into a Kindle, so that when you turn a page you get that faint whisper sound?)

 

[BAYLOR]

A canticle for leibowitz. After a nuclear post apocolypse the remnants of society will forgot how they destroyed themselves in the first place.

A great novel , a classic.

 

[BAYLOR]

The Mist by Stephen King.

 

[2DaveWixon]

So the world ends. Not with a bang, but with a whisper...

Belated reaction on my part: was that "whisper" or "whimper"? I'll have to look it up...

 

[2DaveWixon]

Belated reaction on my part: was that "whisper" or "whimper"? I'll have to look it up...

OK, I did: "whimper" is correct (it is, of course, from T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men."). But I'm really glad you caused me to go looking this up, because in doing so I noticed the contemporaneity with Yeats' works -- e.g., "what rough beast?" -- between the two of them, they really fit the theme of this thread... (not in the sense of actual ends of the world, perhaps, but certainly in the sense that WWI ended the world as it was...)
That was, of course, reaction to WWI. And there were corresponding reactions after WWII and then throughout the Cold War...so at this point, there are lots and lots of candidates... (Going backward in time: post Civil War: The Red Badge of Courage)

 

[Khuratokh]

"Hanging-head-in-shame" protocol commencing.

 

[Foxbat]

Jack London's The Scarlet Plague.

 

[Stewart Hotston]

The Drowned World by JG Ballard.

 

[Clockworkbot]

Don't think it's had a mention yet (surprisingly!) - A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller. Especially the first part, which is delightfully written.

 

[Justin Swanton]

Childhood's End by Clarke. But my favourite is A Canticle for Leibowitz.

 

[hitmouse]

I don't think anyone has mentioned HG Wells' The Time Machine yet.

 

[dask]

I don't think anyone has mentioned HG Wells' The Time Machine yet.

Someone mentioned it in post #4.

 

[BigBadBob141]

"A Pail Of Air" by Fritz Lieber.
"Adam But No Eve" by Alfred Bester.
Both short stories, both good, thought they were worth a mention.
The novels "The Forge Of God" and it's sequel "Anvil Of Stars" by Greg Bear are both good.
There is a novel by Poul Anderson in which an interstellar ship returns to find the Earth destroyed by aliens.
There are only two human ships left, one with an all male crew & one all female.
Can they find each other?
I'm not sure of the title but it could be "No World Of Their Own" aka "The Long Way Home".

 

[Gnrevolution]

This is the Way the World Ends by James Morrow? I found this a very moving book, my review from when I read it:

A wonderful, if heart wrenching, book. I couldn't help but put myself in George's place throughout this book and wonder, like he does, would I have done anything differently? In turns comic, tragic, psychedelic, and somber, this book certainly plucked at my heart strings more forcefully a than hungry vulture. Some have complained the trial section is too long but, whilst it did not get as much of an emotional reaction from me as the other elements I found it nonetheless engaging, I am just thankful that my daughter can grow up in a world where the mushroom cloud does not hang over our heads.

 

[BAYLOR]

Swan Song by Robert McCammon. Such an awesome vision of the end of the world, characters you come to care for, and a villain with supernatural power.

Its a great read .

 

[BAYLOR]

Childhood's End by Clarke. But my favourite is A Canticle for Leibowitz.

That one is a real downer.