Book Review: Earth Abides by George R. Stewart

I find it difficult to review this book, but in a way, it’s brilliant. Stewart has really considered what kind of world it would be if most of the population were wiped out by a disease. He has considered all the minor details, from ants to rats to education. I love how this represents the old style of sci-fi writing: philosophical pondering yet an entertaining story.

The book follows Isherwood Williams, who survives a disease that wiped out most of humanity by pure accident. He sets out to find out what happened, and gradually, he finds more people still alive. Together, they establish a society of some sort. Stewart ponders, at each stage, what it would be like for a person to suddenly wake up in such a situation and world and what it would be like to live onwards. The book has brilliant pondering without the need for action for the sake of the modern reader.

But there’s a but. He gets so many details wrong, especially about how the human mind works. He makes children boorish, stupid, and uninterested in the world around them and education. He gets this so wrong. Children are the most curious creatures. A NASA study done in the late 1960s showed that most children at the age of five are geniuses. It’s our systems that stifle that light. Then there is the odd scene with a black family riddled with fleas and the fact that all the female characters are not seen as actors equal to men (he gives them some credit.)

But, the other but. The book was written in 1949, and it carries the weight of its time and culture, as all books do. So, even when I was annoyed by the mistakes based on my knowledge, I made the mental effort to look past them. What makes the book notable is the view that Stewart respects nature and gives it and its animals agency. He gives them the right to exist equal to men and states loud and clear that it’s the man who is ruining the world.

Thank you for reading ❤ Have a magical day!