:: Duck and cover

[delphipsmith]

Reread Alas Babylon yesterday. About halfway through I realized how naive it is, so checked the copyright date: my copy was published in the late 1970s but the book originally came out in 1959.

This explains a lot.

The attitude towards women ("She'll give you the same loyalty she gave me, if you let her. She's all woman, and it's what she's made for." -- eep!!), the assumption that a massive nuclear war is survivable, the otherwise-inexplicable failure of the main characters to stock up on guns in their rush for supplies, the relatively solid survival of law and order, the black/white relationships, etc. It's kind of endearing, in a way, all that optimism that even if the worst happens we'll not only survive but beat those pesky Commies to boot.

Comments

[go-team-venture.livejournal.com]

I had very much the same response to it. But, taking into account the time in which is was written, I did enjoy it.

[delphipsmith]

Yeah, I like it too -- for all its flaws it's got...something. Randy Bragg, maybe, the Unwilling Hero. I've always been a sucker for Unwilling Heroes. And the fact that he romps without hesitation on the evil dudes who beat up the Doc is just gravy. Also really like the retired General who sits at home with his ham radio writing a History of the End of the World as We Know It. Reminds me of Churchill loafing around Chartwell in the late 1930s, sipping tea and documenting the roots of the looming apocalypse.

[go-team-venture.livejournal.com]

I think that's it - some of the characters make up for the weak spots in the story, I think.