George Stewart's Earth Abides 

When I was around 16 I was waiting to get a haircut and it was very cold. There was a homeless man also waiting for the barber shop to open. I invited him to sit in my truck where it was warmer and we started talking. After a while the conversation lead to books that we had read and he talked about Earth Abides. I bought it that same day and it’s been almost 8 years before I got around to reading it. I finished it today and I completely understand why he was so impacted by a book he said he had read almost 40 years ago. I wish I could thank him for the suggestion!

I know this video is a little old but I just finishing re-reading Earth Abides last night and I was looking for some reviews of it. I just adore this book. I don’t think enough people really go back and read these classic books. Awesome video.

I read this book as a teen in the 60s. I recently gave this book to my grandson for his 18th birthday because its one that is never forgotten, and is still relevant and ever thought provoking. Thanks for this review.

Love this book. One of my favorite post apocalyptic novels along with A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. I’d highly recommend it if you haven’t read it yet. Brilliant novel steeped in Christian theology and biblical imagery in general. Fantastically written and some great bits of dialogue in my opinion. Love the Hebrew/Hebrew Bible connections in this book too. I’m Jewish and I just generally love to see Hebrew used more often.

I first read Earth Abides 37 or so years ago. I still have that same book today because of the impact it had on me. (I’m reading it again now). It has influenced my outlook on things in a subtle but enduring way. I can truly see civilization holding onto the current things in life and descending slowly, maybe because I’ve had the experience of this book in my life for so long that I can’t look upon it objectively. I love this book and I was so happy to find this review.

I really wish more people knew about this book. A post-apocalyptic book that is not like many others.

Yes! I totally loved the book, and was changed by it forever. 'Beautiful, awesome, heartbreaking, joyous, everything you get in a whole, rich life. We are Earth Abides brothers. =) You might also like 'Lucifer's Hammer', excellent about a comet hitting the earth, by Pournelle.

the current situation reminded me of this book!! Great Read!!

I just finished the book after it was recommended to me. This is the most profound book I may have ever read. Where other books leave me sad a bit that they've ended, this book just leaves me thinking, and in a level of awe reserved seeing art in it's truest form.

Going through the current pandemic. Read this book years ago and I am reading it again! Written in 1947 it still reads like how present day could unfold (Hopefully not).

One thing one discovers in reading older "forgotten" books is that they often ORIGINATED ---they are THE origin of later, acclaimed and well-remembered books (in the case of King's THE STAND I believe he himself noted that EARTH ABIDES was the source of his inspiration: How many other writers may have chosen to let their older-writing inspirations--or their imitations thereof---go unacknowledged ??)

Enjoyed this review. Thank you for bringing this book up for discussion/current thought. Have you heard the radio adaptation of this, which was done around the time Stewart's book first came out? It spanned 2 episodes of the OTR series, ESCAPE. Pretty well done for all of its limitations. I would imagine in a real life crises like this, people would react in all kinds of ways---some would go crazy, some would get stronger, some would cower, some would stand up, and others would try to re-build, others would fight for "anarchy"....depends, too, on the level and abruptness, scope of the apocalyptic event to a great extent. In the same vein as this book (-ish) have you ever come across M.P. Shiels' THE PURPLE CLOUD (a real epic from the turn of the last century)? Raymond Jones' THE YEAR WHEN STARDUST FELL (a YA take on world-wide cataclysm), or read Wells' IN THE DAYS OF THE COMET? (Andre Norton's STAR MAN'S SON is also a very early, well done YA take on post-nuclear world, written not long after Stewart's book.) I have a feeling that Richard Matheson's influential I AM LEGEND (another one of those mytho-poetic-leaning titles?) was itself influenced by EARTH ABIDES. I feel that this book must've been an influence on many other books, stories and even films---or at least was one of the more popular books in that genre to exert a wide influence. (I wouldn't be surprised if a film like 1,000 YEARS FROM NOW---1952...aka CAPTIVE WOMEN also got its initial impetus from EARTH ABIDES. Certainly had the biblical framework and similar machinations, tho on a much less sophisticated level.)

Great review! I was looking for a post-apocalyptic book to read. You're review has made it that this book is next. Thanks man.

Men may come and go, but earth abides, my second favourite book after Alas Babylon.

Greatbook and review!!! Thanks!!!

Heard about this book because it inspired some of the people who worked on the video game The last of us. Love the channel bro 💪🏽💪🏽

My favourite book!

Another book, I discovered by your videos, I also ordered the French translation.

beautiful heart warming book and good video thank you for the reminder not to forget our literary traditions i just finished reading it and so it is fresh in my mind i i discovered this book through another read “ The overstory” by Richard Powers and in an interview an audience member mentioned Stewarts novel and so I took a chance and like you said found a treasure used & very cheap on ebay for about 4.00 usd Now for what you asked in your video I think his take is fairly possible at least in certain cases people would rebuild with families but in some other cases it might not be so. In the book there is almost nobody left and the “lonliness” that is alluded to in the book is part of that idea and so it is even more likely that there would not be some other scenario if in fact it happened as Stewart claims becuase they really didnt have to fight over resources in the beginning becuase there was enough food and water. Even at the end there is that one can . Please recommend any other lost treasures.

Earth Abides would make a great movie.

Great video! By pure luck I was able to find a signed first edition copy...and I only paid $1

I enjoyed your review. Thank you. I loved this book. I responded less to the mythic elements and more to the anthropologically honest depiction of people and societies. I’m used to people in SF behaving in ways that don’t feel genuine. Doesn’t surprise me that the author was an academic. I also liked a more intelligent and passive protagonist. I think its underlying themes are less big SF concepts and more human concerns: getting older, the struggle between wanting to change things vs accepting them, and the way the social and physical environment changes humans (and vice versa). Would you recommend anything similar?

Great review! I read this book once a year (via physical copy or audio book), and every read I get something new from it. Which Hendrix song was inspired by it?

Alas babalon is really good as well

I think nowadays in what certainly seems to be a time when "me", cheating, self-indulgence and greed are far more on the table than, say, in the 50s (or even with the hippie "communal"-driven generation), the "fall" would be quicker and more extreme. So, to me, the cultural tone of the times would be a strong determining factor in the outcome of a world wide cataclysm. Just my opinion.

I think you'd like Lucifer's Hammer if you liked this for post-apocalyptic societies.