I was a little saddened by this list of post-apocalyptic fiction at The Guardian. Was anything in the list written before 1970? I think the oldest book in her list is The Stand (1978). I was saddened because I’m a collector of 19th and early 20th century science fiction, the end of the world has been a popular theme in science fiction for 150 years, and most of the themes you’ll find in more recent books are just elaborations of things that were explored a century ago.
As it turns out, I’ve produced a list of older post-apocalyptic novels before, “The Beginning of the End”, and a list of older movies with a post-apocalyptic theme, “Apocalypse…Now and Then”. One of the neat things about the older novels is that a lot of them are available for free on Project Gutenberg.
There’s no dirth of post-apocalyptic novels written between 1950 and 1970, either. Brian Aldiss’s Greybeard, Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend, Nevil Shute’s On the Beach, Piers Anthony’s Sos the Rope, Poul Anderson’s Maurai series, and Andre Norton’s Star Man’s Son, 2250 A.D. immediately leap to mind.
Also please include on your list “Alas, Babylon”, 1959, by Pat Frank.
Holy cow! I don’t know that I’ve thought of Pat Frank in 50 years other than when I was dusting my bookshelves. I own first editions of both Alas, Babylon and Mr. Adam which also has an apocalyptic theme.
It’s a shame that he died so young. He was one of the relatively few writers of that period to achieve mainstream success with his science fiction novels.
Did you see the Playhouse 90 dramatization of Alas, Babylon? It’s pretty chilling.
Was going to mention Alas, Babylon, but roadgeek beat me to it. I didn’t realize that Frank had (a) written another novel and (b) had died young. I read Alas, Babylon several times in my youth. (The Florida setting obviously had a strong draw for me.) Recently gave it to a 12 y/o to read. He seemed to enjoy it.
I should mention that I believe this novel was the first time I ever read anything about the importance of _salt_. That was eye-opening to my own very young self.
Finally, I didn’t realize it had ever been adapted for screen. I’m surprised to see it described as chilling and grim. Given the nature of it being post-nuclear apocalypse, I thought it rather a hopeful novel, myself.
Post-apocalyptic genres appear to be quite popular in YA literature these days. There is probably a good English 101 essay on why this would be.
I have M.P. Shiel’s The House of Sounds and Others (including the Purple Cloud) in my read pile, but was a bit turned off by the first story (Xelucha), for being too stylized and obscure. Will return to it when the mood strikes.
THE LONG TOMORROW by Leigh Brackett, written during the 1950’s.
It’s been more than 50 years since I read that. Yes, that’s a good addition.
Also,
RE-BIRTH (aka The Chrysalids) by John Wyndham, 1955.
DAVY by Edgar Pangborn , 1964.
NOT THIS AUGUST by Cyril Kornbluth , 1955.
THE LONG LOUD SILENCE, by Wilson Tucker 1952.
THE YEAR OF THE QUIET SUN by Wilson Tucker, 1970.
And, for the sake of completism
FARNHAM’S FREEHOLD by Robert Heinlein, 1964.
Dave, Playhouse 90 left the air a few years before I was born, so I missed the dramatization of “Alas, Babylon”. I did recently read a writeup about the show by a television historian. If I can find it, I’ll post the link.
I remember being handed that book by my junior high school librarian, who also turned me on to Asimov, Heinlein and Bradbury among other worthies. Thank you again, Karen Boyd, wherever you are.
I also see some great books here mentioned by other commenters that I’m going to check out; thanks for the suggestions.
And here is a link to a wonderful blog piece about the Playhouse 90 version of “Alas, Babylon”
https://classictvhistory.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/among-the-missing-alas-babylon/
Thanks for the link. I didn’t know any of that.
Well, I saw it live, I remember it, and I thought it was great. I also thought that On the Beach was depressing but lackluster. Even with Ava Gardner if you can imagine such a thing.
We watched nearly all of the old 50s anthology dramas. Playhouse 90. Armstrong Circle Theater. The various incarnations of programs sponsored by Alcoa. Hallmark Hall of Fame.
On a side note I think it’s amazing that more of these old dramas aren’t available via streaming or on DVD. A selection of them are but relatively few out of the thousands of hours. More of the Hallmark Hall of Fame production are available than the other but I suspect that’s because Hallmark actually owns the rights.
On a side note to a side note I took my directing classes from a guy who cut his chops on these old live TV dramas. It must have been an exciting time. Basically, he was directing a new play every week.
Dave, I think MOD (Manufacture on Demand) disc technology is going to make some of these old shows available for rent or sale. Warner Brothers has a library of nearly 2,000 old movies and TV shows, many of which would have never seen the light of day if they had to support a standard retail release. My wife and I just ordered a glorious Blu-Ray reissue of “42nd Street”, and we’re also watching “Spenser for Hire”, from the 80’s. If the old live drama shows from the 50’s were available via MOD I’d buy them in a heartbeat.