There is something morbidly fascinating about the apocalypse.
And people write over and over again about the end of days.
They are rooted in our modern anxieties.
[Related: 10 Ways The World Will End According to Movies]
10.
St. John narrates this ultimate battle between good and evil.
Scholars have devoted study to this text.
It is steeped in mystery, symbolism and incredible imagery.
Anyone brave enough to tackle this often-complicated work will certainly earn our respect.
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On the Beach is the story of human life after the nuclear apocalypse.
As fallout slowly kills the remaining humans on Earth our characters are faced with a dilemma.
Not necessarily whether to live or die but rather how to die.
Should they wait for radiation sickness or commit suicide?
What decision might you make if the end is inevitable and painful?
It is an optimistic view.
The human species can live on and thrive in the face of adversity.
It is a very American novel rooted in the belief of the sacred democracy.
The Postman himself becomes a symbol of hope and civilization.
He maintains the symbolic connection between the world before and the world after the apocalypse.
The rise of an incredibly conservative and militant enemy conjures up images of Waco and right wing preppers.
It is an incredible easy read.
A Canticle for Leibowitz (Walter M. Miller Jr, 1960)
This is a very interesting novel.
The author read this during a class on Apocalyptic Literature and didnt like it at first.
It is difficult to read and doesnt really fully tie together until the end.
He would recommend pushing yourself through it.
If you want to thank him someday you’ve got the option to always comment below.
This is a novel that emphasizes the cyclical nature of society.
Society is born, it lives, it dies and it is reborn.
And common themes pervade the rebirth of civilization.
Humanity makes the same mistakes time and time again.
There is no film adaptation (but there absolutely should be!).
The Children of Men (P.D.
The Children of Men is far more subtle than that.
Instead of a quick ending, the world ends on a much slower timescale.
When women stop conceiving children the world is left to simply grow old and die.
Governments begin to shut down and people no longer see the point of living.
This is one of the few books where the author felt the film adaptation was much better.
The book tends to be a little preachy at times.
Either adaptation tells a very similar and great story of life in the face of death.
At this point you may be wondering what The Rocky Horror Picture Show has to do with killer plants.
Not much except that it references the classic science fiction adaptation of the novella.
Triffids are manmade plants that develop the ability to walk and communicate.
It is a carnivorous plant with the ability to kill.
They are under control just fine until the world finds itself blind.
And then the human race finds itself bumped from the top of the food chain.
The audience is left to speculate about what exactly happened.
The narrative of the novel is unique.
The affect is flat and characters remain unnamed.
The sky is dark and the plants are dead.
There is literally no light at the end of the tunnel.
Yet humanity continues on in search of something better.
The moments of joy and laughter are few but they exist.
The most important message is the courage to maintain hope even under the most horrific conditions.
Margaret Atwood creates characters from whole cloth like no other writer.
Snowman is witness to the destruction of the Earth.
Crake is a wonderful mad scientist.
And Oryx floats somewhere in between with her own interesting life story.
The animal hybrids become a strange background narrative (especially rakunks which is just sound adorable).
Crake is determined to remake the human race in a better form.
This form is more peaceful, lives without either fear or God.
There are many things that could be written about the narrative of this novel.
It is one of the most believable adolescent boy narratives the author has ever read.
hey comment below if you have read this and loved it as much as the author did.
It would also make an incredible film (if any amazing film directors are out there reading!)
The Stand (Stephen King, 1978)
Stephen King created a masterpiece when he wrote The Stand.
This incredible novel refers directly back toThe Book of Revelation.
Good and evil must once again fight it out for world domination.
The characters in this novel are organic and real.
They come from every walk of life and are bound together by simply surviving a plague.
They are able-bodied and disabled.
They are Christian and atheist.
They are saints and they are criminals.
These are the very people who would be represented if the world did end.
They are left to recreate civilization with a rag tag group all while fighting off the ultimate evil.
There is a wonderful (though dated) mini-series version ofThe Stand.
It follows the novel with fidelity.
In 2011 it was announced thatThe Standwas being made into a feature film.
It woulld really need to be given the length of this book.
[Related: Every Stephen King Movie and TV Show In Development]
1.
The protagonist is not all that panicked by the end of the world.
In fact he embraces it in very refreshing ways.
There is hope that the world will simply adapt.
Without civilization the human race can start over again.
One of the biggest focuses in the novel is on the relationship between Ish and Em.
They fall in love in an age that wouldnt allow them to be together.
She is an older black woman and he is a young white man.
But without civilization to enforce racism it almost ceases to exist.
They get to start all over again.
They find themselves creating a world they want.
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