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Apocalypse Again
by
Kat Warren
Editor’s note: Kat Warren is famous on Readerville for her Fetish lists, that is, lists of books that are about or revolve around a particular subject. Over the years, she’s covered plague, timber and dogs (not the twee titles thereof) among others. I asked her to consider submitting her newest list to BiblioBuffet so that our readers might be able to enjoy this rather unusual take on literary fetishes.
(At least) two post-Apocalyptic novels by prize-winning writers were published in 2006: Jim Crace’s The Pesthouse and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Why this coincidence of propinquity? I think it’s related to rage and frustration engendered by current political realities, but who really knows? In any case, I’ve been thinking about books in this vein and have put together a list of same (see below). I adore book lists and will develop one at the drop of a hat; it’s one of my (one hopes) quaint peculiarities. Also, I’m inordinately fascinated by plaques, doomsday scenarios, dystopias and the like.
On the Beach by Nevil Shute
What happens when you miss the end of the world. Hint: it’s lonely.
The Pesthouse by Jim Crace
Escaping the New World for the Old.
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
It’s a long road to the end of the world, and a lot can happen.
Children of Men by P.D. James
The near future plagued by absolute infertility.
A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
It turned out not to be the end of the world, but no one living through it then knew that: London 1665.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The end of the road, so to speak.
Hiroshima by John Hershey
When it really happened, really.
Messiah by Gore Vidal
When suicide is not only painless but government sponsored.
A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
What pastrami has to do with god and the end of the world.
The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
A plague on your house!
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
It ain’t just radio.
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Blinded by the light.
The Stand by Stephen King
Better pack a sandwich for this one; it’ll be a while before you reach the end.
And, for pondering one’s personal apocalypse, there’s little that’s more entertaining than The Oxford Book of Death edited by D.J. Enright.
Kat Warren is a corporate librarian in Northern California who lives with a fuchsia hybridist, their two elderly cats and too many books to count. Her preferred exercise workout is turning the pages of a good tome whilst guzzling champagne. She loves Bach (particularly the unaccompanied cello suites), beaches, books and a good bacchanal now and again. To contact her, send an email to
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and it will be forwarded.
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