Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

[Courtney Whittamore]

Alas, Babylon is the original post apocalyptic novel. Forget about the current dime a dozen dystopian YA novels that line the shelves of every Barns and Noble and a vast majority of our population, myself included. This book is an actual original thought, in a time where the word Dystopian wasn't even on the radar. This book might as well have been the product of a wild game of What If. This was not just some idea that came into Frank's head because it sounded like a plot that would sell, but because he lived in a time where the threat of a nuclear attack wiping out the majority of our civilization was a very real possibility; the ideas and panicked talks of the soviets doing just this are what bombarded the airwaves perpetually and without ceasing. Frank was simply the one that was brave enough and curious enough to flesh out the idea in writing, and he made a novel of the thing.

So Alas, Babylon is the tale of what happens in a Florida town after what is assumed to be a nuclear bomb strikes the United States and reverts their civilization back hundreds of years. Frank very easily could have made this a story of horror and terror, much reflecting the inferences of the radio shows of his time, but instead he chose to write a story of resourcefulness, survival, and ultimately of hope. The characters that Frank creates to endure this tragedy looked much like the general population. In his characters you could see and draw comparison to just about anyone you know, and he did this on purpose I feel. He made his characters the every character, so that we could see that if this were to happen outside of fiction, our real selves, and the characters that fill our lives would also be able to survive and cling on to hope, if only we had the drive and the intelligence to put our differences aside and rise to the occasion.

Frank has his characters go through tragedy after tragedy. But the point of these happenings was not the event themselves, but how he portrayed his cast either rising or failing to meet the occasion. This is where the real heart of the book lies. On the surface, it is a post apocalyptic book of survival, but at it's core, it is about what lengths humanity can be stretched to in order to overcome even the most outlandish of nightmares. These lengths are not fiction, they are fact. But in our humanity we are also given the freedom of choice, and that included the freedom to choose to not rise up and accept the new life you have been handed, no matter how hard it is. It is not a question of whether or not a ghoulish life can be handled, because there is evidence everywhere that it can, it is a question of whether or not our personal humanity is willing to work hard enough to handle it.

This book is the very definition of survival of the fittest. But it is not the survival of the physically fit that will ensure your salvation, but the fitness of your soul. Do you have the will to survive? That is the question that Frank poses and answers through his characters in this world he has created.

I was given this book by my college boyfriend when I was very ill. At first I thought that this was a very odd choice of book to give to your sick girlfriend, especially when he said this book will show you how much I love you. But as I began to understand what this book stood for, I don't think he could have given me a book that proclaimed his love for me anymore. Through this book he was telling me that even though I was not physically surviving, my soul was and always would, and that in the end that's what my legacy would be. Frank's beautiful writing and descriptive scenes are from an era lost that I so wish we would find again. And with his thoughtful choices of words he knit together to make this beautiful representation of human resilience, he showed me in my weakest moment, in what could have easily been termed my own post apocalyptic life, that even though everything I physically had was gone, what I emotionally and spiritually owned was and always would be in my soul, and that's what would allow me to survive and adapt to the brand new world. This book changed my life, and I hope these words have convinced you that it could change yours too.

[L_Therese]

That sounds like a really awesome book, and I'd never even heard of it. Thanks for sharing!