Hello and Welcome

Welcome to the first posting on Apocalypse Books.  It has taken me a few months to get up and running, and some hard thinking on which books to include first.  I decided that because there is such a backlog of books I have read over the years, I will include three reviews in each post - One fiction, one non –fiction (already on my bookshelf) and one book that I have read recently. 

For me, beyond the categorization of fiction and non-fiction, books are designated in two ways – ones I read only once and those that are “keepers”.  The “keepers” I keep on my bookshelf and reread over and over.  Examples of books I consider “keepers” are Stephen King’s The Stand, S. M. Stirling’s Dies the Fire, Frank Hebert’s Dune, Kate Wilhelm’s Where the Late Sweet Birds Sang and, of course, Pat Frank’s Alas, Babylon!. 

Many people claim that they cannot reread a book because they already know what is going to happen.  For me, reading a good book is like visiting an old friend.  You know all their stories, their opinions on religion and politics, but you still enjoy their company and learn something new about them through continued conversations.  I usually come away with something new, however small, each time I reread a book.

I hope you find some “keepers” in the books that are reviewed here.

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Review

Atlas Shrugged

Ayn Rand

Copyright:  1956

ISBN #978-0-451-19114-4

Atlas Shrugged is a book that I have heard about most of my life, and I never had any interest in reading it.  It was, to me at least, an “old” person’s book, Literature with a capital L.  However, earlier in the year I saw this title on a list of must read books for anyone interested in the current state of affairs of the U.S.  So with the release of part 2 of the big screen movie adaptation, I thought that now would be a good time to see why Atlas Shrugged has stayed continuously on the book shelves since 1957.

Let me say first that this is a dark book, both in subject matter and atmosphere.  In my visualization of the world in which the story takes place, everything was in shades of gray – pollution gray, dust gray, twilight gray.  Most of the world has succumbed to communism, the United States is not far behind, and the despair of what is left of civilization is palpable. 

The story follows Dagny Taggart, the Vice-President in Charge of Operations of Taggart Transcontinental Railroad, as she watches the empire her grandfather built disintegrate around her, piece by piece.  But it’s not just the railroad, she realizes, but the world that man has built.  And the situation is not helped by the fact that the very men who could work with her to help stop civilization’s slide keep disappearing without a trace.   As the slide deepens, everyone is quick to find an excuse for any problem that arises, so that no blame will fall on them.  No one can or will make a decision about anything because they might have to take responsibility for their action.  Better to wait for a supervisor to make the decision, or the supervisor’s supervisor, etc.  Cries of “It’s not fair”, “I never had a chance, if someone had only given me a chance”, “Those that have should pay for those that don’t” become anthems repeated across the country.  (Sounds eerily familiar, doesn’t it?)  Politicians and corporate leaders meeting behind closed doors to rig elections and make up laws that benefit only them are just par for the course.  And will anyone ever answer the question:  Who is John Galt?

As Dagny investigates the disappearances of the wealthy and influential men who could help to save the world from crumbling into another dark age, she discovers there is more to the world than she knows, and that in the end, there is still hope for those who will fight to rebuild what is destroyed.

The number of similarities between the world that Ms. Rand lays out and the present world is uncanny.  Within the first page, she makes reference to the fact that people asking for a dime had become so prevalent that no one even cared what the dime was needed for.  This sent a shock through me – I immediately flashed to the number of people I see each day standing on corners or under overpasses, begging for money.  

Atlas Shrugged touches on so many of the issues we are facing today that it makes you wonder what kind of crystal ball Ms. Rand was peering in when she wrote it.    To read this book will give you a glimpse of things that may come, especially if the world continues on its present course.

What I liked about this book was the incredible detail Ms. Rand gave to the descriptions and story line.  Yes, as I said before it was a gray book, but one that should be read by everyone as a cautionary tale.  I would recommend it for a high school reading class, although there are some sex scenes that are a bit explicit.  

What I didn’t like about the book was the story line about Dagny’s love life.  How many times can you fall madly, passionately, in love?  

This book was written for the adult fiction market.  It does contain some cursing and sex scenes.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is following the current economic and political world climate.   

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Review

How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It

Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies For Uncertain Times

James Wesley, Rawles

First Printing October 2000

ISBN 978-0-452-29583-4

For those of you into the genre, this is the quintessential disaster preparedness book.  It is invaluable to anyone serious about preparing for whatever natural disaster that is typical in their region.  Earthquake, tornado, hurricane, forest fire, or blizzard, it is all covered.  Un-natural disasters, such as man deciding to decimate itself through nuclear war or bio-warfare are addressed.  And the big boogie man right now, global pandemic, is also included in this detailed instruction manual of how to survive the unsurvivable.

The book is set out logically, starting with an explanation of what can go wrong with our fragile society and progressing to how to distinguish between your wants and what you actually need.  And then he explains how to prioritize your needs and how to acquire them.  His List of Lists is the key to starting a long term plan, and he breaks that down to individual lists, such as food, clothing, fuel, defense, etc.  Or you can develop your own system and proceed with your preparations based on it.  It doesn’t matter, as long as you plan.  The book details things that most people have no concept of – How much water does one adult, one child, one pet require per day?  What about food?  How do you go to the bathroom without water and/or a working sewer system?  Should you actually stay in your home or try to flee to another location?  

Have you even thought about what you would do if the electrical and/or gas utilities were no longer available?  What if the water no longer came out of your faucet or if it did, you did not know if it was contaminated or not?  And these are the simple questions.

The harder questions, the ones no one really wants to think about, are what happens if the destruction is not just a natural disaster.  What if the truly unthinkable happens – a new flu strain is sweeping the nation and has just hit your town?  Or there is a gigantic solar flare or high altitude nuclear blast that destroys the electrical grid.  How about a sudden financial collapse that leaves you unable to access the money in your bank accounts?  

How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It addresses each of these scenarios and how basic preparation can mean the difference between survival and death.  From staying home to relocating, from stocking up on dehydrated camping foods to building a larder as big you your local grocery store, from buying bottled water to building a water filter, it is covered.  Weapons, tactical strategies and defenses, first aid and traumatic wounds, shelter and fire – covered.  And what Mr. Rawles doesn’t include, he tells you where you can find it.

No matter what your individual needs are, small or large, this book will help you figure out what your comfortable level of preparation is.    

What I liked about this book was everything.  Concise, to the point, and instructional.  A must have for every disaster preparedness library.  In fact, if you could only have one disaster preparedness book with you, this is the one I would you have.

This book is written for the adult non-fiction market, but can be read by anyone interested.If you are just getting interested in disaster preparation, buy this book.  If you have been working on disaster preparedness for years but do not have this book, buy it.

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Review 

When the Lights Went Out: An LDS/EMP Scenario

Jack Monnett

Copyright 2011

 
This is a book that I wanted to like.  It covered one of my favorite scenarios, EMP and grid down survival, and it involved a group that is well known for its belief in preparedness.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed.

The book follows a family in a small Utah town as it faces survival after a solar flare destroys all electronics, except those that were either not hooked up to the electrical grid or were somehow protected.  The town is populated mainly by members of the LDS (Mormon) church, so most of the inhabitants had a fair amount of food, water and other items stored.  The plan the town puts in place is based on LDS guidelines, so those who had honored the church teachings agree to share with those town members who have little or no food or water stored, whether they were church members or not.  But as the the grid down situation drags on through the winter, it became clear that there were some who would have less than others, although no one was starving.  Resentments build, although at a much lower level than I think would be realistic.

The citizens of this area put together a plan to gather firewood, plant gardens, preserve food and find solutions to the sanitary needs of the community.  The "you work or you don't eat" rule is put in place.  One group of LDS members who were well prepared resent having to share their stores of food, so they break off and create another settlement.

Through a short wave radio the church Bishop has, the community receives some news of the outside world.  Tales of roving gangs invading towns raping and killing the inhabitants, and setting the town on fires when there is nothing left to loot, make the town members realize they must set up a defensive perimeter and a warning system so that the town can be alerted if it is determined they are under attack.  This works well for the first confrontation, and fails miserably for the second. 

The problem I had with the defense plan was that it was all based on road blocks on the four main roads accessing the town.  Teams were to be stationed at all times watching the approaches to the town and if a group of people approached, they would be first warned to turn around and leave.  If they refused, the signal would be given to the town and all available persons would come running with whatever weapons they had.  As I said, this worked well for the first encounter.  However, later the town is invaded by a group of gang members that had somehow snuck up during the night and were discovered when the sentry arrived at their post the next morning.  It is implied that there had been no sentry watch during the "moonless" night before.  This seems to me to have been a critical error as most attacks (at least in all the books and movies I have seen) occur at night under the cover of darkness, so this is when a sentry watch would be most important.

The second big problem I had was when the invaders are invited to meet with the Bishop.  During the meeting, the Bishop offers to give the gang members 90% of the town's supplies, and the invaders agree to leave the town with no further destruction and never come back.

Now, I don't know about you, but I have never heard of any gang that has the upper had agreeing to give up anything.  They would stay until they had sucked the life out of the area and then completely destroyed it, just for the fun of watching it burn.  So this scenario was completely unrealistic and naive.

And then, magically, everything returns to normal.

What I liked about the book was the level of preparations the church members had.  While I am not LDS, this is a part of their teachings that I think everyone could learn from.  There is little or no cursing and no sexual situations.

What I didn't like about the book was the naivete with which this scenario was explored.  There was little human conflict involved.  Yes, there were mentions of disagreements, but no real blow ups.  In a survival situation, with little or no news about what is happening in the outside world and what could be coming their way, the stress level alone would lead to major confrontations among the town's inhabitants.  Then there are the personality conflicts that are normally kept under control by the veneer of civilization and the rule of law.  Take that away, even just a little, and you have the makings of serious trouble.  Reading this book was like eating an apple pie without the filling - all crust and no fruit.

This book was written for the adult fiction market, but can be read by anyone.

This book left me luke-warm, I neither liked it nor disliked it.  It is not a "keeper" to me, but you might feel differently.