Alas, Babylon
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Alas, Babylon
Narrated by:
Will Patton
Buy Now for $26.99
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Narrated by:
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Will Patton
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By:
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Pat Frank
About this listen
This true modern masterpiece is built around the two fateful words that make up the title and herald the end - “Alas, Babylon.” When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly.
But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness. Will Patton's narration paints this classic tale as an ominous picture of the terrible possibilites of the nuclear age.
©1959 Harry Hart Frank (P)2010 Audible, Inc.Critic Reviews
- Audie Award Winner, Fiction, 2012
"An enthralling and vivid story of the follies and failures of people, their courage and cruelty, their treachery and triumphs. Mr. Frank is a magnificent writer." ( Chicago Sunday Tribune)
"A warm, continuously interesting story of what can happen to a group of ordinary people in a perilous situation." ( New York Herald Tribune)
“Will Patton is a calm and steady narrator whose quiet intensity wraps around this post-apocalyptic saga...He reflects the tones of deference of women to men, nonwhites to whites, and children to adults. In a conversational tone, he quietly brings the characters and their relationships to life.” ( AudioFile)
Best book I’ve ever read
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Having to deal with the not so subtle racism, jingoism and misogyny was also eye roll inducing, but at least some of that was intentional. I say some because I doubt the author realized how racist it might be to have one of his few African American characters be the only one in the entire book to take up a spear as his weapon of choice, for example.
That said, it was still an interesting listen, plus it’s always a treat to hear Will Patton narrating anything. That man’s voice could make reading the back of a corn flakes box enjoyable.
Some unfortunate downsides
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Pat Frank might have written this novel in 1959 but swap USSR for Russia and it's a synopsis that could just as easily be drawn from a future headline.
This was the first time I'd read/ listened to Alas, Babylon and I really enjoyed it - particularly the insight it gave me into 1950s nuclear age. Gender roles are strong - men are brave and protective, women stand by their men and children as nurturers and carers and even little boys carry stiff upper lips.
But how interesting it is to see how society breaks down and yet humanity persists in the face of a nuclear war. Now I've read it, I can see where so many other post-apocalyptic novels, films and games have rightfully drawn their inspiration.
A great read - highly recommended.
Eerily close to home, even today
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I’ve recommended this one to my husband, and to anyone else looking for a great novel about the end of civilisation as we know it today.
Amazing & relevant
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I’ve read several books that are quite similar in they deal with a post apocalyptic world with man being sent back to the Stone Age by a terrible cataclysm. Lucifers hammer for example (fantastic book which if you like this style, I recommend highly).
Theirs was a asteroid impact opposed to nuclear war.
The book is well researched and great technical detail which is so important in these type of books. Information about fallout and everything it can affect. A detail about how gold jewellery storing and collections bad radioactive isotopes for example is a detail most would never think about.
The story and obstacles are good but it’s the reason why this got 4 stars rather than 5. There were some good challenges and obstacles for them to overcome but never a major one that kept you guessing and wondering if they could make it. More of a series of dangers and how they fixed them but I never felt the people were truely in deep trouble.
Still a fantastic book but Lucifers Hammer remains my number one spot for this genre
Great story and fantastic attention to detail but...
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