[net.followup] Nuclear Holocaust

riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (01/15/84)

No, don't try "Alas, Babylon" as a followup to "The Day After".  It is a book
of which Dr. Strangelove might have approved.  I read it when I was in junior
high, myself;  I recall enjoying the book and having the feeling that a
post-holocaust world would be a nice place to visit, even if I wouldn't quite
want to live there.  (The post-holocaust book which  r e a l l y  makes it
all sound fun is "Earth Abides".)
----
Prentiss Riddle
("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
{ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle

dickey@wxlvax.UUCP (Tom Dickey) (01/15/84)

Actually, there are a number of authors which have not (yet) been mentioned.
These include:

	Nevil Shute - On the Beach
	Edgar Pangborn - 'Davy' and the short stories which precede and succeed
			this novel
	Philip K. Dick - 'Dr. Bloodmoney' (a Dr Strangelove satire)
	Peter George - Commander One (by the author of Dr Strangelove)
	Mordecai Roshwald - Level Seven
	Walter Miller - A Canticle for Leibowitz

These should supply enough material for all types of depression.

rew@hao.UUCP (Russell K. Rew) (01/15/84)

[]
Since no one else has mentioned it, I highly recommend Jonathan
Schell's two-part article "The Abolition" that recently appeared in the
New Yorker (January 2 and 9).  I think Schell deserves consideration
for a Nobel Peace Prize for this remarkable piece of work.  In it, he
defines the current predicament of the human race, teetering on the
brink of extinction, and then proposes a novel way to avoid this
ultimate atrocity.  Schell carefully presents the problems with both
deterrence (as it is currently understood) and with proposals for
complete nuclear disarmament that depend on any form of world
government.  He then proposes a practical way to move toward a world in
which nuclear weapons are abolished, the benefits of deterrence are
preserved, and sovereign states remain sovereign.  I would like to see
more discussion of Schell's "weaponless deterrence" by others who have
read the New Yorker piece.
-- 

				  Russ Rew
				  (303) 497-1290
                                  {hplabs,nbires,brl-bmd,seismo,menlo70}!hao!rew

hlh@linus.UUCP (Henry L. Hall) (01/16/84)

Another good book about life towards the end of a holocaust is
"On The Beach" by Nevil Shute.  It portrays the sort of hopelessness
one feels when the inevitable is about to happen.

kfl@5941ux.UUCP (Kenton Lee) (01/16/84)

You can find "On The Beach" in the library under the
author's real name: N. S. Norway.  This is an
excellent book and has been made into a movie (I
think with Gregory Peck or another great actor of
that time period).

dickson@psuvax.UUCP (01/17/84)

One other novel about the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust
that hasn't been mentioned yet is 

    'Farnham's Freehold' by Robert Heinlein.

It's typical Heinlein, but then again, that's probably why 
I  liked it.

-- 
--Scott Dickson

uucp: {allegra, burdvax, ihnp4}!psuvax!dickson
Bitnet: BSD@PSUVM

monroe@sequent.UUCP (01/20/84)

A book called "On the Beach" by Nevil Shute, comes to mind.  Set in Australia,
the Northern Hemisphere has blown it (literally) and they are waiting for the
cloud.  I don't want to give too much of it away, and I hope this helps.

						Doug Monroe
						Sequent Computer Systems
						{ogcvax,cdi}!sequent!monroe