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The Scarlet Plague
The Scarlet Plague | Jack London
7 posts | 13 read | 7 to read
One of the first works of post-apocalyptic fiction, this novella by the great American storyteller unfolds in a primitive world in which art, science, and learning are legends, recalled only by elderly survivors.
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Creadnorthey
The Scarlet Plague | Jack London
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Pickpick

Just a short novella, but pretty much the blueprint for so many of the plague stories out there. Disturbing in the fact that it was written over a hundred years ago and only missing the Covid years by 7 odd years… ooooo chills down my spine.

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LibraryCin
The Scarlet Plague | Jack London
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Mehso-so

It‘s a short story, so doesn‘t take long to read. I was impressed with the guesstimate of 8 billion people on Earth in 2012 – not too far off. I never did figure out why the man cried so easily, though, at taunting from the boys. Overall, it‘s an ok story

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jeannasser
The Scarlet Plague | Jack London
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Pickpick

These are the types of things they should read in school! It felt as if I were listening to an old experienced man tell a story by a campfire, and the narrator did a great job at narrating the tales!It‘s very related to what‘s happened so far this year and I can only hope it doesn‘t turn out this way. First exposure to Jack London; liked it a lot. Only had an issue with the first half since it was tedious. Highly recommend 3.5 stars!
#audiobook

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jeannasser
The Scarlet Plague | Jack London
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☠Been getting into audiobooks lately! This one is going great so far 😁
#audiobook #audiobooks #horror #jacklondon #short #listening #thescarletplague

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batsy
The Scarlet Plague | Jack London
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Mehso-so

If I had read this earlier, I would have found it merely preachy & heavy-handed & not particularly well-crafted; more of a secular tract about the evils of capitalist progress but not great fiction. Reading it now, however—well, it's not fun. It's a dystopian landscape after a plague wipes out most of humanity; the man who survives was formerly a literature professor, & I will say I quite like London's sense of humour there 🙃 #pandemicreading

hilded Doesn‘t sound like the best book these days. Hope everything is fine with you 🙌🏻 5y
batsy @hilded Thank you, and I hope you are doing OK as well ❤️ I'm finding it hard to concentrate on any other type of fiction; these dystopian plague tales are not pleasant, but they're also the only kind of fiction holding my attention right now 🥴 5y
hilded @batsy I‘m in quarantine, but otherwise fine. I agree, haven‘t found anything that is holding my attention on the book front the last week, so I‘ve given up reading for now. Glad you have found something that works for you ♥️ Working is actually better, so try to do my best from my newly set up home office. Hope you stay healthy 🙌🏻 5y
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readordierachel What's next on the plague reading list? 5y
batsy @hilded I know what you mean, at times like this, work can be a blessing in a way. Take care and hope you stay well too ❤️ 5y
batsy @readordierachel 😂 Well ... I'm thinking of going all out with some nonfic 5y
Centique @batsy @readordierachel that made me laugh! Thanks for the wry humour, I need it 👍 Have you read Severance? 5y
Centique Or - less plaguey but definitely apocalyptic - and thoughtful about the rise and fall of one civilisation after another - 5y
readordierachel @batsy Omg you are going for it 🤣😅 @Centique Loved Severance! 5y
batsy @Centique I haven't read both but I fully intend to! You brought Canticle to my attention when you reviewed it 😘 5y
merelybookish I've been eyeing Defoe's Journal of a Plague Year. But haven't quite committed yet. 5y
batsy @Liz_M Thank you! I see only the health of my TBR remains unaffected in this strange time in our history 😅 5y
Centique How are you going Suba? Thinking of you and wishing you comfort and safety 💕💕 5y
batsy @Centique I'm doing well, Paula. Thank you for asking. Just going a tiny bit nuts with this lockdown. How are you and your family? From the outside it seemed like NZ implemented a calm, systematic lockdown so I hope it all goes well. And take good care of yourself ❤️ 5y
Centique @batsy I‘m glad you‘re well. Are you with family? We‘re good too but cabin fever as well. Very weird going out for walks & feeling like every house is full of bored ppl watching to make sure you‘re social distancing correctly! Most NZers are rule followers I think, so we‘re doing what we‘re told, and the PM has been very clear, although I heard our local beach had too many ppl on it yesterday 😳😳 Best wishes to you lovely. Kia Kaha 💕 5y
batsy @Centique Yes, I live with my sister & our 80 yr old mum so we're both very careful about going out. Our house is on a relatively short & quiet residential street so everyone is OK with people walking up & down the distance. But it's getting sticky in other places where people are reporting others for being out jogging, etc. I've heard of gatherings in parks & similar. I both feel for those ppl & am annoyed with them! Take care, friend ❤️❤️ 5y
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BestDogDad
The Scarlet Plague | Jack London
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Pickpick



The book is set in San Francisco in the year 2073, roughly 60 years after the Scarlet Plague wipes out most of humanity. The main character, Granser, was an English professor at Berkeley when the plague hit. Most of narrative consists of him telling his three primitive, knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing grandsons Edwin, Hoo-Hoo, and Hare-Lip about what life was like pre-plague and attempting to educate the knuckleheads with some basic science.