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Post by wireman on Mar 23, 2024 15:19:59 GMT
The discussion for 3-27-24 will be The Scarlett Plague, chapters 1-3 by Jack London.
We will stay with with Jack London. I found that he wrote a dystopian story that is well thought of so we will give that a go. It's a novella, so we will divide it up into two parts. Chapters 1-3 this week and the remainder next week (unless we hate chapters 1-3 so much we abandon it  )
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Post by osnafrank on Mar 27, 2024 17:15:29 GMT
Well, this tale is very distant from the stories,
i associate to Jack London.
For us, it's "just another deadly disease" story,
but whoever read it this in 1912, must have been scared as hell.
That was an accurate estimate, Mr. London.
An entertaining look from 1912 of how a viral outbreak
might overcome human civilization.
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Post by wireman on Mar 27, 2024 23:19:25 GMT
I have never read a story like this from this time period. This story must have been one of if not the first of it's kind. I never knew Jack London wrote anything like this. Not only did London get the population numbers pretty close but with that story about the bears, he basically told of how the wildlife had diminished as the human population grew and came back after the humans were gone. This type of story has been done many times since but it's very fascinating to read this and imagine you're back in 1912 reading it.
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Post by spideyman on Mar 28, 2024 14:44:37 GMT
Agree, nothing that London has written compares to this story. He is so spot on with details for it having been written in 1912.
Comparison to happenings of the Covid Pandemic-lock down, and animals thrived.
Very descriptive in wording. Reader easily visualizes 1912 and life therein.
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Post by wireman on Apr 4, 2024 12:47:39 GMT
The last 3 chapters were exceptional. The author really nailed the unruliness, violence, fear and loneliness. Also what happened with the domesticated wildlife. Because of the date this was published and the story starting in California, I started wondering if Jack London had been in San Francisco during the 1906 earthquake and if that may have inspired his writing about a city in ruins. He did in fact live in San Francisco during the earthquake so I am guessing he may have seen a little of what he was describing. The ending was good with the children not believing the tales he told of how it used to be. Typical kids.
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Post by osnafrank on Apr 4, 2024 15:46:33 GMT
This is a short, post-apocalyptic story, which is told almost in the form of a memoir.
It is dang good, and i wish it was longer.
Hard to believe that Jack London wrote this
at the beginning of the last century.
t is so very believable and depressingly scary.
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Post by spideyman on Apr 4, 2024 16:30:53 GMT
I think he took much of this writing/ story from sights and scenes of his own life. The wilderness of the country, wildlife, and yes- his time on California. He's was around 30 years old at the time of the quake. This story does capture all the feelings of that time, thus allowing the reader to find the happenings completely believable. Thi was a good short story.
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