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Alas, Babylon | 
 enlarge | Author: Pat Frank
Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $5.15
You Save: $7.80 (60%)
New (40) Used (34) Collectible (1) from $4.45
Avg. Customer Rating:  260 reviews
Sales Rank: 13484
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 0060741872
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780060741877
ASIN: 0060741872
Publication Date: July 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Also Available In:
| • | Paperback - Alas, Babylon (Perennial Classics) | | • | Mass Market Paperback - Alas Babylon | | • | Library Binding - Alas, Babylon | | • | Unknown Binding - Alas Babylon | | • | Paperback - Alas, Babylon | | • | Paperback - Alas, Babylon (Perennial Classics) | | • | Hardcover - Alas, Babylon | | • | Mass Market Paperback - Alas Babylon | | • | Mass Market Paperback - Alas, Babylon | | • | Mass Market Paperback - Alas, Babylon | | • | Hardcover - Alas, Babylon | | • | Turtleback - Alas, Babylon (Perennial Classics) | | • | School & Library Binding - Alas, Babylon | | • | Unknown Binding - Alas, Babylon | | • | Library Binding - Alas, Babylon (Harper Perennial Modern Classics (Topeka Bindery)) | | • | Unknown Binding - Alas, Babylon: A novel |
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Product Description
The classic apocalyptic novel that stunned the world.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 255 more reviews...
 Crap characters, excellent setting and premise August 15, 2008
The best thing about this book is the setting. The descriptions of a post apocalyptic United States is excellent. It really made me think about what civilization means: law and order, running water, food supplies, transportation, etc.
The biggest flaw with the book is its characters. The character development is non-existent. Randy, the protagonist, is extremely bland. He has no flaws (well, he's a liberal) and a perfect leader.
The story is also extremely optimistic. Personally, I like a bit more cynicism.
Despite these two gripes, this is a great post apocalyptic book and a short read to boot. I'll never forget the descriptions of nuclear armegeddon as Randy and friends watch from their house.
 Outdated? Did we read the same book? August 10, 2008
Some people say the book is outdated, but really, we are under the same dark cloud that was there during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Granted, the strike zones today would be different than those in the 50s, but Nuclear Warfare is a very real possibility. North Korea?! HELLO!
This book was really a can't put down for me. I found myself wanting to start stockpiling food and move out into the mid-west. Not fantastical, and not too sci-fi, this book is a gritty realization of what would happen if the US was devastated by a large scale nuclear attack.
Better than I remembered July 19, 2008
Before I passed Alas Babylon along to my sons I thought I would re-read it. When I was a young boy and read it for the first time I really enjoyed the survivalist theme. I found a lot more to like on my second reading. Mr. Frank weaves several strong moral fables inside the basic survival novel that really "makes" the story.
Mr. Frank uses the nuclear backdrop for his most obvious morality lesson on racial equality. Nuclear war is a great equalizer. Set in racially segregated 1950s central Florida, he ensures all nuclear holocaust survivors work together, regardless of race, gender or age. For if they don't, there are immediate consequences. It is a strong and positive message.
The outcome of excess greed is also highlighted and dealt with harshly. Thieves are left to die of radiation poisoning because they stole radiated property.
The technical aspects, while dated, are still pretty good. The air-to-air missile that starts WW III is a little out there, but since it's just a small vignette, it's easy to forgive.
I look forward to my sons reading the book and the discussions it will conjure. From nuclear war to race relations to the drastic moral outcomes for greed, I think it will all be interesting and informative for them.
 Interesting story; a bit clunky May 13, 2008
Pat Frank had the fine idea to focus on small area after a nuclear war and limit the perspective to what one somewhat isolated area experiences. He's got a good idea for logistics -- what preparations could be made before the war, how people could make due with what is stocked, how their resources and resourcefulness would serve them, and so on. So it's interesting to watch as events play out for one county.
The problem is that the dialogue is often pretty stilted and painful. Some situations seem a little too much of their time, as well -- the women tend to sit back and see what the men do and don't take leadership roles; hardly likely in any era when humans themselves have become a precious resource. (One woman ardently keeps the telegraph office going, but that ain't much.) The children also seem to be either young for their age or wisely and stoically old for their age, so it reads very much like 1950's melodrama.
Fortunately, the nuts and bolts of the thing are absorbing enough to keep things moving. The end is a bit abrupt, but believable.
Worth a read.
Very Good. April 25, 2008
If you are into post-apocalyptic science fiction, this should definitely be on your list. Could use better character development, but still a classic.
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