Review: Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

I've been busy. I've been so busy, that I haven't been able to go through any books lately and, thus, haven't found anything interesting. No, no, I'm not ignoring you and to prove it, I'm going to leave you this book review.

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

If you're a fan of the Apocalypse/Doomsday Fiction/Nuclear Fallout, etc. then you may already be familiar with this book. Written in the late 50s, Alas Babylon was meant to serve not just as Frank's warning of both an upcoming nuclear war with Russia but also as a warning of where our pursuit into the nuclear arms race was going to lead us. The story takes place in a small town in Florida (Fort Repose) where the protagonist, Randy Bragg, has assembled a small group of friends and family after the Russian's have nuked most of America. Despite the odds, Bragg manages to bring everyone together and..blah, blah, blah...I would say spoiler alert, but this book is really so formulaic that I'm positive you can piece together the outcome: "The Good Guys Win!"

Having been released in 1959, this book has already been reviewed. Many, many times. After I finished,  I spent some time reading some of those reviews on Amazon and I've noted two things: Those who didn't like it found it boring and unrealistic & Those who loved it found it very realistic largely thanks to unnerving, personal experience with the threat of fallout. Very few people talked about why they felt it was boring. Which is what I will do right now.

It's predictable. And I don't mean the subject matter has been done over and over so it became predictable, I mean it was at first and remains predictable. Frank explains all the motives of the tertiary characters in their introductory paragraphs, so when they 'get what's comin' to 'em' it's lackluster and expected. Even the main character (the incredibly likable) Randy Bragg's fate is laid out immediately. Everything that Randy has lost pre-Nuclear war will surely one day be returned to him. When could that day be, you ask? Probably post-Nuclear war. Duh.

There are some great observations in the book. Not enough that I recommend it, but, they're there. My best advice to you is this: If you are ever in a situation where a potential love interest or someone you respect asks you to read this, read the first two paragraphs and then skip to the end. Your Time will thank you.

Oh, yeah. And if anyone wants to buy a copy of this, there's one available at the shop. Ha.