The old man is the only one who can convey the wonders of that bygone age, and the horrors of the plague that brought about its end. Please try again. UK newspapers’ representations of the 2009–10 outbreak of swine flu: one health scare not over-hyped by the media? It is so very believable and depressingly scary. I didn't! A thoroughly entertaining look from 1912 of how a viral outbreak might overcome all of human civilization. This causal relationship between plague and sin is seen also in Greek literary texts, such as Homer’s Iliad and Sophocles’ Oedipus the King (429 BCE). The population reacted to the outbreak of the plague in 2 ways: most tried in vain to isolate themselves and fled to avoid the contagion, whereas a minority, mainly rioters, begun drinking, robbing, and sometimes even killing: “In the midst of our civilization, down in our slums and labor-ghettos, we had bred a race of barbarians, of savages; and now, in the time of our calamity, they turned upon us like the wild beasts they were and destroyed us. So, I checked into it & found one that wasn't in the Call of the Wild mold, a short novella format, with an interesting premise. Risk perception and information-seeking behaviour during the 2009/10 influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic in Germany.

It reminded me of reading, The scarlet plague was a very interesting, creative book. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. Some lasted for several hours. It told the tale of a plague that killed most of the population in 2012, and a survivor (a few decades after), educating his grandsons and telling them about life before and during the plague.

Likewise, “The Scarlet Plague” was published in 1912, but envisions a post-apocalyptic 2073 in which a global pandemic has wiped out most of humanity and civilization along with it. In the novel, as in reality, human reactions to plague can vary greatly, but still all share a terrible fear, the fear of death—both as the end of one’s life and as the end of civilization. A college professor of literature tells his savage grandsons about the quick-acting disease that wiped out civilization before they were born. We have seen civilization rebuild and reinvent itself time and time again, despite wars, natural catastrophes, genocides, dictatorships — whatever is thrown at us. Jack London is a writer I greatly admire, as much (or more) for his work ethic as for anything he ever wrote, though I did love both The Call of the Wild and White Fang when I read them as a teenager. Hollywood producers, directors, and actors are continuing their obsession... 'An old man, James Howard Smith, walks along deserted railway tracks, long since unused and overgrown; beside him a young, feral boy helps him along. I appreciate knowing who is the narrator-- telling the story to whom. Because of early financial difficulties, he was largely self educated past grammar school. SARS plague: duty of care or medical heroism? Heroes of SARS: professional roles and ethics of health care workers. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Then came the scarlet rash, spreading like wildfire over the face and body. In the Bible (e.g., Exodus 9:14, Numbers 11:33, 1 Samuel 4:8, Psalms 89:23, Isaiah 9:13), the plague was viewed as one of God’s punishments for sins, so the frightening description of its spread was interpreted as a warning to the Israelites to behave morally. It is a grandfather telling his rude & savage goatherd grandkids about the pre-apocalypse world & it's demise from the pandemic known as the Scarlet Plague. Consequently, capitalism is presented as the ultimate cause of the pandemic and thus harshly criticized. No, don't bother reading it, just know that he wrote it. Even though it was published more than a century ago, The Scarlet Plague feels contemporary because it allows modern readers to reflect on the worldwide fear of pandemics, a fear that remains very much alive. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. His story is harrowing, saddening. London gave detailed insight into the human reactions to the spread of the disease. The story takes place in 2073, sixty years after an uncontrollable epidemic, the Red Death, has depopulated the planet. The black death in Chinatown: plague and politics in San Francisco, 1900–1904. You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link. August 1st 1986 […] He was a hero, that man who stayed by his post—an obscure newspaperman, most likely” (1). He was also an active member of the Socialist Party of America, and his works often contained explicit critiques against capitalism and war. The American novelist used the plague topos to criticize contemporary social structure: the destruction that follows the plague is both to be welcomed and despised. Since his birth in San Francisco in 1876, he had worked on a sealing schooner, done a stint as an oyster pirate, participated in the Klondike Gold Rush (in 1897), played the part of a war corre.