Penguin author Will Self introduces the significance of catastrophe books...
Now more than ever catastrophe literature is in the ascendant - if that isn't a conradiction in terms. The recent teetering and near collapse of the entire West's financial system bore witness to the fundamental instability that underlies all civilisation - in the globalised world a few too many nervous riffles on the keyboards in the dealing rooms and we could all be blown away.
My own novel The Book of Dave, recently received a reality fillip when climatalogically unprecedented rainfall hit the British Isles and flooded large parts of Cumbria. It's difficult for those of us who have invested a lot of energy in trying to imagine the impact of such devastating events - and far worse - not to take some satisfaction when things start to go wrong in this way. After all it looks like proving us right.
Most literature is concerned with investigating the normal and the quotidian - sometimes it invests these with danger, but mostly it's about making people feel cosy and secure before they drop off to sleep. Catastrophe literature is exactly the opposite to this: it's about making the extraordinary comprehensible and waking people up. The problem for catastrophe writers historically is when things just go on being normal; many of the nuclear apocalypse books of the 1950s and 60s now seem dated, their catastrophes rooted in the past. Personally I think this view is mistaken. Whether it's alien invasion, war, pestilence, environmental disaster or social collapse, catastrophe is inevitable. Just because we've been crying wolf for decades now it doesn't mean that there isn't a whole pack of them, it just means they haven't come to blow your house down yet.
See some of the most thought provoking and devastating catastrophe books around!
Discount is valid while stocks last and until Dec31, 2013.
Discount will be applied at the shopping basket.
How to survive the end of the world as we know itJames Wesley, Rawles
It would take only one unthinkable event to disrupt our way of life. How to survive the end of the world as we know it gives you essential tips for survival.
£7.99 £6.39
The Book of DaveWill Self
A London cabbie Dave's book full of fatherly advice spawns a religion many centuries later, when rising sea levels have put London underwater in The Book of Dave.
£7.99 £6.39
The ChrysalidsJohn Wyndham
The Chrysalids is a post-nuclear story of genetic mutation in a devastated world, which tells of the lengths the intolerant will go to to keep themselves pure.
£7.99 £6.39
Z For ZachariahRobert C. O'Brien
Ann Burden is alone after a post-nuclear war has devastated America in Z For Zachariah. Will she ever find any humanity again?
£5.99 £4.79
The Death of GrassJohn Christopher
When a deadly disease hits Britain, John Custance and his family must confront a society that has begun to descend into barbarism in The Death of Grass.
£8.99 £7.19
The War of the WorldsH.G. Wells
All of human civilisation is under threat when powerful Martians build gigantic killing machines in The War of the Worlds.
£7.99 £6.39
Cat's CradleKurt Vonnegut
Cat's Cradle is the story of those who have witnessed Armageddon and have survived it.
£8.99 £7.19
The Day of the TriffidsJohn Wyndham
Bill Masen wakes up to a world where triffids - huge, venomous plants - feed on human flesh. With its terrifying insights of genetic modified plants, The Day of the Triffids is as relevant today as ever.
£8.99 £7.19
