The Scarlet Plague [Classic Tales Edition]

By: Jack London

Narrated by: B.J. Harrison

Length: 2 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Twelve billionaires rule the United States, while those called freemen are forced to serve the rich. But that was 60 years ago, before the Scarlet Plague. In this post-apocalyptic novella, a ragged and tattered old man tells his progeny of what life was like before The Scarlet Plague appeared - and wiped out civilization as they knew it.

Public Domain (P)2016 B.J. Harrison

A view into the future

By all estimation this is a view into the future we don't ever want to see. I feels so realistic & worrisome

Interesting idea with some bumps

The overall concept of the book is good, but sometimes the story stalls which may be intentional because other characters in the story indicate that the narrator is droning on. Intentional or not, I found myself sometimes telling the narrator to hurry up which surprised me because I'm not generally an impatient reader/listener. Once the story was going, it was good. The narrator is inconsistent with their voice- It isn't a bad narration, but it also isn't the best.

Surprising and captivating

Really enjoyed Listening to the story. Very well told. Surprising and captivating. Jack London is an amazing writer. Timeless.

My favorite Jack, London book 

If there was a real plague, now, I would imagine it would happen. it’s cool Harvester takes place in the future from when you wrote it and it holds up pretty well. 



The world must survive

This book was very different than what I was expecting. It is a story of loss and survival in a primitive world. I enjoyed it!

good but dated

it really is a great book with very modern concerns . old sci-fi at its best but there are definitely some racial and class based ideals within the book which do not represent modern day and shouldn't . that being said if you can take it in the context that this book is old. it's a very enjoyable and scary .

Great book. I had never read it or heard it before

The description of the panic from the plague was excellent. It was dated but still enjoyable. Really bothered me they did not rescue the woman from the abuser and instead they let her keep being beaten. But considering this was written in 1912 it was more acceptable at the time.

Pioneering Science fiction

Before downloading this, I had no idea that the author of Call of the Wild had been an early science fiction writer, like Wells or Verne. Written in 1912, this may have been the very first example of a post-apocalypse SF novel.

The story is told from the perspective of a very old man who, in 2073, is the last living witness to a plague that wiped out all but a few handfuls of the human race and reduced the survivers to primitive savagery. The story is also social commentary describing a society of 2012 just before the plague -- 100 years in the future when it was written -- as rigidity stratified, with a small number of billionaires owning everything of importance, and the lower working classes kept firmly in their place. Not an unreasonable prediction from the perspective of the Gilded Age.

VERY TIMELY!

A very timely and apropos novella for this, our post-pandemic era. How close we came to going by way of the dinosaur! Remember??

So many parallels to our recent experiences, written many decades ago. Ultimately, as a race (human, that is! 🤣) we did live through that one but I, for one, at the time, wasn’t so sure. It reminds us of indeed how tenuous life can be and how, in a moments time, all can change or even disappear.

Here, here! Everyone, listen up: Down with all those nasty germies! 🦠🦠🦠😡

wonderful listen very relevant today!

amazing how this book reflects what could happen anytime with world leaders pandering to corporations