After the Flood

By P.C. Jersild

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688049028
• ISBN13: 9780688049027
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Length: 251 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Possible World Scenario.

The Story:After the Flood is set 33 years after a all out nuclear war practically wipes out humanity and civilization. The story takes place in 2032, somewhere in Scandinavia. The narrator and main character in the story is Edvin. Born in a bomb shelter, and quite ignorant of the workings of the old world, the harelipped Edvin is a survivor. At the start of the novel, Edvin, is a 1st mate aboard a pirate ship. He is used by the captain and crew as a sexual object, and abused considerably. He is sent on a reconnaissance mission to a island for supplies, where he is then abandoned.On the island Edvin meets Henry. Henry, who is dying of some sort of kidney discease (possibly brought on by a urinary tract infection) enslaves Edvin and uses him somewhat like a nurse. The relationship is recipcated not with sexual favors, as the abused Edvin expects to be treated, but instead taught religion by Henry. Edvin eventually meets a friend of Henry's called Petsamo. Petsamo is a traveling doctor, of an ex-army medic with self study in the medical arts. He is basically the closest you can get to a doctor in a world without any form of medicine or medical supplies. Petsamo is a cynic, who treats people the best way he can, which is mainly easing their suffering to the point of euthanasia. Petsamo sets the tone for the story and its eventual outcome, as the world after this all out nuclear war is a harsh place where hope is almost non-existant, and the surviving people make no effort to rebuild the world that once was.As a reader of post-appocalyptic fiction, I found this story very moving and cold. Out of all the appocalyptic stories I've read, this story almost seems like a possible outcome of the unthinkable distruction that we as humankind could rain down upon ourselves. The characters appear very old in the story, even Edvin, who is roughly 33 years of age in the story, appears to other almost as a old man. The characters and situations are graphically horrible and ugly. This is not light reading for the reader, like other post-appocalyptic stories ala "Deathlands".The actual meaning of the "Flood" is never really explored in this book. It could be surmised that a number of missles detonated near a fjord and caused a tidal wave that flooded the island, or that all the fallout caused a global warming the melted the icecaps and raised the sea level. It is never really known for sure. After the Flood is translated from PC Jersild's original text. The book is regretfully out of print, but can be easily found in the public librar (that's how I got my copy). I recommed this story greatly for those who like to read appocalyptic fiction.