Post-Apocalyptic Books You Haven't Read

I promise!!!!

It’s common knowledge at this point that we live in a hellscape, and the world is burning. From what I’ve seen, a good chunk of recently published literature reflects our collective anxieties around climate change, pandemics, and a post-apocalyptic world. Very chill, very fun. 

While climate change content to almost any degree will have me on a day-ruining spiral, dystopian content, on the other hand… that’s that sh*t I do like!!! Something about it seems less… imminent? (lol) or maybe just the fact that I will undoubtedly be one of the first to go in any dystopian/post-apocalyptic situation affords me a bit of indulgent imagination on the topic. That is to say, I love me a dystopian book. 

So if you’re like me, sick, deranged, mentally ill, and gluttonous for books about the fall of the world as we know it, but also that make you consider your current world through a new lens, I got you. If you’re like, “bitch, I’ve already read The Road,” first of all, thank god, and second, I still got you. These are the lesser-known backlist bangers of the apocalypse/dystopian genre. Let’s get into it.

1. The Doloriad by Missouri Williams. Coming out swinging with this one. The Doloriad is not for the weak of stomach or sensibilities. What I love about this book is that it imagines an apocalyptic scenario in a new way and is disparate from the apocalyptic narratives we’re typically fed (i.e., dark but hopeful). Williams’ new world is a bleak one.

The Doloriad (loosely translated from Latin to ‘Journey of Pain’) is about an incestuous family unit that has survived a world-ending natural disaster. They are, to their knowledge, the last people on earth. The children (and there are many) grow up entirely devoid of any societal norms or positive influences, and many of them suffer severe physical deformities due to inbreeding. They are ruled over by “the matriarch,” their mother, who surveils them from a watchtower, eyes forever hidden behind wraparound black sunglasses, looking down on them from her motorized wheelchair (a necessity or a luxury? it remains unclear). Violence and apathy go hand in hand in here.

This book is deeply disturbing and dark; Williams brings the ugliest parts of human nature to the forefront and demands the reader look openly at them. It’s funny sometimes, and the writing is beautiful, languid, cruel, and upsetting. The characters are hard to like. There are no winners. I was horrified throughout the book; I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads. It’s one of those. Read at your own risk, but regardless of the taste it leaves in your mouth, I promise you’ll never forget it. 

2. The Wall by Marlen Haushofer. It is the tale of a middle-aged woman visiting friends at a hunting cabin in the Austrian mountains and wakes to find herself separated from the rest of the world by a huge transparent wall. Beyond the wall, it seems everything is dead. She is alive and has to learn to survive alone and through the mountain seasons. She finds solace in the company of her animals, and the book is essentially her journal of her time living within (or behind) the wall. It’s beautiful, it’s meditative, it’s painful. There are times, even, when it’s dull, as I imagine it would be to endure that kind of loneliness and the repetitive tasks necessary for survival.

One of my favorite things about this book is how the character changes during her years alone and how she reflects on these changes, particularly the loss of her previous life and everyone/everything in it. It is a brilliant, lovely, and deeply feminist book; it will make you think about the type of person you want to be and the type of life you want to lead. 

3. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. My throat is closing up and my chest is tightening just thinking about this one; I love it so much. This book is narrated by an unnamed woman, the youngest in a group of women who live underground in a cage. The cage is guarded around the clock by armed men. The women don’t know why they are there or what for. They do not remember how they got there, although our narrator is the only one who does not remember their life before captivity. There is a moment when freedom becomes possible for these women, but what it offers is not what they anticipated.

What makes this book so stunning is the narrator’s perspective, which is at once alien and deeply relatable. She grows to find meaning in a seemingly meaningless existence and comes to know herself in a world without society. This book asks, “How do we know ourselves when there is nothing else to measure our existence against?” It is an introspective and devastating reading experience. Harpman’s writing is sharp, gorgeous, and will break your fucking heart. I think about this book often. 

4. The Land of Milk and Honey by C. Pam Zhang. OK, you might have read this one; it’s certainly the buzziest of the pack here, but it’s very much worth it. In C. Pam Zhang’s dystopia, smog has descended upon the earth, resulting in a gray, sunless world where flora and fauna have withered and died. Humans subsist on bland, grainy, government-provided protein flour, slowly replacing almost all food.

A young chef risks it all (read: pads her resume) to apply for an elite job on a mountaintop as the chef in a billionaire’s compound, where he is building a pay-to-play new world for the wealthiest of the wealthy. As she navigates this brave new world, her resilience and sense of self are tested repeatedly. She’ll have to decide what her place among this crowd is worth to her and who within it she can trust.

It’s a scathing commentary on capitalism, class, and the lengths the wealthy will go to remain at the top of the food chain. But beyond that, it is just fucking beautifully written. Zhang writes in expert, stunning prose to evoke your senses and conjure vivid imagery of cuisine you can only hope to taste.

Read any of these? Would love to know your thoughts. Got others I’ve missed? Shoot me a message, or pop in a comment. I am always looking for recs that break from the beaten path.

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Books of the moment:

Just finished: Notes on Heartbreak By Annie Lord; 3/5 stars

Currently reading: The Quick and the Dead by Joy Williams. Have just started this. I’m excited to dig in; it came recommended by Tess Gunty– she said this book was the inspiration for The Rabbit Hutch, one of my favorite books last year.

Email me recs at emilygatesjohnson@gmail.com

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