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The Last Town on Earth (2006)

by Thomas Mullen

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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1,2775814,914 (3.62)121
Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:A town under quarantine during the 1918 flu epidemic must reckon with forces beyond their control in a powerful, sweeping novel of morality in a time of upheaval
 
â??An American variation on Albert Camusâ?? The Plague.â?ťâ??Chicago Tribune
 
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY USA TODAY AND CHICAGO TRIBUNE â?˘ WINNER OF THE JAMES FENIMORE COOPER PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION

Deep in the mist-shrouded forests of the Pacific Northwest is a small mill town called Commonwealth, conceived as a haven for workers weary of exploitation. For Philip Worthy, the adopted son of the townâ??s founder, it is a haven in another senseâ??as the first place in his life heâ??s had a loving family to call his own.

And yet, the ideals that define this outpost are being threatened from all sides. A world war is raging, and with the fear of spies rampant, the loyalty of all Americans is coming under scrutiny. Meanwhile, another shadow has fallen across the region in the form of a deadly virus striking down vast swaths of surrounding communities.

When Commonwealth votes to quarantine itself against contagion, guards are posted at the single road leading in and out of town, and Philip Worthy is among them. He will be unlucky enough to be on duty when a cold, hungry, tiredâ??and apparently illâ??soldier presents himself at the townâ??s doorstep begging for sanctuary. The encounter that ensues, and the shots that are fired, will have deafening reverberations throughout Commonwealth, escalating until every human valueâ??love, patriotism, community, family, friendshipâ??not to mention the townâ??s very survival, is imperiled.

Inspired by a little-known historical footnote regarding towns that quarantined themselves during the 1918 epidemic, The Last Town on Earth is a
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English (57)  German (1)  All languages (58)
Showing 1-5 of 57 (next | show all)
Having never read a book in this style or genre before, I hesitatingly picked it up as the second selection for our bookclub. I was pleasently suprised.

Expecting more of the grusome details behind the Spanish Flu, that figures heavily in the good, I was relieved to find that, although enough was mentioned to give you a real sense of the terrifying nature of the illness, the horrific details were left out.

The book is well written, and easy to read. The short chapters encourage you to read more and at a faster pace, and indeed once the story really gets going, it is hard to put down. Characters are portrayed realistically and great depth and development.

The Last Town on Earth explores the darker side to human nature that may come to rise in very stressful situations, without becoming moralistic. A great read if looking for something a little bit different, and learning more about a topic that has had a huge impact in history but been largely forgotten.

3.5-4 out of 5 ( )
  calenmarwen | May 29, 2023 |
Mullen planned this originally as non-fiction about the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918 but there was so little information available that he decided to create a fictional work instead. Published in 2006, well before Covid became an everyday word, the rumours and misinformation were just as prevalent in 1918 as they were a century later although in our most recent pandemic they have been amplified by social media.

Mullen uses events of the time in his story, which takes place in the fictional town of Coronation, Washington that isolated itself as protection against the virulent flu. Labour unions and conscientious objectors are added to the mix of patriotism, fear and superstition. Keeping the townspeople quarantined meant they were also prevented from buying anything when supplies began to run low, which led to rampant theft. This slow story deals more with contemporaneous issues that almost overtake the account of Spanish Flu. But the paucity of information about the epidemic makes this unsurprising. Slow in parts but worth reading. ( )
  VivienneR | Feb 23, 2023 |
Gerade im Rahmen der derzeitigen Geschehnisse war es schon seltsam, dieses Buch zu lesen. Es gibt schon sehr viel Vertrautes, auch wenn die Welt heute eine ganz andere ist. Menschen bleiben Menschen, mit all ihren Schwächen und Fehlern, aber auch Stärken.

Aber auch die Teile des Buches, die nicht direkt mit der Spanischen Grippe zu tun hatten, fand ich hochinteressant. Die Situation der Arbeiter, der Kampf der relativ jungen Gewerkschaften um bessere Arbeitsbedingungen, die Stimmung im Hinblick auf den Kriegseintritt und der Umgang mit Kriegsdienstverweigerern oder Männern, die sich nicht in den Rekrutierungsbüros gemeldet haben, haben für mich interessante Aspekte der Gesellschaft der USA zu der Zeit beleuchtet.

FĂĽr einen DebĂĽtroman finde ich dieses Buch extrem gut gelungen. ( )
  Ellemir | May 25, 2022 |
For a book published in 2006, this is surprisingly prescient about life under the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Centered on a logging town in the Pacific Northwest during the 1918 Influenza pandemic, it's a nice fictional summary of what it would have been like in the days before PCR testing, antibiotics, and worldwide social media. ( )
  richardSprague | Mar 26, 2022 |
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Was very appropriate considering what's going on the past couple years.
( )
  Rockhead515 | Jan 11, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 57 (next | show all)
Mullen’s debut novel is as upright, square-jawed and serious as the people he writes about and, alas, as wooden. He has a good story to tell, weaving together the flu epidemic, America’s entry into the First World War and its pioneering history of labour organisation. He has done his research thoroughly and developed his characters carefully. What he has failed to do is successfully embed his work in the fiction.
 
Under siege, the virtuous city — a symbol of freedom and safety — instantly becomes a prison. Step by step, the citizens divide into the guards and the guarded. Outward physical health comes to seem more and more like a sign of inward moral corruption.
 
A progressive community buckles under a double whammy: the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic and the hatreds stirred by American participation in WWI.... Mullen’s debut gets mileage out of the gruesome epidemic and contains some interesting historical nuggets, but it fails to mesh its grim subject matter with convincing individual narratives.
added by Lemeritus | editKirkus Reviews (Jun 15, 2006)
 
...what Mullen supplies in terms of historical context, he lacks in storytelling; though the novel is set in 1918, it was written in a post 9/11 world where fear of bird flu regularly makes headlines, and the allegory is heavy-handed (the protagonist townie, after all, is named Philip Worthy). The grim fascination of the narrative, however, will keep readers turning the pages.
added by Lemeritus | editPublishers Weekly (May 22, 2006)
 

» Add other authors (1 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Thomas Mullenprimary authorall editionscalculated
Strozier, HenryNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Epigraph
Perhaps the easiest way of making a town's acquaintance is to ascertain how the people in it work, how they love, and how they die. - ALBERT CAMUS, The Plague

An injury to one is an injury to all. - Industrial Workers of the World slogan
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For Jenny
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The sun poked out briefly, evidence of a universe above them, of watchful things - planets and stars and vast galaxies of infinite knowledge - and just as suddenly it retreated behind the clouds. The doctor passed only two other autos during the fifteen-minute drive, saw but a lone pedestrian even though it was noon on Sunday, a time when people normally would be returning home from church, visiting with friends and family. The flu had been in Timber Falls for three weeks now, by the doctor's best estimation, and nearly all traffic on the streets had vanished. The sick were condemned to their homes, and the healthy weren't venturing outside.
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Wikipedia in English (1)

Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:A town under quarantine during the 1918 flu epidemic must reckon with forces beyond their control in a powerful, sweeping novel of morality in a time of upheaval
 
â??An American variation on Albert Camusâ?? The Plague.â?ťâ??Chicago Tribune
 
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY USA TODAY AND CHICAGO TRIBUNE â?˘ WINNER OF THE JAMES FENIMORE COOPER PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION

Deep in the mist-shrouded forests of the Pacific Northwest is a small mill town called Commonwealth, conceived as a haven for workers weary of exploitation. For Philip Worthy, the adopted son of the townâ??s founder, it is a haven in another senseâ??as the first place in his life heâ??s had a loving family to call his own.

And yet, the ideals that define this outpost are being threatened from all sides. A world war is raging, and with the fear of spies rampant, the loyalty of all Americans is coming under scrutiny. Meanwhile, another shadow has fallen across the region in the form of a deadly virus striking down vast swaths of surrounding communities.

When Commonwealth votes to quarantine itself against contagion, guards are posted at the single road leading in and out of town, and Philip Worthy is among them. He will be unlucky enough to be on duty when a cold, hungry, tiredâ??and apparently illâ??soldier presents himself at the townâ??s doorstep begging for sanctuary. The encounter that ensues, and the shots that are fired, will have deafening reverberations throughout Commonwealth, escalating until every human valueâ??love, patriotism, community, family, friendshipâ??not to mention the townâ??s very survival, is imperiled.

Inspired by a little-known historical footnote regarding towns that quarantined themselves during the 1918 epidemic, The Last Town on Earth is a

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During World War I, the influenza pandemic ultimately killed more people around the world than the war itself. The Last Town on Earth takes as its launching point a striking historical footnote: some uninfected towns were so terrified of the surrounding flu that they closed their entrances, posted signs warning strangers not to enter, and even stationed armed guards to make sure no outsiders brought infection into their communities. Mullen incisively imagines this situation, employing it as the basis for the moral drama spurring his story forward. One night, an infected soldier approaches the newly founded town of Commonwealth, which was created as a refuge for its mill worker residents, begging for food and shelter. Should the guards on duty admit a stranger to their town (someone who has been fighting a war on their behalf), thereby putting their families and loved ones at risk of infection? Or should they place their lives above his and leave him to freeze to death in the dark woods?
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