Nuclear War Something List

[packbat]

Belated reply to alchemi's prompt: revisiting my Nuclear War Reading List.

Really, 'Nuclear War Reading List' is the wrong name. Especially as I expand it out to not-books.

Anyway, the list, expanded:

Books

• Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank (Harry Hart) - a remarkably clever story of events in a small Florida town after a nuclear war.
  
• Failsafe by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler - a good story, exploring the possibility of an accidental nuclear attack.
  
• Warday by James Kunetka and Whitley Strieber - another story about the aftermath of a nuclear war. Not so realistic as "Alas, Babylon", as it suffers from an excess of sci-fi zeal, but a worthy book on its own merits.
  
• The Curve of Binding Energy by John McPhee – a good nonfiction book about nuclear issues, including judgments of how difficult it would be to build weapons.

From the comments:

• kirabug: A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. - a classic postapocalyptic science fiction story.
  Not included: Farnham's Freehold - these are stories about, not stories including, nuclear weapons; Earthwreck! by Thomas N. Scortia - I haven't read it yet.
  
  Movies
  (Excluding adaptations of the above books.)
  
  • The Sum of All Fears - modern, but still dealing with the same stuff.
    
  • Dr. Strangelove - duh.
  
  
  Songs
  
  • "99 Luftballoons", Nena - in the lyrics, a nuclear war is launched when the 99 red balloons are released and mistaken for an attack.
  
  From the comments:
  
  • baldanders: "8 1/2 Minutes", The Dismemberment Plan - 8 1/2 minutes is implied as being the length of the 'war'.
  
  
  I'm obviously missing tons of these - any opinions?

Comments

[kirabug.livejournal.com]

I'm partial to A Canticle for Leibowitz (http://www.amazon.com/Canticle-Leibowitz-Bantam-Spectra-Book/dp/0553379267/ref=pd_ys_iyr275/103-0641854-2003040) myself.

[packbat.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, I just didn't get that one. I should reread it.

[baldanders.livejournal.com]

"8 1/2 Minutes" by the Dismemberment Plan:

Oh, launched all the world’s nukes this morning
Hoping it would kick-start something
Some of them went off course and hit the moon instead
It was kinda pretty.
Hasn’t been a whole lot of looting
On the other hand, oh, it’s fucking freezing
Someone on TV said something about going underground…
Guess we better start digging.
What were you doing for those eight and a half minutes?
Was it mean, was it petty, or did you realize you were sorry
And that you love them?
I saw an astronomer break down on CNN
He said, “I’m a scientist, not your fucking clergyman!”
And no one’s going nowhere ‘cause the cars are all frozen
They give the power plants ten days
What were you doing for those eight and a half minutes?
Was it mean, was it petty, or did you realize you were sorry
And that you love them?
But the sky is like a dome of black metal flake
And stars bleed together in phosphorescent lakes
And a dead black disk slides silently overhead
It’s fucking beautiful is what it is.
What were you doing for those eight and a half minutes?
Was it mean, was it petty, or did you realize you were sorry
And that you love them?
When I die I’m going to heaven
Leave it to the cockroaches and the 7-11s
But it’d be nice to think we could get it right down here just once

[packbat.livejournal.com]

That definitely would qualify. :)

[packbat.livejournal.com]

Hmm, interesting track (http://www.dismembermentplan.com/).