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The descent
First edition bound in yellow cloth & boards. Author's first book. VG in Good DJ. Book has moderate shelf wear, a few dust spots. DJ is rubbed & frayed.
- GenresFiction
181 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
28 people want to read
About the author
Gina Berriault
30 books45 followersBerriault was born in Long Beach, California, to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents. Her father was a freelance writer and Berriault took her inspiration from him, using his stand-up typewriter to write her first stories while still in grammar school.
Berriault had a prolific writing career, which included stories, novels and screenplays. Her writing tended to focus on life in and around San Francisco. She published four novels and three collections of short stories, including Women in Their Beds: New & Selected Stories (1996), which won the PEN/Faulkner Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Bay Area Book Reviewers Award. In 1997 Berriault was chosen as winner of the Rea Award for the Short Story, for outstanding achievement in that genre.
Berriault taught writing at the Iowa Writers Workshop and San Francisco State University. She also received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Ingram-Merrill Fellowship, a Commonwealth Gold Medal for Literature, the Pushcart Prize and several O'Henry prizes.
She adapted her short story "The Stone Boy" for a film of the same title, released in 1984.[2] The same story had previously been adapted by another writer for a 1960 television presentation.[
Berriault had a prolific writing career, which included stories, novels and screenplays. Her writing tended to focus on life in and around San Francisco. She published four novels and three collections of short stories, including Women in Their Beds: New & Selected Stories (1996), which won the PEN/Faulkner Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Bay Area Book Reviewers Award. In 1997 Berriault was chosen as winner of the Rea Award for the Short Story, for outstanding achievement in that genre.
Berriault taught writing at the Iowa Writers Workshop and San Francisco State University. She also received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Ingram-Merrill Fellowship, a Commonwealth Gold Medal for Literature, the Pushcart Prize and several O'Henry prizes.
She adapted her short story "The Stone Boy" for a film of the same title, released in 1984.[2] The same story had previously been adapted by another writer for a 1960 television presentation.[
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 15, 2020
So there's a meme going around in these days of the Covid-19 pandemic that says something like "I miss the good old days when we were all going to die of climate change." When I first saw it I immediately thought, "What about the better older days when we were all gonna die in the coming great nuclear war?" So, imagine my surprise when I pick up this novel by my old short story teacher in college, of the four she wrote the only one I'd yet to read, and discover that unlike her other novels--which are mostly personal, family tales--she began her novel-writing career with a super smart political satire about the Cold War and the threat that hung over us all for so many years of all-out nuclear war between the USA and the Soviet Union primarily.
While I have to admit it took me a while to warm to this, mainly, I think, because of the anachronism of it--even though it's only been 60 years since it was published--by the end I was just super impressed with its sagacity and beauty. And, yes, its satire still bites. Not because we still have something of a nuclear stockpile and there are still frighteningly ignorant and belligerent nation-states in the world with nuclear weapons, and others straining to get them and join the absurd potential destroyers of humanity club, but because human political folly and our weird capacity not only to put up with the wasting of so many precious resources on such absurdities still exists, but most perspicaciously, because humankind is still capable of reveling in such potential idiocies. The world in which people can not only ignore their own and all of humanity's imminent demise is obviously still with us. And worse: many even use the threat of extinction as a way to bond with others and to embrace the threat as some sort of self-righteous political act, or as a marketing opportunity, or even as a way of making their own and other peoples' misery seem unimportant because of the collective orgy they turn Armageddon into. Although Christianity is never mentioned in the novel, I think the collective delusion of the Apocalypse has never been more presciently described. What the hell, people?
While I have to admit it took me a while to warm to this, mainly, I think, because of the anachronism of it--even though it's only been 60 years since it was published--by the end I was just super impressed with its sagacity and beauty. And, yes, its satire still bites. Not because we still have something of a nuclear stockpile and there are still frighteningly ignorant and belligerent nation-states in the world with nuclear weapons, and others straining to get them and join the absurd potential destroyers of humanity club, but because human political folly and our weird capacity not only to put up with the wasting of so many precious resources on such absurdities still exists, but most perspicaciously, because humankind is still capable of reveling in such potential idiocies. The world in which people can not only ignore their own and all of humanity's imminent demise is obviously still with us. And worse: many even use the threat of extinction as a way to bond with others and to embrace the threat as some sort of self-righteous political act, or as a marketing opportunity, or even as a way of making their own and other peoples' misery seem unimportant because of the collective orgy they turn Armageddon into. Although Christianity is never mentioned in the novel, I think the collective delusion of the Apocalypse has never been more presciently described. What the hell, people?
November 17, 2013
The Descent of a population into bomb shelters — and the Descent of a man with hope for something better for the world — Gina Berriault is one of those dynamic writers who blows me away — the image “Against the Common Good” by Goya (plate #71 from the “Disasters of War” series) on the cover in itself is a good choice to convey that some things never change.
“…your aim as Secretary for Humanity is to lift from the heart of humanity the fear of the bomb, then I do not wish for your success…” page 67
You’d think that a cabinet position of Secretary of Humanity would be put in place to lead an edgy nation toward negotiations for peace and disarmament, but no, it was not that at all — a simple man, a well-loved history professor, the most innocuous and trustworthy sort of man is selected (from many candidates) for this position, and he has expectations that do not match the administration’s plan for him — he is to embrace the bomb (all of them) and praise the building of bomb shelters — he is to give humanity the ‘have no fear’ thumbs up that this is the way to go — be prepared to go underground when the bombs start to fall. As the entire country celebrates and looks forward to their descent into bomb shelters, this one man ascends to a position of power only to find he has none, he was heralded upon arrival, but then systematically muzzled, his aspirations for world peace demonized, his descent perpetuated by those who put him there is unjust—typical Washington politics — the Armageddon of one man’s life because his beliefs did not sync with the agenda. At times I thought it was comical, this is a satire after all (thank goodness, right?) yet at times, not so much; only because what I’ve seen in my lifetime, especially the last 25 years or so, it just ain’t funny anymore. As a satire it is a powerful little book — terrifying — even today, our aging missiles are stockpiled and we have new worries beyond what Gina Berriault in the 1960’s imagined — yet she envisioned how everything can go awry because of the misuse of power and the blind faith of the followers bombarded by the “because we say so” propaganda. I grew up with the Cold War, born with the events of the Cuban Missiles and the Berlin Wall — I came of age with Vietnam winding down; an American President disgraced and then later pardoned; Iran rising up along with Afghanistan v. the Soviet Union — and then one pristine September morning many years later, I watched along with the world as the Twin Towers collapsed, and ever since then I’ve witnessed the division of our country — right and left, red and blue — I fall in between the cracks, into the white that doesn’t really fit in — a national narrative that is becoming marginalized by the latest focus that never seems quite focused, everything is too herky-jerky ADHD, the truth blurred by differing opinions and juvenile finger pointing rather than actual facts. The world has become such an ugly place — yet what there is left of beauty is still beautiful, but ‘We the People’ have to sweep away the detritus of petty bickering over ideology to find it before we lose it all. This book made me want to hug my loved ones closer — in my honest opinion, it’s a “good one”...
“… ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’ I am of the opinion that this belief has become deeply rooted in your nation’s consciousness, and that, I think, is extremely unfortunate. You believe that to be afraid of anything is to be cowardly, even if the anything is the incineration of your entire population in a nuclear war. The trouble is that you do not fear the nuclear war, you fear the fear of it. Therefore, if Mr. Elkins is to lift the fear from your hearts, I do not wish him success.” Page 67
“…your aim as Secretary for Humanity is to lift from the heart of humanity the fear of the bomb, then I do not wish for your success…” page 67
You’d think that a cabinet position of Secretary of Humanity would be put in place to lead an edgy nation toward negotiations for peace and disarmament, but no, it was not that at all — a simple man, a well-loved history professor, the most innocuous and trustworthy sort of man is selected (from many candidates) for this position, and he has expectations that do not match the administration’s plan for him — he is to embrace the bomb (all of them) and praise the building of bomb shelters — he is to give humanity the ‘have no fear’ thumbs up that this is the way to go — be prepared to go underground when the bombs start to fall. As the entire country celebrates and looks forward to their descent into bomb shelters, this one man ascends to a position of power only to find he has none, he was heralded upon arrival, but then systematically muzzled, his aspirations for world peace demonized, his descent perpetuated by those who put him there is unjust—typical Washington politics — the Armageddon of one man’s life because his beliefs did not sync with the agenda. At times I thought it was comical, this is a satire after all (thank goodness, right?) yet at times, not so much; only because what I’ve seen in my lifetime, especially the last 25 years or so, it just ain’t funny anymore. As a satire it is a powerful little book — terrifying — even today, our aging missiles are stockpiled and we have new worries beyond what Gina Berriault in the 1960’s imagined — yet she envisioned how everything can go awry because of the misuse of power and the blind faith of the followers bombarded by the “because we say so” propaganda. I grew up with the Cold War, born with the events of the Cuban Missiles and the Berlin Wall — I came of age with Vietnam winding down; an American President disgraced and then later pardoned; Iran rising up along with Afghanistan v. the Soviet Union — and then one pristine September morning many years later, I watched along with the world as the Twin Towers collapsed, and ever since then I’ve witnessed the division of our country — right and left, red and blue — I fall in between the cracks, into the white that doesn’t really fit in — a national narrative that is becoming marginalized by the latest focus that never seems quite focused, everything is too herky-jerky ADHD, the truth blurred by differing opinions and juvenile finger pointing rather than actual facts. The world has become such an ugly place — yet what there is left of beauty is still beautiful, but ‘We the People’ have to sweep away the detritus of petty bickering over ideology to find it before we lose it all. This book made me want to hug my loved ones closer — in my honest opinion, it’s a “good one”...
“… ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’ I am of the opinion that this belief has become deeply rooted in your nation’s consciousness, and that, I think, is extremely unfortunate. You believe that to be afraid of anything is to be cowardly, even if the anything is the incineration of your entire population in a nuclear war. The trouble is that you do not fear the nuclear war, you fear the fear of it. Therefore, if Mr. Elkins is to lift the fear from your hearts, I do not wish him success.” Page 67
May 16, 2021
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
"The year is 1964. The Cold War rages. In a world terrified by massive retaliation, the American populace finds solace in dreams of the descent into the fallout shelter and nebulous concepts of rebirth. Written just before JFK’s push (1961) for personal family fallout shelters, Berriault envisages vast communal warrens. The president appoints Arnold T. Elkins, a history professor at DeVelbiss [...]"
"The year is 1964. The Cold War rages. In a world terrified by massive retaliation, the American populace finds solace in dreams of the descent into the fallout shelter and nebulous concepts of rebirth. Written just before JFK’s push (1961) for personal family fallout shelters, Berriault envisages vast communal warrens. The president appoints Arnold T. Elkins, a history professor at DeVelbiss [...]"
August 17, 2011
Gina Berriault had been recommended to me, but I turned up my nose at her more well known short fiction because of my penchant for novels. And then found this great edition of "The Descent" (a novel!) with a stitched binding and demon cover, and bought it, obviously.
It's short, but every sentence has to be read about three times, for no good reason. The plot centers around a good man, dragged down by the rhetoric and bureaucracy of the cold war. It reads like a parable, and I would recommend it only to tenth grade social studies classes to learn about the weapons race.
That said, I liked the tone enough to venture to Berriault's short fiction, sometime.
It's short, but every sentence has to be read about three times, for no good reason. The plot centers around a good man, dragged down by the rhetoric and bureaucracy of the cold war. It reads like a parable, and I would recommend it only to tenth grade social studies classes to learn about the weapons race.
That said, I liked the tone enough to venture to Berriault's short fiction, sometime.
January 7, 2016
Topical political satire about a US locked in a nuclear arms race with the rest of the world. The newly appointed Secretary for Humanity finds himself the target of nefarious political machinations when he begins to seriously consider a plan for unilateral disarmament. Unfortunately doesn't seem too far off from the current state of affairs.
March 23, 2010
Scary. Sometimes a bit too didactic, but really really scary nonetheless.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews