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Peter Routis

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When the Earth Died

by Peter Routis

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read in November 2024

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Peter Routis said: " Book Review “When the Earth Died”
“On top of the blazing soil, in some places thrown on top of each other, in other places solitary, the scorched houses, brewed of bricks, mortar, and wood,” is the impression one gets looking at the devastated Earth f Book Review “When the Earth Died”
“On top of the blazing soil, in some places thrown on top of each other, in other places solitary, the scorched houses, brewed of bricks, mortar, and wood,” is the impression one gets looking at the devastated Earth from the top of the mountain. But when Orson woke from an agonizing sleep that morning and leaped over the threshold and saw for the first time the devastation, his heart sank. “When it came back up, like Autumn, from the soil of that town, the devastation, and he saw for the first time that unforeseen spectacle, the scorched houses, the blackened stone staircases and the brick fireplaces, the full of debris yards, the threshold of the stables, untold and unthinkable, grief and sorrow filled Orson’s heart for this charming town which went adrift and vanished, under the dark ashes.”
This fictional novel “When the Earth Died” is a post-apocalyptic story, revealing a dystopian world (circa 2049) caused by climate change, where the world is ravaged by fires, environmental collapse, societal breakdown and diseases which have drastically altered life on Earth; Orson’s heart is also ravaged. It’s a narrative that follows the life of Orson and Niles. Orson found Niles, when Niles was five or six years old dirty and hungry, looking for something to eat in a pile of rubbish after his house was burnt. The story delves into themes of survival, loss, hopelessness, the eschatological human condition and the existence (or the absence) of God. The people are famished as the result of the devastation which has engulfed the Earth, and angry with society which allowed this to take place for decades: “I’m hungry,’ she said, ‘and you’re talking to me about nakedness… Shame to the rich.’ He could not regard so much astonishment. Next to her, with cheeks sunk from hunger, with eyes full of tears, small children were mining the garbage, to find something to eat. Their bellies were green and swollen, and their bones were wrapped in yellow skin. Some were using crutches because their legs were too weak to support them, and others had grown beards on their childish and anaemic faces.” To Orson’s astonishment, people’s faces assumed the “…unsightly and aggressive face of the earth, and they became one with her and abandoned their God because they said that God did not exist and Mother Nature was dying.” Perhaps Orson is not aware or at least conscious of the fact that the current situation has affected so many people. “He didn’t know or perhaps Orson was not aware at least that there was so much pain in the world, so much hunger, so much injustice.” His soul is crying seeing mothers with small children in their arms, men with unaccomplished and unfulfilled looks on their faces, ashamed for not being able to provide for their families. “He had never encountered and had never been drawn so close to the repulsive and appalling face of privation and destitution.” But later when Orson witnessed first-hand the obliteration of human life he realized that “… no one had understood so impeccably and implicitly the secret, and with such confidence and assurance, the value and worth of Mother Nature, as those who were affected and afflicted deeply by her wrath and might.” He now realizes the magnitude of this catastrophe and the degree to which his life and that of the pilgrims he has observed every day climbing the mountain, are so deeply affected. He watches the desolate and misfortune pilgrims dragging their carcasses up the mountain, silently, regarding their calamity taking over them. That adversity is indeed a human condition that should never have happened. It seemed as if humanity was on trial for what they had accomplished, being proficient in their destruction of nature. “Consummating their efforts, which nature could not repel, people were able to bring this planet to its knees… the eschatological human condition, as nature was lying on her deathbed, was capable of extracting out of the combated people’s hearts other significant and expressive qualities, which were seen only under pressure and under the loss of self-respect and dignity.”
But nature is indeed the victim of pretentious reflections; notions which make them believe that perhaps bringing nature to their minds occasionally, or even pondering the idea that nature is a useful and honourable thing, it may not have been far from the mark to say that most people treated our planet as an occasionally useful thing. “They wanted the idea of preserving our environment in their life, but they wanted it in the background, not front and centre, where it would get in the way of the normal and central pursuits of daily life: wealth and carnal pleasure... like a formal dress, in cocktail parties, the idea of preserving the earth or even the idea of the alleged existence of God was exhumed from the closet for special occasions, then consigned again back to the garment bag until needed. God does not exist!”
“When the Earth Died” explores themes of environmental destruction. The kind of destruction which distresses them: “They were looking with discomfort and empathy at the devastated town, as if it were their soul dying on the ground, on the stone staircases, on the broken pavement, on the burnt down and scorched trees.” Human liability was absent for decades until Orson reflected and understood utterly where his responsibilities lay: “Then the enragement came, and above all the obligation and duty came. He felt responsible. ‘My ego is to blame,’ he thought, trying to rationalize it within him, ‘My ego is to blame for all the hunger in the world; for all the injustice; I have the responsibility.’ Intellectualizing perhaps his inaction and everyone else’s during the past years and decades.” He saw it coming. The destruction of the human and animal species is emerging in front of him. That obscure existence that intangible and elusive existence that had been carried over for millions of years, was coming to an abrupt end, “… like the dewdrops of the night; like the apparition which fated away with the first sunbeams at the crack of dawn.”
Orson, Niles, Ciara and her son Kolten, struggle to survive this harsh new reality. But they have shelter, a vegetable garden and they trap animals. They faithfully accepted this crude reality of their daily life, struggling to survive this unorthodox state of affairs. “The times, the age they lived in, or even more horrific, the times that awaited their children, would be even more arduous and dreadful. But the difficulties, that stood in front of their lives, the impediments, were the great eruption.” Their life however is not without danger. Not only was their survival threatened by natural forces, but their safety was endangered and their vulnerability was hanging in the balance. A virus is engulfing towns and cities, a vicious war is going on, and the totalitarian regime needs soldiers. Government soldiers are rounding up young people for war. “Sometimes a government truck would go around with water and food, mostly stale bread and canned fish or meat. But now that the rumours were out that the government was rounding up young men and women to enlist them for the war, people were hesitant even to approach those trucks; and so, left in their own providence, they were scavenging whatever they could find to survive.”
Niles’ search for his mother and sister, (now in his early twenties) takes a different turn when he learns that his mother has died in the fire. In the eulogy he gives to his dead mother over her corpse, buried underneath the rubble of her house, he promises her to find his sister Aberdeen. That is his obligation. “I have no words to utter dear mother; my heart is filled with sorrow and my soul is wandering to get a glimpse of yours. You left us very early, Mother. The time was very short to allow me to get to know you and truly love you. Your angelic face will no longer glow under the brilliance of the sun. Your kind heart will no longer welcome the destitute and will no longer speak to my heart with kind and adoring words. You left me alone. Did you take my sister with you or did your altruistic heart leave her behind? I have to find her; I promise you, Mother, I’ll find Aberdeen.” He believes that his mother’s soul journeys the universe and he feels a responsibility to her to find his sister. The soul never dies. “The apocalyptic notion that our soul dies along with the flesh, this destructive and catastrophic perception, would bring doubts to people’s minds about the worthiness of their existence.” Niles is driven by the hope of finding his sister, Aberdeen, who was separated from him during a catastrophic fire that destroyed their town and family.
The narrative explores themes of grief, survival, astonishment, the impact of human actions on nature, and the quest for meaning and connection in a devastated world. “Niles was submerged in an agonizing ecstasy, failing to recognize, perhaps, the reality of the situation. His pain had no end and the anguish and aches of the world were incurable and lethal, not because of his ascetic and noble pride, but because he welcomed and accepted with contentment the sacrifice as a martyr. ‘God is dead’, he alleged, as he approached the lips of the abyss.” Amid this destruction, Orson hopes. He hopes for something unattainable, a reverie. Something that perhaps will come down from the middle of the sky. “… only the black sun remained, alone, darker than the dark night, deaf and unresponsive, blind, frozen still. ‘It must be god, who knows,’ he thought in his mind, ‘it must be god.’ He tried to lift his hand to welcome him, but he couldn’t.” Did he doubt the existence of God? Was he disconnected from his God? A detachment, which was brewed out of this destruction, he now witnessed around him. “But now, standing there fateful and devastated, they wrote in red letters on top of the burning rocks and thirsty earth, ‘God does not exist here,’ and they bowed their heads to the river to show their gratitude for their survival all these past centuries.” But Orson often reflected on his past. He reflected on his past and strived to find meaning and stability in their disrupted lives as they navigated through the ruins of their world, dealing with personal loss, survival, the search for loved ones and the bonds of family. “The brilliant sunshine, the astonishing mountains and the meadows, the old river, his family, and later on the death of his mother and the destruction of nature, cast sadness over his soul.”
But amid all that destruction and devastation, the corpses which litter the ground, the scorched towns, houses and trees, the sandstorms and dead rivers Orson has witnessed, dangling at the lips of the abyss, there is a spark of hope inside him that perhaps one day the Earth will come back to its previous glory. “’ We come to light hoping, we leave the cradle hoping. We enter the darkness …’ correcting himself, ‘we enter the chaos hoping … but we still say … I hope for immortality.’ Forcibly he shouts, ‘CHAOS.’ Exploding. ‘HOPING. CHAOS.’ Then thoughtfully and calmly he says, ‘…and … one step from the chaos is … the abyss. Hope!’”
Synopsis of “When the Earth Died”
“When the Earth Died” is a narrative that follows the life of Orson and Niles in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian world (2049), where the world has been ravaged by fires, environmental collapse, societal breakdown, climate change and disease which have drastically altered life on Earth. The story delves into themes of survival, loss, hope, the human condition and the existence (or the absence) of God. It explores themes of environmental destruction and human responsibility. Orson, Niles, Ciara and her son Kolten, struggle to survive this harsh new reality. They build a shelter, grow food, and navigate the dangers posed by both nature and human threats, such as government agents rounding up young people for war. They reflect on their pasts and strive to find meaning and stability in their disrupted lives as they navigate through the ruins of their world, dealing with personal loss, survival, the search for loved ones and the bonds of family. Orson is a reflective character who contemplates the destruction of nature and the human condition. Niles is driven by the hope of finding his sister, Aberdeen, who was separated from him during a catastrophic fire that destroyed their town and family. The narrative explores themes of grief, survival, the impact of human actions on nature, and the quest for meaning and connection in a devastated world. ...more "

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Dec 23, 2024 06:55AM · see review