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16th out of 385 books
—
202 voters
The Last Town on Earth
by
Thomas Mullen (Goodreads Author)
Set against the backdrop of one of the most virulent epidemics that America ever experienced–the 1918 flu epidemic–Thomas Mullen’s powerful, sweeping first novel is a tale of morality in a time of upheaval.
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 W...more
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 W...more
Hardcover, 394 pages
Published
August 29th 2006
by Random House
(first published January 1st 2006)
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This book has a lot going for it - a very dramatic time (the influenza epidemic of 1918), a very dramatic premise (a town that tries to fend off sickness by isolating itself), and - if possible - even more dramatic situations as the story progresses (what happens when two different strangers try to enter the self-quarantined town). So I should have loved it. And I really wanted to. But somehow, I didn't, and it was kind of an effort to finish. But it was our book group's selection last month, so...more
Working in a cube farm, I dread the cold & flu season because you’re surrounded by hacking, sneezing, phlegm-filled germ factories who insist on coming to work and spreading their misery because they don’t want to burn their sick days on ‘just a cold’. I’ve often thought that we should set up some kind of quarantine zone in the building and make any of the infected go there and work so that the rest of us may be spared. After reading The Last Town on Earth, I’m torn between thinking that it’...more
This story takes place during a grim and volatile period in U.S. history, when many factors could turn neighbor against neighbor. While some were losing their sons in WWI, there was a large anti-war movement and many men refused to enlist. There was also great worker unrest and violence involving the "Wobblies" (I.W.W.) who were seeking better working conditions and higher wages. Women were agitating for the right to vote. Then along came the Influenza Pandemic of 1918, causing people to fear th...more
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I really enjoyed this book... It wasn't super riveting but I thought the character development was very good. It was like a socialogical (is that a word?) study on the ways fear/war/illness can affect an entire community and the ways the ugly parts of people (and some good parts too) can be brought to the surface.
Historically, this was a very interesting book. A fictional milling town in Washington State quarantines itself in an attempt to keep out the influenza of 1918. After the first few chapters, however, I did wonder whether the book was worth my time because of the poor writing. The author often stopped the action to describe (in detail) the physical appearance of every single insignificant character. There were too many characters, by the way, that were introduced for no apparent reason. The autho...more
Set amongst the 1918 flu pandemic, the trail end of the first world war, and the violence of the emerging labor movement, this book tells the tale of the fictional Northwestern town of Commonwealth which attempts to keep itself healthy by creating a reverse quarantine meant to keep out people with the deadly flu and protect the town. This is an intriguing story with interesting themes and definitely a page-turner at the end.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy Thomas Mullen's writing style. He should...more
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy Thomas Mullen's writing style. He should...more
This was suggested for our library book groups by the County Health Department. If a book group chose to read this, the department would contribute the books, and send a pandemic health department expert to the group. We chose this for our November read.
Jessica, our pandemic expert, was excited about this opportunity to work with the library, and the greater visibility the department could gain by partnering with the library. She'd heard the author on NPR, and started planning from there.
We re...more
Jessica, our pandemic expert, was excited about this opportunity to work with the library, and the greater visibility the department could gain by partnering with the library. She'd heard the author on NPR, and started planning from there.
We re...more
I read _The Last Town on Earth_ for the BGSU Common Reading Experience Book Selection Committee. Well, actually I read it twice: first, a very quick skim and hated, then again very closely and realized it actually could be a pretty good CRE choice.
In terms of exploring values, this book is perfect. Virtually all the main characters and some of the secondary characters are confronted by values choices at some point in this book, and the author writes the book in a clear enough way that even reade...more
In terms of exploring values, this book is perfect. Virtually all the main characters and some of the secondary characters are confronted by values choices at some point in this book, and the author writes the book in a clear enough way that even reade...more
When I was a child, my father used to tell me about this outbreak of the 'flu during WWI that "killed more people than the war, that year." The fact that Dad was born 15 years after the war ended but talked about it like he was there was a testimony to the fact the impact of the outbreak was significant in our small, Western town.
This book fictionalizes the 1919 Spanish 'flu epidemic in an intriguing way: what if (like Gunnison, Colorado) a town cut themselves off in order to avoid infection? W...more
This book fictionalizes the 1919 Spanish 'flu epidemic in an intriguing way: what if (like Gunnison, Colorado) a town cut themselves off in order to avoid infection? W...more
This book is about the town of Commonwealth, a small logging town deep in the forests of Washington State. In 1918, while the Spanish flu is gripping the world and World War I is coming to a close, Commonwealth decides to shut itself off from the outside world to avoid getting sick. They post armed guards at the one and only entrance to the town. Pretty soon a hungry soldier shows up on the road wanting to be let in. Philip Worthy, the adopted son of the owner of the town's lumber mill, is one o...more
A very good historical fiction that includes the 1918 Influenza epidemic, World War I disenters, and the tie between Socialism and unionization in the early 20th century. The story takes place in a logging town established on the principle that sharing the profits with everyone makes everyone profitable. When the "Spanish" flu breaks out in near by towns, the inhabitants agree that they will quarantine themselves until it passes by. Phillip, the adopted son of the owner of the mill is on guard w...more
After previously devouring Mullen's The Revisionists, I figured I'd keep my eyes open for his earlier novels, and this is his first. For whatever reason, the first time I started to read this book, I abandoned it less than fifty pages in. I guess I was in one of those moods where I preferred contemporary over historical fiction. I'm glad I returned to this gem.
Set in remote Washington State during World War I, an independent-minded lumber town elects to quarantine themselves from the threat of t...more
Set in remote Washington State during World War I, an independent-minded lumber town elects to quarantine themselves from the threat of t...more
I sometimes wonder if the reviewers who write the reviews which appear on the covers of books have actually read the book at all. For example, on this book the New York Times Reviewer has written "Mullen's suspenseful storytelling pulls us forward. Time and again his imagery is devastatingly right"; and although, I agree, that the first 100 pages or so is undoubtedly very readable and the story starts off very nicely and quite promising, the next 283 meander along, never really getting to the po...more
This was a very powerful and emotional novel set during the great flu epidemic of 1918. The novel raises some very serious issues about family and community responsibilities during times of crisis. When the town decides to quarantine itself to protect the community from the flu epidemic, pressures and paranoia set in. On top of the flu epidemic was added the pressures of World War I, refusals to enlist, and rights of the mill workers. In the town of Commonwealth, the fear of flu, the lack of sup...more
Fine Story-telling. This period in history fascinates me, (the 1910's, in general) (I think I lived then) :) My maternal grandmother told my mother about her experience as a little girl in Brooklyn, NY, how she sat, a tiny girl, at her frost-covered bedroom window, watching the pandemic influenza's victims' bodies being carried out. My mother has published a Short Story based upon my Nina's (my Nana's/Grandma's) account. I shall try to link it here.
I had never well-imagined the idea of how th
...more
Set in 1918 in the fictional timber town of Commonwealth in the Pacific Northwest against the backdrop of WWI and the Spanish flu epidemic, the story explores the actions of ordinary people in the face of fear and danger and how far people will go to protect themselves and their loved ones. Unaffected as yet by the trail of death the virus has blazed through the country, Commonwealth’s citizens have decided to quarantine their town and have posted guards at the single road leading to and from to...more
All I can say is, "Wow." Not only was this book amazingly well written, concsious of human depth, and amazing in breadth and scope, it was a good read. THe thing I found most interesting about it was the question of how far both you the reader, and the characters within the book are willing to go to save your own life, and the lives of those around you. (At this point continue only if you have already read the book or are not planning on reading it. SPOILER ALERT!) When the town first quarantine...more
Having thoroughly enjoyed The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers, I decided to take a stab at Mullen’s debut novel, The Last Town on Earth. Set in the dense forests of the Pacific Northwest, a small town named Commonwealth quarantines itself in an attempt to avoid the flu epidemic of 1918. With guards posted, the unique and semi-socialist settlement believes that families and jobs will safely continue as the outside world suffers from World War I and the Spanish flu.
Being a Pacific Northwest na...more
Being a Pacific Northwest na...more
This book is a historical fiction that takes place during the Spanish flu epidemic towards the end of WWI. A fictional lumber town outside of Everett, WA reverse quarantines itself to protect from the flu.
It was interesting learning about the Spanish Flu epidemic, old lumber mill towns and the Everett lumber strikes (especially since I live near there). Mullen wove these things together in an interesting, thought provoking story.
What I did not like about the book is that there was some underlyin...more
It was interesting learning about the Spanish Flu epidemic, old lumber mill towns and the Everett lumber strikes (especially since I live near there). Mullen wove these things together in an interesting, thought provoking story.
What I did not like about the book is that there was some underlyin...more
Picked this up as it was on the library book club reads and I really enjoyed it. Hard to believe it was Mullen's first book. It was well written.
A pacific northwest mill town, created by a family with radical beliefs who wanted more than what the average mill had to offer it's workers, tries to save it's community from the Spanish Influenza by setting a quarantine. Set during WWI, many of the community were anti-war and chose to dodge the draft.
While guarding the one road that leads to two, two...more
A pacific northwest mill town, created by a family with radical beliefs who wanted more than what the average mill had to offer it's workers, tries to save it's community from the Spanish Influenza by setting a quarantine. Set during WWI, many of the community were anti-war and chose to dodge the draft.
While guarding the one road that leads to two, two...more
an outstanding book. a town tries to isolate itself in order to elude the influenza epidemic of 1918. the writing is excellent, the characters varied and interesting. its evocation of a time and place outstanding.
i particularly liked mullen's ability to avoid sentimentality. as townspeople started falling ill with the flu, i began to fear for my favorite characters. this isn't a book, i knew by that time, where someone is guaranteed to live through childbirth because she's the heroine. it began...more
i particularly liked mullen's ability to avoid sentimentality. as townspeople started falling ill with the flu, i began to fear for my favorite characters. this isn't a book, i knew by that time, where someone is guaranteed to live through childbirth because she's the heroine. it began...more
This is not the first book I've read about a town that isolates itself from the rest of the world to avoid a pandemic illness. This one, however, revolves around the Spanish infuenza outbreak of 1918.
I've always been interested in this era as my grandfather lived through it, and has always had some interesting- albeit sometimes gruesome- stories to tell...In fact, he lost his sister to it.
This story took awhile a to get going though, and had a story within a story revolving around the soldiers o...more
I've always been interested in this era as my grandfather lived through it, and has always had some interesting- albeit sometimes gruesome- stories to tell...In fact, he lost his sister to it.
This story took awhile a to get going though, and had a story within a story revolving around the soldiers o...more
I enjoy reading about events that have shaped history, especially the more tragic ones. This is what led me to pick up The Last Town on Earth. This book about the 1918 flu pandemic manages to cover a frequently sensationalized topic–pandemics in general– in a thought provoking and sensitive manner.
Thomas Mullen depicts a town in Washington that in all out effort to protect itself from the pandemic that had been sweeping the nation, shut itself off from the rest of the world. Initially the plan s...more
Thomas Mullen depicts a town in Washington that in all out effort to protect itself from the pandemic that had been sweeping the nation, shut itself off from the rest of the world. Initially the plan s...more
While this book dealt with many of my favorite topics (influenza of 1918, utopian societies, WW I), I never became emotionally involved with the characters. I listened to the book on CD's, and my lack of emotional involvement may have been due to the narrator, who is not one of my favorites. But in my gut I feel that it was more the author's voice that lacked the emotional engagement that I long for in a good book. And yet, his voice reflected what I often suspect was typical of that time period...more
This is a beautiful story. At times sad, at times hopeful, at times grim.
The choices the people of Commonwealth face are hard and I for one couldn't blame those who made a wrong choice and it's even up for debate if they actually made a wrong choice. Because this story does not divide the world in clear cut black and white, but instead it paints an all too realistic gritty world where shooting a man in cold blood may be the heroic thing to do, while showing mercy may be the thing that condemns y...more
The choices the people of Commonwealth face are hard and I for one couldn't blame those who made a wrong choice and it's even up for debate if they actually made a wrong choice. Because this story does not divide the world in clear cut black and white, but instead it paints an all too realistic gritty world where shooting a man in cold blood may be the heroic thing to do, while showing mercy may be the thing that condemns y...more
An amazing first novel from a promising author. The book is part mystery, part tragedy, and contains a detailed cast of characters. The author writes in a way that allows you to know each of the characters so that you grieve when they suffer and rejoice when they triumph. The greatest aspect of the writing is the way the actions of the characters are rationalized so that the reader can see that sometimes people with common goals will still directly contrast eac hother.
this month's dcbooktalks selection...it was my choice! i hope im not disappointed...well....i was disappointed. i found the historical backdrop interesting - and am interested in reading more about the 1918 flu, but i felt a sense of dreariness, cloudiness and greyness while reading this book. didn't find any of the characters that redemeeing -- or if at first i did, then became disenchangted... found some of the dialogue either unrealistic or contrived as well...
This novel is an exploration of what happens to a community of people during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. This was interesting to me because my knowledge of this time period was almost non-existant. How many people today even know there was a Spanish Flu epidemic, or that during WWI people fought over the U.S.'s involvement in it, or of the union/management struggles of the time? These are all covered in this novel, which asks "what if a town quarantined itself, cutting itself off from teh...more
I remember learning about WWI in history class and it being classified as a classic struggle between good and evil. Much like WWII really was. They fail to mention that while America was drafting it's young men for slaughter overseas the remaining population was being wiped out by the Spanish flu.
This is a great book that brings to question patriotism in times of crisis. Much like today. I could see a lot of mirrored ideologies and beliefs with present day conflicts. Is it right to send off our...more
This is a great book that brings to question patriotism in times of crisis. Much like today. I could see a lot of mirrored ideologies and beliefs with present day conflicts. Is it right to send off our...more
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Thomas Mullen is the author of "The Last Town on Earth," which was named Best Debut Novel of 2006 by USA Today and was awarded the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for excellence in historical fiction, and "The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers." His books have been named Best of the Year by such publications as The Chicago Tribune, USA Today, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Onion, and Amazon.c...more
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“Another time he felt himself reenacting a conversation with father, a long talk about duty and honor and all the reasons why enlisting was the right thing to do. It was a talk they'd had several months ago, and Frank had agreed with everything his father had said, only this time Frank found himself taking a contrary opinion. What the hell's so honorable about it? Duty to whom? To myself, or the guys who would be fighting without me, or to the people here at home afraid of the Hun? Or duty to President Wilson, or to Carnegie, or to God, or to all the fallen soldiers before me, to Great-grandad Emmett and his bleached bones down at Antietam?”
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