SOLVED. Post-Apocalyptic classic, read in late 1980s, about kid(s?) fleeing into the forbidden zone and finding books. [s]

[Jody]

I read this story in the late 1980s, and I only remember one small plot fragment... It takes place many years after society has fallen (I believe to nuclear war) and that this kid is escaping a village that he lives in and going into "the forbidden zone" outside of his town. I seem to recall he comes up out of a tunnel (an abandoned sewer) and finds an abandoned house from "before" and discovers books and an old record player. I think there is someone out there as well, but I can't recall for sure.

I spent most of the last few years believing that this was The Chrysalids, but then I just re-read that, and it wasn't it! So now I'm stumped. In my memory it has a similar vibe to that book, so it's likely a similar book, but I can't think of it. Any ideas?

[Bargle]

Maybe The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick?

Note to self: wrong answer.

[Barbara]

Perhaps Anthem by Ayn Rand.

[Shanna_redwind]

I think I remember a scene like that from the movie Logan's Run. Maybe it's in the book too?

[Trilobyte]

I'd suggest it might be one of the John Christopher novels I haven't read, either The Guardians or The Prince in Waiting

[Jen]

Shanna_redwind wrote: "I think I remember a scene like that from the movie Logan's Run. Maybe it's in the book too?"

Good thought but that's not in the book.

[Jody]

Hi All,

Thanks for the responses!

The only one of those books I've read was Anthem, by Ayn Rand, and it was at about the time I'm thinking of, so there's a good possibility that that's the one!

I believe I have a copy of Anthem somewhere in one of my boxes o' books, so I'll have a look for it and check back in here when I know for sure!

The others sound interesting too though, so I'll add those to my "to read" list as recommendations. Thanks for the assistance everyone!

[Rosa]

Anthem for future reference.

[Justanotherbiblophile]

If you think there's a good chance that this is your book, you can put this request in the "Possibly Solved" folder, by clicking the 'edit' link next to the subject line / title.

If this turns out to be the book you're looking for, come back and tell us that we were successful in our guesses. We keep the old requests (please don't delete it), so new people who're using a search function can easily find the same book, based on your keywords/description. We move these finished requests to one of the "Solved" folders, the same way as above. (In addition, I like to edit my requests to show the title and author at the top of the original post, so it shows up in google results easily).

If it turns out that this wasn't your book, or you want more suggestions - you can put this query back into the "Unsolved" folder at any time, and bump it (although we ask you to not bump it more than once a month) to put it back to the head of the queue, so it doesn't get buried in the older requests.

[Jody]

Hey All,

Thanks for the assistance; it was Anthem. I re-read it the other day, and save for a few small details and bits missing from my memory (although after 20+ years, that's not surprising), it definitely fit the bill.

Thanks again!
~Joe