Article on prepper fiction

[The Heretic]

Prepper Fiction Reveals a Dark Truth About American Virtues

Interesting take on some aspects of prepper/survivalist fiction.

Not sure I agree with the separation of the genres, but some of the tropes ring true.

An interesting question (to me) is hypothesizing on the probability of the tropes in real life SHTF situations. I personally think it depends on the people and the visibility of the "light at the end of the tunnel" as to whether people would act one way or another, with people pulling together being more likely if the emergency was short termed and/or help was on the way (but delayed).

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[AMProducts]

I'm trying to figure out what's so "dark" about: "you can rely on no one but yourself and your family and a carefully chosen group of likeminded allies"

That's pretty much reality, I'm fairly sure statistics bear this out. Sociology has a whole series of conundrums and studies, and so-called effects and experiments that echo this. The Bystander Effect, the Milgram Expiriment, the Stanford Prison Experiment, etc. At some level, when everything else is out the window, you will only be able to count on a few people, and there's a much larger contingent you won't be able to count on except for their willingness to pile on abuse.

Over-all, I do agree with the separation between prepper fiction, and the more general apocalypse fiction. Mostly because the latter does much more to build story and narrative, and skips some of the shopping lists that masquerade as side-stories. At the same time, one of the things I never liked about "Patriots" was the weak story-telling towards the end. They went from setting off chemical weapons, to 20+ years in the future where one of the offspring of one of the people is packing a pistol in a college class. It's lazy narrative, and for me at least it wasn't very interesting.

Maybe it's that I have a pretty good idea how to survive, I have my own collection of CRKT, Gerber, and SOG tools, that I don't need someone to tell me that I would be better off skinning with a buck knife, when for skinning use, I use scissors and a saw.

I dunno, I've got my own criticisms of prepperdom, this pedestrian criticism doesn't even scratch the surface.

 

[Camelfilter]

Totally would depend on circumstance.

People, event, timeline etc. Some catastrophe in the winter vs same event in the summer, as a simple example.

Where one lives. Are the folk hard working, or hardly working (most of our neighborhood, but not all)...

Not much individuals can do about it (the hardly working folk), except choose another area to live...

Ohh, and on choosing "a fighting knife". Well I hope to never have to live in a world where I'd HAVE TO HAVE a fighting knife available, I'd be really screwed...id prefer a whomp stick anyday...I'll be in the "apple business" thank you very much...

 

[41mag]

The notion that 'survival' in any sense is 'dark' to this segment of pavement dwellers who write their own political agenda as a poorly identified element of their own social fantasies, should be recognized and addressed in clear terms as unforgiving as their own pseudo-intellectual fomentations.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Sometimes a book is just a book.
I love to read ... Both fiction and non-fiction.
For fiction , I just want to enjoy the story.
In the case of post apocalyptic / "prepper" novels ... I just enjoy reading them for the adventure aspect.
I'm not looking to gain any real working knowledge from them.

Non-fiction is a whole other matter .... in these books reading to learn or gain knowledge is what I want.

In any case , it doesn't pay to "read into " too much of some books or try to find a hidden or not so subtle message ... grab your favorite drink , crack open a great book , read and enjoy ...
Why complicate things?
Andy

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Gaining knowledge, generally, requires effort and training. Unlikely to come from a novel.
Ideas, on the other hand, often come from unlikely places, including fiction!

 

[The Heretic]

I dislike the lists, but some people like them. Not to say I haven't once in a while gone and looked something up from one of the lists, but it doesn't belong in fiction. If an author must work it in, then work it in subtly. Not even the "he picked up his Noveske AR-15 with the [insert favorite mods]" etc. etc. - they could work it in easier with one gun nut talking to another gun nut when one asks him about his rifle or pistol or knife or truck.

Then the lists progresses on from there to the fantasy of a whole story of someone just prepping, not dealing with a SHTF event until much later, but on and on about their preps. The worst is when someone inherits a fortune or wins the lottery.

The stories I like the best are the very few where someone who is more or less unprepared finds themselves in a survival situation and deals with it, learning as they go, making mistakes, but working with what they have on hand. This is more realistic, and it is telling that so much PAW/SHTF fiction is about lists and having bought this that or the other thing. Guns, ammo, tools, food and water and shelter are important and can give you an edge, but having a good mindset/attitude, knowledge, experience and skills is more important IMO.

 

[41mag]

Prepper novels don't hold much interest for me. Perhaps it's the complex artificiality and unknowable 'what-if' scenarios that lose my attention.

Grandparents settled raw NorDakota wilderness circa 1900 with their bare hands & not much else. Their accumulated advice on such matters, including 'the Depression' has served me well.

 

[Bazooka Joe]

The notion that 'survival' in any sense is 'dark' to this segment of pavement dwellers

I think it's interesting that the last lines of her article indicate that she's chosen not to survive. "Can I turn the corner with these authors and console myself with the thought that I could save myself and my loved ones through my own forethought and willingness to kill? I can't."

 

[The Heretic]

I think it's interesting that the last lines of her article indicate that she's chosen not to survive. "Can I turn the corner with these authors and console myself with the thought that I could save myself and my loved ones through my own forethought and willingness to kill? I can't."

I don't really care about her (or other people's) struggle with prepping/etc.

I just found some of the observations of prepper fiction interesting, not how they applied to her mindset.