A Town is Drowning

Frederik Pohl (1919 - 2013) and C. M. Kornbluth (1923 - 1958)

TORN FROM TODAY'S HEADLINES
This novel takes you right into the heart of the new flood country, the Northeast United States which had generally been free of hurricanes and attendant floods. Now disaster has struck, more than once--terrible and grim.

Although this novel will give you an accurate and brilliantly vivid picture of what it's like to live through a flood, even more importantly it will show you what the people are like who fought the catastrophe and how those who survived are still fighting. In the persons of Starkman the burgess, Groff the dynamic young executive, Sharon the shrewd opportunist, Mrs. Goudeket, the resort owner, and others, you will meet and understand the varying human elements that the flood unleashed and intensified. Through it all you will sense a growing feeling of pride--that despite the selfishness of some, the people of the town met the terrible onslaught with courage and a sense of mutual help.

Already well known for their superb science fiction, Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth demonstrate here their equal power in the realistic contemporary novel. - Summary by book jacket

Notes from the narrator
To me, A Town is Drowning was an interesting reading and recording assignment as it provided a look back at the dialogue and narrative structure for the dramatic works of the 1950’s, my earliest memories.
Echoes of World War II, the Atomic Bomb, and the Cold War were ever present in this 1955 world; as was the idea of American Idealism and Opportunity. The story narrative tended to be strait-forward, black and white, with minimal cultural gray issues.

Yet I also observed aspects found in the 2022 world, the struggle for equality across ethinic backgrounds, stereotypes, and class divisions, the lure of money and power, and increasingly - the occurrence of natural disasters, today attributed to global climate change. Authors Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth created a realistic contemporary novel for 1955, but for me, much of their story resonates with the world of today.

I hope you enjoy listening to A Town is Drowning.

Maurice Donegan
Atlanta, Georgia
August 17, 2022

Genre(s): Action & Adventure Fiction, Published 1900 onward

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 Introduction Maurice Donegan
00:01:39
Play 01 Chapter 1 Maurice Donegan
00:16:51
Play 02 Chapter 2 Maurice Donegan
00:19:22
Play 03 Chapter 3 Maurice Donegan
00:13:07
Play 04 Chapter 4 Maurice Donegan
00:18:47
Play 05 Chapter 5 Maurice Donegan
00:07:19
Play 06 Chapter 6 Maurice Donegan
00:14:44
Play 07 Chapter 7 Maurice Donegan
00:19:15
Play 08 Chapter 8 Maurice Donegan
00:04:49
Play 09 Chapter 9 Maurice Donegan
00:16:53
Play 10 Chapter 10 Maurice Donegan
00:20:42
Play 11 Chapter 11 Maurice Donegan
00:10:57
Play 12 Chapter 12 Maurice Donegan
00:24:37
Play 13 Chapter 13 Maurice Donegan
00:14:12
Play 14 Chapter 14 Maurice Donegan
00:21:46
Play 15 Chapter 15 Maurice Donegan
00:18:41
Play 16 Chapter 16 Maurice Donegan
00:16:28
Play 17 Chapter 17 Maurice Donegan
00:15:19