Encyclopedia of apocalyptic literature

Valerie P. Zimbaro

This text, which is by no means inclusive of all of the worldʼs apocalyptic writings, is intended both as an introduction to this timely literary genre as well as a tribute to the worldʼs major authors whose prose and poetry reflect their respective hopes, dreams and fears for the worldʼs last days. Although the book is intended to address apocalyptic literature across cultures, there is a significant dearth of material related to works by writers from Eastern cultures. This omission is an obvious one, inasmuch as the concept of an apocalypse, or a singular cataclysmic ending, is essentially antithetical to most cyclical Eastern philosophies. In an attempt to analyze such apocalyptic themes of either non-Western, primitive or pre-literate cultures, a list of entries pertaining to significant apocalyptic myths, legends and scriptures has been provided in appendix D. Titles featured in the text include Absalom, Absalom!, Alas Babylon, Almanac of the Dead, As I Lay Dying, Black Rain, The Blithedale Romance, Brave New World, The Brothers Karamazov, Catʼs Cradle, The confidence Man, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurʼs Court, The Day of Doom, The Day of the Locust, The Divine Comedy, Doctor Faustus, Doktor Faustus, Fahrenheit 451, The Faerie Queene, Faust, Frankenstein, Giles Goat, Go Tell It on the Mountain, The Great Gatsby, Gravityʼs Rainbow, Heart of Darkness, Hiroshima, The Hollow Men, the Invisible Man, King Lear, Kill Hole, Lord of the Flies, Love in the Ruins, Miss Lonelyhearts, Moby Dick, Le Morte DʼArthur, The Mysterious Stranger, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, of Nantucket, Native Son, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Origin of the Brunists, Out of the Silent Planet, Paradise Lost, Perelandra, The Second Coming, Siddhartha, Slaughter-House Five, The Tempest, Terra Nostra, The Thanatos Syndrome, That Hideous Strength, Things Fall Apart, The Waste Land, The Violent Bear It Away.