Richard Jefferies, After London, or Wild England (1885)

I'm currently teaching an introductory class to fiction whose theme is, to put it simply, urban landscape and its effects on characters. Next week I'll be starting to teach After London, or Wild England by Richard Jefferies and I thought I'd share some of my thoughts about it here. For those who have never heard about it, After London is an early example of science fiction in literature (it was published in 1885, a good decade before stories such as The War of the World or The Time Machine) and, in particular, of the post-apocalyptic genre (even though, one could argue, Mary Shelley's The Last Man is an even earlier example).

I didn't quite know what to expect when I read it the first time, and I must say it is quite an odd tale. The book is divided in two sections. The first, entitled "The Relapse into Barbarism" depicts a futuristic England that has relapsed into wilderness. Roads have disappeared and moving around the country has become difficult due to vegetation: “By the thirtieth year there was not one single open place, the hills only excepted, where a man could walk, unless he followed the tracks of wild creatures or cut himself a path (…) As no care was taken with the brooks, the hatches upon them gradually rotted, and the force of the winter rains carried away the weak timbers, flooding the lower grounds, which became swamps of larger size” (6). The foundations of “the ancients” (so are called the men that lived before the disaster), bridges and other types of structures, are “likewise overthrown, and presently quite disappeared, for the foundations were covered with the sand and gravel silted up” (7). Very "Life After People" (a TV show by the History Channel, if you've never heard of it) :)

The second section is entitled "Wild England" and basically deals with Felix Aquila, a man who decides to explore the shores of the great swamp (formerly the Thames) in the (unconscious) hope to make a man out of himself. I won't go further - I don't want to spoil the story in case you'd like to read it. Now, was is fascinating about this story is the way this vision of the future is described as a regression to a sort of medieval past. The green landscape of England is one filled with castles, kings, nobles, knights on horses and fair maids. Most people can't read, and the technological knowledge of the "ancients" has sunk into oblivion. It's hard to read this without wondering at each paragraphs whether we're dealing with a dystopia of regression or a pre-Raphaelite nostalgia for the past.

Most interesting (particular in the framework of my class) is the description of London, a "dreadful place" where "the earth was poison, the water poison, the air poison, the very light of heaven, falling through such an atmosphere, poison" (128). In sharp contrast with the rest of the country, all bigger cities, abandoned by their inhabitants, have become visions of hell...

After London or Wild England is quite short (150 pages or so) and relatively inexpensive. Definitely worth checking if you're into early science fiction. Plus, it's a cool way to discover a non-canonical Victorian author :)