Project Gutenberg
2010-06-01
Public domain in the USA.
1025
Venable, Lyn
Venable, Marilyn
Venable, Lynn A.
Time Enough at Last
Reading ease score: 83.0 (6th grade). Easy to read.
Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
"Time Enough at Last" by Lyn Venable is a short story originally published in the January 1953 issue of IF Worlds of Science Fiction. The narrative follows the theme of human desire and the ironic twists of fate, particularly focusing on one man's longing for solitude and time to indulge in reading. The story explores post-apocalyptic consequences where characters find their ambitions and desires confronted by the harsh realities of survival. The plot centers around Henry Bemis, a bespectacled bank teller with a strong yearning to read books, often thwarted by his demanding life and overbearing wife, Agnes. After a catastrophic event reduces the world to ruins, Henry emerges from the destruction to find himself in a desolate landscape, bereft of civilization and loved ones. Initially overwhelmed by sorrow for those lost, he soon discovers the remnants of a library, filled with books he has longed to read. In a moment of bittersweet triumph, Henry settles down to read, only to accidentally break his glasses, rendering him unable to see the text before him. This poignant twist emphasizes the irony of finally achieving his dream, only to have it slip through his fingers, underscoring the story's themes of longing, loss, and the futility of human desire in the face of overwhelming circumstance. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32633/32633-h/images/cover.png
en
Science fiction
Short stories
Books and reading -- Fiction
Nuclear warfare -- Fiction
PS
Text
Browsing: Literature
Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy
Browsing: Fiction
41135
41225
2024-10-14T04:08:50.642612
2023-09-14T09:01:57.201993
text/html
text/html
17258
2024-02-18T13:03:12
text/html
186177
2024-10-14T04:08:52.433678
application/epub+zip
185088
2024-10-14T04:08:51.081607
application/epub+zip
68264
2024-10-14T04:08:50.861620
application/epub+zip
132567
2024-10-14T04:08:53.706595
application/x-mobipocket-ebook
125474
2024-10-14T04:08:52.195617
application/x-mobipocket-ebook
71189
2022-09-15T05:39:22.926592
application/x-mobipocket-ebook
33845
33887
2024-10-14T04:08:50.523819
2023-09-14T09:01:57.090986
text/plain; charset=us-ascii
text/plain
14104
2024-02-18T13:03:12
text/plain; charset=us-ascii
17914
2024-10-14T04:08:53.830606
application/rdf+xml
23926
2024-10-14T04:08:50.925609
image/jpeg
3898
2024-10-14T04:08:50.892632
image/jpeg
180815
2024-10-14T04:08:50.659627
application/octet-stream
application/zip
Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at
https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog