82 responses to “The Last Librarian”

1. Dear Björn,

   Your story puts me in mind of a Twilight Zone. Perhaps you’ve seen it. I’m including a link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9WezjO6_e8

   A Kindle cannot replace the feel, scent and sound of a book. You’ve handled this nicely. I agree. It’s a sin to burn books.

   Shalom,

   Rochelle

   • I never watched that one… I’m all for ebooks.. but it would be scary if they were all gone..

2. Dear Bjorn,

   There is a book called Vandenberg that ends in a similar way. Not sure I could warm myself with the destruction of a book. A great take on the prompt. sir.

   Aloha,

   Doug

   • Thank you.. I had never read Vandenburg.. but I thought about how I would react myself..

3. A powerful concept which you’ve put across very well.

   • Thank you.. the books are sometimes the better part of humanity than humans.

4. Bjorn, Well done. It would truly be a tragedy to have to burn books to stay alive. Let’s hope it never even comes close to that. I think there was also the movie “The Day After Tomorrow” where survivors are in a librabry and have to burn books to keep warm. Well written. 🙂 — Suzanne

   • I had not seen that one.. but somehow a library where finally you can only burn them is a sad one.

5. Mister, you stole my story! Now, I need to look for another one. Probably for the best, because you did a great job here.

   • Ah.. yes it’s a story that came to me at once… 🙂 Sorry for my telepathic robbery 🙂

6. I love it.
   Too true. Too sad.
   Randy

   • Thank you.. and thank you for the picture… it was easy to get the story.

7. It’s a shame to burn books no matter what the reason. Powerful story. Well done!

   • Thank you.. yes burning books is always a shame..

8. Sad, sad, sad. You shouldn’t write these things in case they become true. Again.

   • Oh i think it has happened over and over again..

9. Can’t think of this story without thinking of our buddy Ray B. Not so much for Fahrenheit 451, but for his love of books and one of his short stories about a library. You hilt the soft spot with me, Bjorn. Books might disappear, but reading will continue.

   • I hope so.. at least writing will find its way…

10. What a gut wrenching scenario!
    Powerful, in its portrayal of what might probably happen one day.
    The technology is a blessing that way, preserving the words of these books in the cocoon of its codes and signals.
    I hope that you are doing good. 🙂

    • I’m doing well.. trying to keep up with all writing.. I am afraid it will happen.. some few books will remain.

11. Enjoyed this piece. Only thing I would say is, for me, it would be better without the last bit i.e. “In vain…” onwards. Just feels like it should have stopped with the two questions.

    • I can see your point.. an open end has its advantages.. But i also wanted to have some kind of end where some of the books remained.

12. The loss of knowledge seems to be a theme today. An emotionally packed piece of writing, wonderful to read.

    • Yes libraries are such strong symbols

      • I can still remember getting my first library card and having to sign my signature for the first time. I think I told me gran “I don’t have a signature,” because I’d never had to do one before and I thought it was something grown-ups were taught how to do.

      • Amazing.. our library was in the form of a bus coming weekly.. but I do remember my first visit to a real library… that was amazing..

13. Wow, this story gave me the creeps! Good write.

    • Thank you.. I will try to be more cheerful next time

14. I’m feeling very protective towards my books after reading this – well told and all too possible

    • Save our books…

15. Great piece about the end of books. Also reminds me of “Time Enough at Last,” the Twilight Zone episode Rochelle has linked for you. I could see this piece filmed as well.

    • I think I need to watch it..

16. Like growing corn to make petrol while worrying about starvation. Where did it all go wrong indeed Björn. Nice work.

    • We do many strange thing in the name of progress.

17. I hope it never comes to the point where there is only one librarian left….and that books are required to be burned. Yikes, that would be the end of the world, I guess.

    • Indeed.. Yes libraries are almost extinct.

18. Great work Bjorn — reminds me a bit of The Day After Tomorrow, where the freezing “patrons” are debating which books to burn first — to keep hypothermia at bay. Very well done —

    • Have not watched it.. but it is a plausible tale..

      • Very much so. A tale of climate change gone horribly out of control and the world thrown into an ice age despite the warnings of a renegade scientist ….

        Very plausible …!

19. This story absolutely captures the horror of watching the last books in the world burn. Like a couple of the other commenters, I too thought of Henry Beamis, the character in the Twilight Zone episode.

    • I have to watch that one.

20. Reminds me of Fahrenheit 451 with the last of the good books being burned away. But this is an interesting twist making the book’s burning a necessity to stave off something even more terrible.

    • Oh yes.. that was in my mind.. but there is no purpose of burning the books here.. just neglect.

21. “..craving needs of frozen fingers”, its heart breaking imagery great post

    • Yes it would be sad.

22. I truly feel for the librarian in this piece. You detail his love of books and subsequent loss very well. Good story Björn

    • Thank you 🙂

23. Great Stuff Bjorn! Burning of books is a tragedy and so is all forms of suppression of human thought and need for expression. v

    • I think so too.. this is a sign of horror.

24. I can feel his despair as he finally has to burn his treasured books. Great story!

    • Pain would be intense.. but so is freezing.

25. sad to think that the libraries are dwindling…ours has been working hard to modernize a bit…i always thought it would be fun to work among the books….maybe when i retire….and burning books…ack…

    • Books would be an interesting place to work among…

26. Very strong imagery, Björn. This is a time that would be truly apocalyptic. A chilling tale, that seems all too possible. Wonderful writing, as always.

    • Thank you.. I try to use strong words..

27. Your words too are poetic. Nice Job.

    • Thank you

28. Another take on burning books – nicely done, the sadness of the librarian really comes through as he is forced to burn the things he loves to survive.
    Cheers
    KT

    • I think the worst would be to burn unread books.. there is a passage in the library of babel by Borges that involve burning books.

29. Wonderful. It becomes a matter of priorities – I’m glad some books will survive, even if the librarian doesn’t.

    • I think finally he couldn’t do it any longer.

30. Sometimes it’s impossible to remember “Where did it all go wrong?”
    Ellespeth

    • Sometimes it is a slippery slope.

31. What tragedy … and it all comes through, Bjorn. To even think of there being a “last” librarian evokes a dark sadness.
    Seems we both had a dystopian theme in mind this week.

    • I think the tragedy would be beyond belief

32. Good story! The burning of books were to squelch knowledge…keeping the people dumb would lead to them not questioning the authority in power…Loved the way you created this and it reminds me of that recent movie with the son being stuck in the freeze inside that library in New York City! Well done1

33. Great story Bjorn, what a horrible way to have to stay warm!

34. Noooooo! Of all the stories I’ve read this is most likely to give me nightmares. 😉

35. this only proves that sometimes the sight of the flame and the warmth that it provides could tempt even the coolest souls.

36. Truly chilling write … quite a nightmare vision!

37. A dystopian tale indeed. I suppose when it comes between survival and reading, surviving will win out each time.

38. Sad but if the need to keep warm and alive is there….Mao Zedong had many Chinese classics burnt in his crazed times. It’s our tragedy.

    Lily

39. You would write something like this just as I have a cold front moving in. At least I’ll start with the doggerel.

40. Very touching.
    Hope this never happens! We all love books:)

41. That is so sad:(

42. A powerful and sad story. In one of the comments you said that books are sometimes the better part of humanity. I agree; books communicate our ideas, our fantasies, our history and our future. Unfortunately, they also make good kindling.

43. Dear Bjorn, Such a wonderful, yet depressing story. I do think that if it came down to my children freezing (or me) or saving the printed word, the kids would win every time. Really a thought-provoking story Bjorn – and very well done! Nan 🙂

44. A well told, but chilling, tale. Well done!

45. Thank you for the follow on Mondays Finish the Story! I hope that you will have fun writing for this challenge! 🙂

46. That was so touching and powerful.

47. Please don’t burn Dr. Seuss. If it wasn’t for him, I would have never learned anything–plus, I like the pictures.

48. Very well told. I come away with a sense of pointlessness as now the last book is burned he will freeze to death – so much is lost.

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