Escapism and the End of the World as We Know It
Post-apocalyptic literature troubles me.
I should qualify that. I enjoy a fair share of post-apocalyptic storytelling. The Road is minimalist and bleak to the point of horrifying beauty. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is an exceptionally realized far-future fantasy. Battlestar Galactica takes the most profound kind of end of the world scenario and puts real humans in the midst of it. Even Star Trek is a post-apocalyptic society, given the events of First Contact.