John Wyndham's "Day of the Triffids"

"It must be, I thought, one of the race's most persistent & comforting hallucinations to trust that 'it can't happen here' - that one's own time and place is beyond cataclysm." John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids

Published in 1951 the datedness of this story is not a detraction from the narrative at all. In fact, apart from being a very disturbing read that leaves you looking askance at strange weeds in the garden, it is very timely. As a result of humanity's pollution, tampering with genes, and quest for power and money, the species practically made itself extinct. As such I have never come across a better exploration of "what do you do when your civilisation is collapsing around you?" Do you fight the collapse, trying to save everyone and everything you can, or do you just move on and build something new?