I’m curious if anyone here has read this book and what you thought of it.
The ebook is about a thousand pages long, but I read through it in like three days. I haven’t read a novel I couldn’t put down like that in a while. Still chewing on it a bit.
If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a book which follows multiple characters, whose lives at times overlap, as the world grapples with the climate crisis from 2014-2040. This was a good device to use, seeing things happen from multiple, ultimately flawed, perspectives. There was little in this book which is not a believable part of the near future, and that makes it all the more horrifying.
It is one of the most horrific books I’ve read in a long time, both on an interpersonal and ecological level. (Every CW applies. I even skipped certain short sections because I found it got a bit too gratuitous in some of its descriptions and plot lines. It was a bit indulgent in its shock value at points.)
Overall though, an interesting look at the intersection of the climate crisis and American politics. It really doesn’t shy away from a condemnation of the entire American political apparatus, from the seat of government to non profit climate activism to hedge funds, advertising and TV news slop to emergent mask-off fascism locally and nationally. It also grapples with more extreme forms of direct action, and while different characters criticized (or supported) this from their perspective, the author seems leave it somewhat morally ambiguous in terms of the ultimate political outcomes from those acts.
For anyone who has read the Ministry for the Future, this book is like the first chapter of that book, but slowly and relentlessly built out with far less speculation on technological cures. I thought this book was much better than the Ministry.
I would recommend this book, but it was dark. It does not leave a warm and fuzzy feeling. But any realistic look at these political and ecological issues would be dishonest if it did. Even with its shortcomings, it was worth the read and kept me turning the page.
(I had a lot more written, but it was too meandering. Lots of criticisms of this book, but also praise as well).
Sounds interesting. Adding it to my list. Thanks!