Book Details
Title: The Anthropocene Reviewed
Author: John Green
Genre: Non-fiction; memoir
Pages: 293
Year Published: 2021
Synopsis: The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet - from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley's Comet to Penguins of Madagascar - on a five-star scale.
Complex and rich with detail, the Anthropocene's reviews have been praised as 'observations that double as exercises in memoiristic empathy', with over 10 million lifetime downloads. John Green's gift for storytelling shines throughout this artfully curated collection about the shared human experience; it includes beloved essays along with six all-new pieces exclusive to the book.
My Review
The Anthropocene Reviewed has not been my favorite read of the year. I wouldn't say I am anything but indifferent to John Green, & I feel like this book was written specifically for Green's fans. Which is a completely fair & reasonable thing for him to do. I just didn't realize how little I cared about Green's opinions until I read this book.
Most chapters were opinion pieces made to appear deeper than they actually were. The chapter on sunsets was my least favorite for this exact reason. While reading, I noticed that several chapters reminded me of peer reviewing classmates papers in high school because the writing did not have the quality I expected. Several chapters seemed to drag on to me as well, as if Green was desperately trying to reach a word count. Overall, for most of the book Green made near impossible leaps in attempts to be poetic. They rarely landed well for me.
A lot of the chapters that I liked in The Anthropocene Reviewed were because of how I was able to connect them to my experience. The chapter on whispering had a lot of elements I didn't like in other chapters, but it worked for me here because it reminded me of Hunter. The same happened with the last chapter of the book as I found myself reminiscing about pictures I've taken with Hunter over the years.
The Mountain Goats chapter ended up being my favorite strictly because of how it was written. I enjoyed the transition into memories & how the song was present for each. Even though this chapter is towards the end of the book, I'm convinced this is one of the first chapters he wrote. The quality of storytelling is so drastically different from the other chapters around it, I would be genuinely surprised to hear otherwise.
While I found this book to be easily forgettable & mansplaining at best, it was still a very easy read. I only struggled to get through the final 3-4 chapters just because I was honestly tired of hearing Green's thoughts. It wasn't my thing, personally. However, if you love John Green & what he has to say about random concepts & things in our world, you should definitely read The Anthropocene Reviewed. This book clearly needs a certain type of audience, & I just wasn't a part of it.
My Rating: 2/5
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