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Reissued on the tenth anniversary of its publication, this classic work on our environmental crisis features a new introduction by the author, revi...
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Dec 05, 2007
Kate
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Dragged myself through this puppy. It was a tough go, but I somehow felt it was the environmentally responsible thing to do. Basically he makes the point very forcefully that we really have paved paradise. Damn. I recommend putting away all sharp objects and hiding anything that can be used to hang yourself before reading this book. Dead bird on cover says it all.
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Dec 16, 2009
Anna
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The great problem with this book was the way it approaches nature--namely that he wants to leave humans out of it. He seems more angry that we exist as a part of the world than interested in thinking of productive ways of dealing with the the concerns regarding the environment that we are facing.
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Jun 21, 2010
Greg
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I found this book long on speculation and short on facts. In the middle I considered not finishing the book because the author spent quite a bit of the section "The End of Nature" on his own personal philosophies. He seemed to get back on track in the next part of the book, but the book still seemed like a loose collection of anecdotes, speculation and personal opinion. Not that I disagree with all of his opinions, I found myself agreeing with some of it, but he does not have the clear
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Aug 12, 2009
Jack
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This long essay asks two questions: What would our lives be like if nature were not bigger than us? And what would it be like to imagine ourselves smaller?
The first question -- which takes up the first half of the book -- is fascinating. McKibben argues that a core part of what Nature does for us is let us know that the world has rhythms, predicability. That there is beauty out there that transcends us. It gives us a sense that there is something more than us out there. He has More...
The first question -- which takes up the first half of the book -- is fascinating. McKibben argues that a core part of what Nature does for us is let us know that the world has rhythms, predicability. That there is beauty out there that transcends us. It gives us a sense that there is something more than us out there. He has More...
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Jan 21, 2008
Beth
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I gave this book a quick re-read after initially reading it for academic purposes years ago and being put off by the doomsday approach of McKibben. Even though I agree with McKibben in general, I don't like this book. It offers nothing but commentary. It leaves the human species out of the equation. Instead of motivating one to action, it takes the winds out of the sails.
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Jun 15, 2009
Katie
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I've been thinking about this book for the week since I finished it. Initially it pissed me off. It's the kind of book that an environmentalist finds depressingly fatalistic. I was frustrated, angry, demoralized, downtrodden. This book is about the past and present state of the environment. It was written in 1989, but may as well have been written in 2009. Its vision of the future is speculative, at best, and relevant only as it elaborates on McKibben's ideas of the present.
My proble More...
My proble More...
May 04, 2007
Jeremy
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The thesis is clear and probably true: Human beings are now causing so many changes in the world that we cannot think of "nature" as an independent force that acts on us. In other words, "nature" is now (partially) man-made. Parts of the book were moving, but there's better stuff around.
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Nov 04, 2009
AJ
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This book was okay... McKibben's main thesis is that humans have done such a grand job dominating nature that it is no longer natural. Thanks to climate change, our weather is no longer due to nature, it's due to human activity, which is why the book is titled The End of Nature.
I think that Michael Pollan offers an interesting counter-argument to this idea in Second Nature A Gardener's Education, where he asks, what is nature when man has been playing around with it for so long? Is More...
I think that Michael Pollan offers an interesting counter-argument to this idea in Second Nature A Gardener's Education, where he asks, what is nature when man has been playing around with it for so long? Is More...
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Jun 14, 2011
Mark
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We have all heard all the dire consequences of global warming, but McKibben explores the spiritual loss connected with climate change and the way human beings now impact nature. McKibben's thesis that "Nature's independence is its meaning; without it there is nothing but us" rings so much stronger today than it must have when he wrote the book in the '80's.
At one point, while reminding his readers of the beautiful and awe-inspiring photos taken of the planet Earth from som More...
At one point, while reminding his readers of the beautiful and awe-inspiring photos taken of the planet Earth from som More...
Jun 27, 2009
Michael
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Written in the late 80's, this is a disturbing book to read as we approach the second decade of the 21st century. Disturbing because so little of our dialogue about climate change has progressed beyond what was being discussed two decades ago. Doubly so because McKibbin's nightmare, that we might delay action for 20 or more years, is precisely the course we have chosen, and the consequences are sure to be all-the-more dire because of it.
Much of this book is dated now... The science, More...
Much of this book is dated now... The science, More...
Sep 23, 2011
If you haven’t read Bill McKibben’s classic, you should. It’s been out for more than 10 years now, and it’s kind of sad how little we’ve done to fix the problems he describes. The basic argument of the book is that in mankind recently went through a transition where the natural world stopped being something external to us and became something just as artificial and under our control as our cities and factories. He laments the loss inherent in that transition, but then argues that it means that w
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Feb 10, 2010
Eileen
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It's not a bad book. It's actually thought provoking in some parts because it was published in 1987 and is about the catastrophe our planet is going to face as a result of global warming. It displays hardcore, factual evidence that would convince the '80s skeptical, when we could pretend the environment was in a somewhat manageable state. It's almost comical now to read McKibben's sense of urgency then and to look at how much reform has changed since that point. Let me summarize, next to nothing
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Aug 11, 2008
Nina
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Perhaps as an environmental studies student who has studied the 30 years of theory that followed and partly responded to The End of Nature, I was unable to see the book without bias. That said, I have never been so frustrated with a book before. Bill McKibben is an excellent writer, and a very good person, but his treatment of the notion of nature is misleading and lacking in depth.
His major thesis is that in the past (a generalized, Western past), we saw nature as being clearly More...
His major thesis is that in the past (a generalized, Western past), we saw nature as being clearly More...
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Jan 11, 2012
Hilary
rated it: 
Although this was written 2 decades ago, it (unfortunately) is still very relevant. As expected, we've chosen the "defiant" path towards our eventual doom. The facts in this book were mostly not news to me, but I found McKibben's concept of the "end of nature" interesting. The final chapter was the one I found the most profound, as it offered outlooks on the future and some possible paths that we, as a civilization theoretically have to choose from, though the choice doesn't
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Feb 11, 2009
Kurt
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Even though this book was written 20 years ago in 1989 it is still very relevant and even more insightful today. The author laments the loss of the entire natural world. With the consensus recognition (yes, it was consensus even back in 1989 despite what Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, & Faux News feed you) that humans have literally caused long term significant changes to the atmosphere and climate, virtually no place on the planet remains intact and free from the touch of man.
As a l More...
As a l More...
Aug 19, 2010
Monica
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As early as 1989 Bill McKibben could see the writing on the earth and he wrote about it in this book. It is "a kind of last song for the wild" and he does it as an American environmentalist and writer who frequently writes about global warming and alternative energy. It helped me understand very complex, and now political environmental issues, in a simple and meaningful way.
Jul 27, 2010
Joel
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His main thesis (i.e., nature is dying from man's cruel onslaught of industrial activity) is reiterated in about 10 trillion different ways. I read this book while touring around Ireland in mid-October 2009. Interesting at parts, especially when he is describing the acidification of a nearby lake, but largely forgettable.
Feb 05, 2010
Laura
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A great book about what will happen when this nature ends and a new one begins. The only reason that this book only got 4 stars is because it is slightly dated. This book would have been a lot more shocking had I read it before global warming became a really well-known and generally acknowledged concept.
Apr 10, 2008
Jen
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Amazing that this book was published so long ago - Everything that was true then is even MORE true now and causing even bigger problems (global warming, for one). Although I loved the book and thought it had a great deal of stunning details, I felt it could be a bit more organized. It was a flurry of emotion, facts, people, and places that I can't seem to put in any one order in my head. Looking back, I feel amazed at how thin of a paperback it actually is.
Bill McKibben is brilliant, More...
Bill McKibben is brilliant, More...
Feb 06, 2009
Suz
rated it:
An extremely wordy book, with great thoughts, but it takes Bill way too long to get his point acrossed. Also a bit too scientific for the average reader. (I enjoyed all the facts and figures, but others I shared the book with did not.)
Jun 13, 2010
Rebecca
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While I aggree with his message and intent, it might have been nice to have a bibliography. Tall claims require cited sources and he didn't give any. His holier-than-thou attitude didn't help me want to listen either.
Oct 17, 2010
Virginia
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Very dour, depressing, and realistic. As someone trying to leave a smaller footprint on the earth, it makes me furious to read this and think of all those who aren't trying at all.
Jul 11, 2011
Alexandria
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This book was very informative about the Global Warming problem from both a scientific & environmentalist perspective. My only qualm is that much of the information is dated, even with the new chapter. I think this is the kind of text that should be re-written to reflect the current state of affairs.
Feb 10, 2011
... so here we're advised to change our attitudes and approaches to the way we view nature, and consider its importance in life's cycles...
Oct 24, 2009
Alan
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This is something of a dated book now, but still interesting for it's historic perspective on the subject. For more recent McKibben fans (thtat's me and I'm interested in global warming issues but probably don't agree with McKibben on certain issues) it shows his development as a writer. I believe that at this earlier time (20 years ago) he saw the subject as just one of many interesting things to write about, but of course more recently he's familiar as one of the organizers of 350.org.
Feb 26, 2010
Holly
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Amazing book - goes well beyond what is commonly discussed in climate change/
Feb 21, 2010
Collection of essays on global warming in the mid/late eighties New Yorker.
May 12, 2007
Lisa
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This book presents the sobering idea that there is no longer such as thing as nature, because humans have caused such massive changes by their presence and behaviors; that humans have altered everything (including all forms of plant and animal life) on earth. I read the book when it was first published in hardback form, and it made immediate sense to me, unfortunately. I’ll never be able to look at “nature” in exactly the same way as I did, although I can still enjoy what there is of it, and fee
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Jun 26, 2010
Nicole
rated it:
Still true today, and continues to be influential in the environmental movement. Plus, I liked it. :)
