From the Bookshelf of Collapse…

World Made by Hand (World Made by Hand #1)

James Howard Kunstler

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Jun 27, 2017 Riley M. rated it it was ok

Being a fan of speculative fiction, and having read some of his non-fiction, I thought I should check this out. I have mixed feelings.

It is quite interesting to see how a developed country might turn out after some sort of catastrophe that broke down the infrastructure, energy grid, etc. How would modern people react to such a thing? what cultures might develop? I think he brings in some interesting ideas for how different groups of people might band together and the ways they learn to get by, a Being a fan of speculative fiction, and having read some of his non-fiction, I thought I should check this out. I have mixed feelings.

It is quite interesting to see how a developed country might turn out after some sort of catastrophe that broke down the infrastructure, energy grid, etc. How would modern people react to such a thing? what cultures might develop? I think he brings in some interesting ideas for how different groups of people might band together and the ways they learn to get by, and how those groups interact with each other. There were some realistic things and some that I hadn't thought of that intrigued me. I enjoyed the start of the book.

However I found myself losing interest later on, there is an undercurrent of romanticising "old country ways" that made some things unrealistic to me. According to the timeline, the main character would have grown up in our times, and those tastes and experiences wouldn't evaporate with the loss of complex tech. Suddenly taste in music and dance have gone back 100 yrs just because they don't have an electric grid. I don't doubt that people who have to revert from playing MP3s to playing acoustic music might delve into back catalogues of printed music, but maybe they'd play acoustic guitar versions of the music of their lifetime rather than taking up the fiddle? or get into drum circles as a substitute for techno? I don't doubt some old trends might be brought back out of necessity but I sense a bit of the author's fantasies coming through. I sense the author is also fantasising about women all accepting traditional gender roles, and conveniently sets up an older man/younger woman scenario (wish fulfillment?)

It ends with a mystery meant to make you want to get the next book to find out what happens, but I just found it a bit baffling and disjointed from the rest of the book.

I feel like there was so much potential here for a great book that could really bring to life a reasonably plausible scenario and make it interesting without resorting to gimmicks, but feel kinda let down. This world didn't need a fantastical gimmick, it needed more character development and a closer examination of how people alive now might behave in 10 years without an electric grid and oil.

I will see what people think of the 2nd book and maybe give it a try if I think it could improve on this but otherwise I won't waste my time. ...more

1 like · Like · see review