From the Bookshelf of Apocalypse Whenever…

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

James Howard Kunstler

Start date: January 18, 2014

Finish date: February 1, 2014

Discussion: AW BOOK CLUB (spoilers)

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AW BOOK CLUB (spoilers)

* What is a good book for AW discussion? (Nominations pool)
By Gertie , Read "Fever 1793" now, discussion opens Dec 1st. · 69 posts · 222 views

last updated 11 hours, 48 min ago

* AW Book Club: what we've read
By Gertie , Read "Fever 1793" now, discussion opens Dec 1st. · 16 posts · 1829 views

last updated Dec 10, 2019 09:01AM

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What Members Thought

Apr 25, 2012 Alison rated it it was ok

A haphazard novel that has endless flaws, but still turned out to be an entertaining read, at least as a practical tour guide to what life might be like after civilization as we know it (more practical matters aside, I'm going to stock up on cinnamon, vanilla, and vacuum-packed coffee now), with a fairly hopeful focus on people who are rebuilding their lives after the initial disasters (in this case, a combination of the loss of oil supplies and nuclear war) have wreaked their havoc (with their A haphazard novel that has endless flaws, but still turned out to be an entertaining read, at least as a practical tour guide to what life might be like after civilization as we know it (more practical matters aside, I'm going to stock up on cinnamon, vanilla, and vacuum-packed coffee now), with a fairly hopeful focus on people who are rebuilding their lives after the initial disasters (in this case, a combination of the loss of oil supplies and nuclear war) have wreaked their havoc (with their efforts hampered by ongoing climate and environmental changes).

The story isn't terrible, although the writing comes close to terrible at times and gets better at other times. I wish the author had either left out the last-minute Stephen King-style supernatural twists at the end or made them a more integral part of the entire book, but it looks like those become central in the sequel.

I agree with many of the other reviewers' complaints. For example, I also found that the author - or at least, the narrator - comes across as both sexist and racist (there were some mildly racist generalizations in Kunstler's non-fiction book The Long Emergency as well), and find it disturbing that he thinks the current status of women is nothing more than an "egalitarian pretense" that will quickly disappear with modern society, with the implication that this is rightfully so. I will have to read Octavia Butler's The Parable of the Sower again to help wash away the bad taste that left behind. I don't doubt that there would be some gender-based distribution of labor in a world in which labor for most people meant highly physical tasks like farming, but there are plenty of women who are physically capable of such tasks, and I completely fail to understand how or why women wouldn't take part in town administration, or why there would be no female doctors or dentists or veterinarians.

And while the oddly stilted, old-fashioned dialogue didn't bother me at first, it did become laughable at times, along with the old-fashioned names on characters who would be, by my calculations, about my age (around 55 in 20 years): Loren, Jane Ann, Dale, Wayne, Victor. Britney was one of the few names that seemed to fit the character's age.

So in the end, I'm not sure I'd recommend it, but I wouldn't discourage someone from reading it, either. There's post-apocalyptic fiction out there with better writing, better characters, and better plots, but I have yet to find anything that covers the rebuilding aspect of life after civilization, as opposed to the run-for-your-lives parts, so this novel fills a gap. ...more

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Jul 17, 2014 Rachel rated it really liked it

I really believed the society that was created in this book, an economy that is based on the scrap of the old one and one where con-men can quickly amass power. It was very realistic. My only complaints were that all the women were tertiary characters who existed solely to have sex w/ the male characters or to be wives. Also there were some parts that seemed too contrived, like you knew "hmmm, this is going to come into play later". But overall a good book and I will definately read the second b ...more

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