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jcampbell's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
2.5
the core idea that the climate crisis impacts the art and media produced by people living through it, but not sure the idea and the book were finished as the points did not feel completely polished and the major points felt lost in detailed descriptions of the plot of the whole Sharknado series.
breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
ajmcwhinney's review against another edition
3.0
Held back by vulgar or underdeveloped readings of its chosen texts half the time but an overall decent application of Marxist literary criticism and a pretty good (though at times romantic in an "I'm an academic who dislikes academics" way) call for the asserting the role of cultural criticism in combatting climate change and championing ecosocialism
chillcox15's review against another edition
4.0
The theses here are good (that, fundamentally, literature and media is in the process of confronting climate change even (and specifically!) when the text isn't explicitly about climate change, and that forms our relationship/sublimation of the topic) but I found Bould a bit less compelling in his reading of the texts he presented. That being said, any critical theory that wraps around Sharknados and Dominic Toretto has endeared me at least a bit.
hnells's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Quite good! Bould's writing style is funny and engaging (impossible to overstate how great it is to be able to write academically while being funny at the same time, it makes the process of reading so much easier) and well-suited to this style of book. I found his main argument (that the anthropocene is the unconscious of the art and literature of our time (15)) compelling and think he did an excellent job of presenting it, contextualizing it, and providing examples. A solid read!
dinguini's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
The thesis, though articulated in a roundabout way, is that art/literature produced by people living through a climate crisis will be inevitably imbued with the experience of that crisis, regardless of intention, because the ever-unfolding consequences of that crisis constitute the reality of anyone's experiences, perceptions, understandings, impressions today. It therefore clambers through various forms and genres to seek those references to the crisis that its thesis implores must be there. I think the most important conceptual takeaways from the introduction that the reader should take with them into the rest of the book are the recognition of climate change as a hyperobject, and the mechanics of Queer film theory. Though only mentioned briefly, these conceptual tools enableBould (and the reader) to take alternate readings of various books/films through a recognition of climate change as a system made up of many different parts (including capitalism, inequality, petroculture, environmental collapse etc) that are incomprehensible at once, but whose influence can be acknowledged respectively, and therefore can be attributed to some level of climate anxiety where they appear in the works cited.
als_adventures's review against another edition
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
I think i enjoyed this. Started off well by focusing on how climate change and nature seeps into everything we do. I think it lost its way a little towards the end. Some interesting sections and lots more books to read off the back of it.
mk_books's review against another edition
slow-paced
0.5
So boring and not what I wanted it to be. His references are old and irrelevant.