Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
I found this really hopeful to read! Would recommend to any organisers out there trying to build a better world amidst all the impending crises we are facing
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I loved it! Listening to the audio book was great for the interview style, and the voice actors did a great job at bringing the different characters to life.
To my own surprise a few chapters even moved me to tears, and I realized that while I read a lot of historical or political non-fiction, I never allow myself to think much about the future outside of the potential dark paths we are going down. This book showed me the importance of concretely imagining a future in which we don't just survive but build something better.
I've been recommending it to so many friends already, especially those who don't usually read much fiction.
To my own surprise a few chapters even moved me to tears, and I realized that while I read a lot of historical or political non-fiction, I never allow myself to think much about the future outside of the potential dark paths we are going down. This book showed me the importance of concretely imagining a future in which we don't just survive but build something better.
I've been recommending it to so many friends already, especially those who don't usually read much fiction.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I would have loved to enjoy this book, but unfortunately, apart from a few interesting opinions and characters, it has very little artistic or political value to offer. Wish it had been written by real, creative writers instead of academics, and that more attention had been paid to world-building. As we need more utopian fiction, 3.25 stars for the attempt.
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is just brilliant. There isn't a "plot" so to speak, so the pacing felt a little odd at first, but then I realized it is best read one chapter at a time and then mulled over for a day or two before returning.
This one started as a slog. Alignment with the rhetorical goals of the authors, etc, but at first could not see the fiction as anything more than the most transparent window dressing for didacticism. The characters weren’t believable as real characters.
I can’t say for sure what happened after I took a break, either reading some very raw books changed me and made me more receptive, or the characters in the second half were more alive, their stories and traumas more real. In either case the second half went more quickly than the first half.
Two things hinge on making this book work for other readers: 1) how much you find yourself in alignment with the political reality of a anarcho-communist future and 2) how much you disbelief you’re willing to suspend to get there. Certainly there was some hand-waving going on in the text and some eye-rolling on my part. Still, the book is quick to remind us that perhaps a new way of being is only weeks away if only we could work together to achieve it. I’ll take that kind of optimism amid the shrugging ‘but what can we do’ nihilism or the even worse simpering cynics whose incrementalism has led to loss after loss (even as their preferred political party wins now and again).
All together, it’s a book I needed to read even if large sections didn’t work for me.
I can’t say for sure what happened after I took a break, either reading some very raw books changed me and made me more receptive, or the characters in the second half were more alive, their stories and traumas more real. In either case the second half went more quickly than the first half.
Two things hinge on making this book work for other readers: 1) how much you find yourself in alignment with the political reality of a anarcho-communist future and 2) how much you disbelief you’re willing to suspend to get there. Certainly there was some hand-waving going on in the text and some eye-rolling on my part. Still, the book is quick to remind us that perhaps a new way of being is only weeks away if only we could work together to achieve it. I’ll take that kind of optimism amid the shrugging ‘but what can we do’ nihilism or the even worse simpering cynics whose incrementalism has led to loss after loss (even as their preferred political party wins now and again).
All together, it’s a book I needed to read even if large sections didn’t work for me.
Interesting premise, but a slog to get through. Also, it's very preachy. I don't imagine any non-liberals reading this. And I can't imagine life being as great in this world as they want to make it seem.