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Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of a Civilization by Roy Scranton
chaos_positive's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
befriendtheshadow's review against another edition
4.0
Short, succinct and thought-provoking. My only wish was that he would have spent more time expanding on the philosophical questions he raised in the last few chapters.
deeparcher's review against another edition
1.0
Really bleak. I wouldn't want to get caught next to the author at a party. This is well written, but I'm part of the problem in that I still think that we can make changes and figure out ways to not wipe ourselves out. I preferred [b:Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction|15798335|Scatter, Adapt, and Remember How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction|Annalee Newitz|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1344370745s/15798335.jpg|21521261] to this one and had this book not been so short, I wouldn't have finished it.
jansyn_liberty's review against another edition
4.0
While I had to re-read the classical philosophy sections a few times to grasp the arguments, I love the general sentiment of the book. It could be viewed as pessimistic, but that's just because our society is so repulsed by death. Our fate as humans is already determined (what begins must end), so we can stop worrying about survival. Capitalism has already killed us. This is not "just another book about climate change," it's a philosophical reframe of how to think about the truth.
bookherd's review against another edition
3.0
The author's premise is that the civilization we have now, largely based on capitalism and powered by fossil fuels, is doomed. Our planet is warming, and we're unable to come up with solutions that the world community can agree upon and implement. We are the problem, and there is no escape. Thus, we are going to have to learn to die, both metaphorically, in letting go of the fantasy that we can continue to have the standard of living to which the West has become accustomed, and literally, as the consequences of climate change start to worsen.
This book doesn't provide much in the way of advice about how to go about "learning to die." It just asserts that it is necessary. However, the last part of the book argues that in order for humanity to survive, in addition to the physical conditions being right, we will need to have preserved our cultural memory, the art, knowledge, and wisdom of the past. It's implied that we will also find what we need to know about how to die, literally and metaphorically, in our cultural memory as well. The already-dead can tell us what we need to know.
As a librarian who specializes in the humanities, this argument speaks to my heart. However, I thought the book was a bit sloppy, especially toward the end. Ideas were not fully explained, so they seemed half baked. This was disappointing. On the plus side, a bibliography is included, so you can follow this book up with additional reading.
This book doesn't provide much in the way of advice about how to go about "learning to die." It just asserts that it is necessary. However, the last part of the book argues that in order for humanity to survive, in addition to the physical conditions being right, we will need to have preserved our cultural memory, the art, knowledge, and wisdom of the past. It's implied that we will also find what we need to know about how to die, literally and metaphorically, in our cultural memory as well. The already-dead can tell us what we need to know.
As a librarian who specializes in the humanities, this argument speaks to my heart. However, I thought the book was a bit sloppy, especially toward the end. Ideas were not fully explained, so they seemed half baked. This was disappointing. On the plus side, a bibliography is included, so you can follow this book up with additional reading.
artathearta's review against another edition
4.0
It was cool; fatalist take on the human response to climate change. Paints a bleak picture and basically suggests that we have to make peace with death and have that be the new zero-point if we're going to build a new world from the wreckage of capitalism. It was in reading this book when it first occurred to me to move north, which I may do eventually.
whatulysses's review against another edition
2.0
Too much effort into convincing us that climate change is real and unmitigatable. I wanted more about "learning to die" and the end of global capitalism. Interesting bits about interrupting social media that could have been expanded or made more specific.
Please dwell on this further in a longer book, Roy Scranton.
Please dwell on this further in a longer book, Roy Scranton.
kn1ghtatarms's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
5.0