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A review by jennastopreading
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
John Green wrote some of my most favorite, beloved young adult novels (looking at you, Looking for Alaska and Turtles All the Way Down), so when he ventured out to write an essay collection targeted at an adult audience, I knew I had to read it. I bought it shortly after it published in 2021, then proceeded to let it sit on my shelf for nearly 10 months.
Big mistake on letting it sit for so long, my friends, but big win on buying a signed first edition (which, by the way, Mr. Green, if you are reading this - your signature looks stupendous if I do say so myself). This is one of the few books I've read in 2022 that I will cherish and keep on my trophy shelf of read books for years to come.
Having read nearly all of Green's previous works, I feel like I can spot his empathetic, heart filled writing from a mile away. Not in the sense that all of his books have similar pacing/characters/or storylines, but because John Green's writing can make the mundane feel extraordinary. In The Anthropocene Reviewed, Green portrays the human condition (and many other things we will experience along the way) in a truly remarkable, beautiful way. Who could guess that a book that has a whole chapter discussing sycamore trees would have me tearing up while washing dishes?
While this book is full of funny little quips and is sure to enlighten even the most stone hearted reader, it is also full of heartbreaking, relatable content that will hit home for so many. Green speaks openly and candidly not only about learning that he had depression for the first time, but what it's like living with it day in and day out. And as someone with depression, it can be really hard to explain to people who haven't experienced it what it's like to live this way. John Green beautifully bottles up that feeling and puts it into words like I've never read before. I wanted to hilight every section about mental illness and write it down in a journal to flip through whenever I need to explain to someone how I'm feeling.
Before I started writing this review, I gave the book four stars. But upon thoughtful consideration and talking myself through my feelings as I wrote this, I cannot give The Anthropocene Reviewed anything less than five stars. I recommend it to anyone and everyone.
Big mistake on letting it sit for so long, my friends, but big win on buying a signed first edition (which, by the way, Mr. Green, if you are reading this - your signature looks stupendous if I do say so myself). This is one of the few books I've read in 2022 that I will cherish and keep on my trophy shelf of read books for years to come.
Having read nearly all of Green's previous works, I feel like I can spot his empathetic, heart filled writing from a mile away. Not in the sense that all of his books have similar pacing/characters/or storylines, but because John Green's writing can make the mundane feel extraordinary. In The Anthropocene Reviewed, Green portrays the human condition (and many other things we will experience along the way) in a truly remarkable, beautiful way. Who could guess that a book that has a whole chapter discussing sycamore trees would have me tearing up while washing dishes?
While this book is full of funny little quips and is sure to enlighten even the most stone hearted reader, it is also full of heartbreaking, relatable content that will hit home for so many. Green speaks openly and candidly not only about learning that he had depression for the first time, but what it's like living with it day in and day out. And as someone with depression, it can be really hard to explain to people who haven't experienced it what it's like to live this way. John Green beautifully bottles up that feeling and puts it into words like I've never read before. I wanted to hilight every section about mental illness and write it down in a journal to flip through whenever I need to explain to someone how I'm feeling.
Before I started writing this review, I gave the book four stars. But upon thoughtful consideration and talking myself through my feelings as I wrote this, I cannot give The Anthropocene Reviewed anything less than five stars. I recommend it to anyone and everyone.