Reviews with content warning for Child death - The Anthropocene Reviewed

The hot dog eating contest is a monument to overindulgence, to the human urge to seek not just more than you need but also more than you actually want. But I think it's also about something else...

I am John Green trash, so I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. Mundane things become profound metaphors for like, the human experience and finding hope in an uncaring universe etc. John's tendency to over-metaphor-ize things is one of the things people dislike about his fiction, so I imagine people who don't like his fiction would find The Anthropocene Reviewed insufferable. But I enjoyed reading it, it was a nice slow pace, I liked the little windows into John's life, and I found myself thinking, "oh, yeah, I too am like this". It's difficult and vulnerable to be earnest, and I appreciated his earnestness.

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toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

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5.0

the irony of leaving a 5 star scale review on a book that has so much commentary on the 5 star scale is not lost on me, and initially I didn't want to review it for that reason, but I loved it so much that I felt like I should tell you all that. My relationship with John Green as an author goes back almost 10 years. I've always loved his books, his Tumblr posts, and to borrow a line from TFIOS, I would read his grocery lists. Through his fiction he has always captured humanity through such a beautiful and sometimes ugly lense and so when I found out he was coming out with essays on the human condition, I was signed up immediately. It did exactly what I thought it would do. It brought me comfort, made me cry, made me laugh...specifically the chapters "Auld Lang Syne" and "Sycamore Tree" really got me. He reviews things that seem trivial like Dr. Pepper and then a chapter later he's talking about the meaning of life itself. I've really never read anything like this and at the same time I feel like I've read this before because the person who wrote it seems so familiar to me.

For its insight, it's softness in this rough time, and for keeping me company when I can't sleep at night, I give John Green's the anthropocene reviewed 5 stars.

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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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5.0

I rarely read non-fiction—in fact, I always tease my dad because it’s the only genre he does read, and I think that’s a bit sad—but I knew from the first page that I would love this book. I haven’t picked up a John Green book since high school, and even then the only one I really liked was The Fault in Our Stars, but I kept hearing about this book (thanks, Booktok!) and had to check it out.

Picture this: I’m laying on a Puerto Rican beach reading this book and hoping that my sunglasses provide enough camouflage that the other beachgoers can’t see me crying. I’ve always been a crier, especially where books are concerned, but I didn’t expect a book of essays (nonfiction, at that!) to set me off, especially not the very first one. But that’s what happened when I read Green’s essay on “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” the Rodgers and Hammerstein Carousel song-turned-Liverpool Football Club anthem (being a fan of the Reds myself). Other essays that stood out were the ones on humanity’s temporal range and sunsets (I love Green’s point that just because something is cliche or “basic” doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it!). My point is, you don’t have to be a nonfiction lover to enjoy this delightful book.

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voidboi's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.75

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mariaeileen's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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