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ebashkova's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
relaxing
fast-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Eating disorder and Mental illness
jadehusdanhicks's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
This book is an enigmatic ode to life in the form of essays written by famed author John Green. They consider the Anthropocene which is the current geological age (for example your Anthropocene is whatever you live through).
These essays are incredibly moving at points, they can make you laugh and cry as well as provide fun snippets of information you never knew. Throughout them all John often references back to his personal experiences with his mental health which is incredibly written and moving to those who can relate.
As a burns victim myself one which stuck with me was “googling strangers” which circles around his time as a chaplain in a hospital when a young burns victim came in. He lived years not knowing this kids fate but eventually googled him and was relieved to see the child survived and grew up to live a fulfilling life and as a victim of similar injuries it was moving to see someone similar mentioned and written not as inspiration porn but to show progress and growth despite barriers you may face.
Overall I was suprised how much I loved this book and will definitely return to it in future.
These essays are incredibly moving at points, they can make you laugh and cry as well as provide fun snippets of information you never knew. Throughout them all John often references back to his personal experiences with his mental health which is incredibly written and moving to those who can relate.
As a burns victim myself one which stuck with me was “googling strangers” which circles around his time as a chaplain in a hospital when a young burns victim came in. He lived years not knowing this kids fate but eventually googled him and was relieved to see the child survived and grew up to live a fulfilling life and as a victim of similar injuries it was moving to see someone similar mentioned and written not as inspiration porn but to show progress and growth despite barriers you may face.
Overall I was suprised how much I loved this book and will definitely return to it in future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Vomit, Mental illness, Cancer, and War
hollydyer328's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
I have read (and enjoyed) Turtles All the Way Down, and coming to John Green’s nonfiction in these essays definitely helped me understand where the protagonist with her obsessive thoughts came from.
Of the 49 essays that are in the audiobook, I genuinely enjoyed 3 of them and was surprised by another 3. For the rest of the time, it felt like random musings and wanderings in Green’s head. He writes about a wide spectrum of disparate topics, tells the historical context, and ties it to some aspect of the human experience that is usually pretty disturbing and depressing. Especially in the audiobook, his anxiety and despair about the human situation comes out in most of the essays. There were few essays that reflected on the high points of the human experience, and a lot of the essays went dark in unexpected ways that would lead to despair with no solution. Basically I felt like I was inside his anxious brain for 11 hours and it makes me wonder how he even handles his own brain.
Generally, this book was too long and felt all over the place—if it was shorter with a more selective choice of essays that related to each other in a more explicit way, maybe it would have been more enjoyable.
Of the 49 essays that are in the audiobook, I genuinely enjoyed 3 of them and was surprised by another 3. For the rest of the time, it felt like random musings and wanderings in Green’s head. He writes about a wide spectrum of disparate topics, tells the historical context, and ties it to some aspect of the human experience that is usually pretty disturbing and depressing. Especially in the audiobook, his anxiety and despair about the human situation comes out in most of the essays. There were few essays that reflected on the high points of the human experience, and a lot of the essays went dark in unexpected ways that would lead to despair with no solution. Basically I felt like I was inside his anxious brain for 11 hours and it makes me wonder how he even handles his own brain.
Generally, this book was too long and felt all over the place—if it was shorter with a more selective choice of essays that related to each other in a more explicit way, maybe it would have been more enjoyable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Death
kathrynmaggiex's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This is my new favorite book. I can’t stop recommending it to people. If you need to feel some hope about humanity, this is a great read. It’s a perfect combination of interesting (and funny) facts about history and deeply moving personal narrative, with some philosophical analysis thrown in there. I feel like if I read this book enough times, I would eventually come to understand the meaning of life. I listened to the audiobook with the author’s narration — I highly recommend this format, as it’s much more powerful hearing it in John’s voice. I give The Anthropocene Reviewed five stars.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Pandemic/Epidemic
lauramcc7's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
rallsley's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75
This is my first John Green book experience, but not my first experience of him. My first experience involve my boyfriend introducing me to VlogBrothers when talking about fond pre-college memories. I have since married this boyfriend and in turn he successfully made me a Nerdfighter. But I was still a jock at heart and reading was still off the table until this year when, as Green puts it, my entire life turned into a "What's the Point?" game.
Read this if you want to learn about the author, the man who has been present since before YouTube and now emerging from the "post" Covid-19 pandemic world. Be enlightened with new ways to describe the fuzzy static that happens during a panic attack with the familiar prose of a John Green video (probably the books too but again, haven't read them. Yet)
Only losing 0.25 because I' m mad i didnt think of this memoir format first, I give The Anthropocene Reviewed 4.75 stars.
Read this if you want to learn about the author, the man who has been present since before YouTube and now emerging from the "post" Covid-19 pandemic world. Be enlightened with new ways to describe the fuzzy static that happens during a panic attack with the familiar prose of a John Green video (probably the books too but again, haven't read them. Yet)
Only losing 0.25 because I' m mad i didnt think of this memoir format first, I give The Anthropocene Reviewed 4.75 stars.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Medical content
Minor: Alcohol and Death
cozy_tea_reader's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
5.0
I really enjoyed this audiobook - I felt like I learned more about the world and about the author and I definitely want to check out more of John Greens Books now!!
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Grief
ti1453's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Beautiful, surreal, sappy, and real— 5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
amyappy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This may be one of my favorite bits of writing I've picked up in quite a long time (perhaps since I read Clint Smith's How the Word Is Passed). I am excited to share pieces of this with my students, too, but it's wonderful and worth reading just on its own without needing to be "instructive" or "good for you". I listened to this (and Clint Smith's book as well) on audiobook, read by the author, which I highly, highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide, Mental illness, and Child death
nutmegandselkie's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic and Grief
Moderate: Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Child death