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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
Le concept d’imaginer une version plus petite, plus moderne et plus durable des Etats-Unis est très intéressante mais ça reste la vision d’une homme blanc américain et privilégié des années 70. Son imagination ne va pas beaucoup plus loin que d’imaginer des alternatives à peine moins polluantes aux technologies qui restent intrinsèquement liées à la société de consommation. Bref, l’auteur ne propose pas des idées très éloignées de notre réalité et sa façon de nous les présenter ne fait pas rêver non plus. L’aspect le plus pertinent reste finalement la comparaison entre ce qu’un auteur des années 80 imaginait pour le futur et la réalité de notre présent.
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"Ecotopia" is a critical utopia from the American environmentalist movement of the 1970s. Our narrator, William Weston, is a journalist from NY sent to observe Ecotopia society and explore the possibility of reunification with mainland USA.
It is set in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, which have broken away from the US to form a provincial and isolated utopia. They reject the incentive structure of capitalism and the values of the Protestant Work Ethic in favor of ecological homeostasis and a "back to nature" culture. The book offers us a panoramic view of this society as Weston slowly begins to appreciate the benefits of such convictions.
There is plenty to be critical of this book as a story: it proceeds from essentialist motions of gender, race, and indigeneity, and the narrator is not likable. But the value of this book lies in its extrapolation and speculation. What would our society look like if minimizing waste and promoting the dignity of all organic life were our top priorities? How might that change our relationships to work, consumption, and the way we spend our time?
There are both socialist and libertarian strains of thought that weave through the world building in this text, making it especially interesting to read in today's political climate. While some of Callenbach's ideas have been absorbed into popular environmentalist ideology, other ideas have not and strike the reader as surprising and challenging.
Overall, it achieved the admirable goal of getting readers to reflect on the material and social composition of their lives. It paves a way for imagining what better ecological values could tangibly look like in our world.
It is set in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, which have broken away from the US to form a provincial and isolated utopia. They reject the incentive structure of capitalism and the values of the Protestant Work Ethic in favor of ecological homeostasis and a "back to nature" culture. The book offers us a panoramic view of this society as Weston slowly begins to appreciate the benefits of such convictions.
There is plenty to be critical of this book as a story: it proceeds from essentialist motions of gender, race, and indigeneity, and the narrator is not likable. But the value of this book lies in its extrapolation and speculation. What would our society look like if minimizing waste and promoting the dignity of all organic life were our top priorities? How might that change our relationships to work, consumption, and the way we spend our time?
There are both socialist and libertarian strains of thought that weave through the world building in this text, making it especially interesting to read in today's political climate. While some of Callenbach's ideas have been absorbed into popular environmentalist ideology, other ideas have not and strike the reader as surprising and challenging.
Overall, it achieved the admirable goal of getting readers to reflect on the material and social composition of their lives. It paves a way for imagining what better ecological values could tangibly look like in our world.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
challenging
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
DNF. I read a little more than half of Ecotopia, and just found it a slog. I was eager to read some fiction on a hypothetical greener future (especially since this book has been hailed as one of the first instances of what has come to be known as Solarpunk), but the whole world felt unrealistic and underdeveloped. It was overly-idealistic, to the extent that I felt there was nothing in this hypothetical future that might actually be an inspiration for our own reality. The world also had some glaring holes, which mostly boil down to the book being dated, but ended up seriously detracting from the feasibility of the world. This was specifically obvious when it came to race. All the characters and the culture described read very much as White; Black folks had relegated themselves to their own neighborhoods and ruled themselves under a separate government (yes, the Black Separatist movement was very popular at the time the book was written); and the only mention of Native Americans was in reference to how common it was for Ecotopians to adopt "Indian-style" names and refer to "ancient" Native cultural knowledge and ideas to inform their own worldviews. There was no mention of people of any other race, ethnicity, or cultural heritage.
The whole book is set up as a combination of news articles written by the protagonist, followed by journal entries from that same protagonist. The articles provided the majority of explicit information on how Ecotopia functioned, while the journal entries offered a personal touch. I leafed through the rest of the book after the half-way point just to see if I could get a more informed view of what Callenbach had envisioned for race relations in this world, as well as to see if there were any other sections that seemed worth reading. I didn't really find anything, which was a major reason why I decided to put this book down prematurely. The other reason I lost interest was that so much of the content in the journal entries was taken up by the protagonist being annoying and horny, and above all extremely boring. I had no interest in forcing myself to read more of that.
I still like the idea of speculative fiction on a green future, but this just didn't do anything for me.
The whole book is set up as a combination of news articles written by the protagonist, followed by journal entries from that same protagonist. The articles provided the majority of explicit information on how Ecotopia functioned, while the journal entries offered a personal touch. I leafed through the rest of the book after the half-way point just to see if I could get a more informed view of what Callenbach had envisioned for race relations in this world, as well as to see if there were any other sections that seemed worth reading. I didn't really find anything, which was a major reason why I decided to put this book down prematurely. The other reason I lost interest was that so much of the content in the journal entries was taken up by the protagonist being annoying and horny, and above all extremely boring. I had no interest in forcing myself to read more of that.
I still like the idea of speculative fiction on a green future, but this just didn't do anything for me.
slow-paced
Enfin fini...
Des idées intéressantes mais c'était bcp trop lent et écrit par un cliché d'homme américain
Des idées intéressantes mais c'était bcp trop lent et écrit par un cliché d'homme américain
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The 3 stars rating is the average of two different ratings this book deserves:
5 stars for the concept, ideas, and inspiration this book generates
1 star for how he treats women as mostly sexual objects.
I first read this book in the late '70s during my time living in a hippy commune and I recently decided to revisit this seminal environmental novel. What I remembered about this book were the aspects that I rated 5 stars - the concept, the thoughtfulness of the solutions Callenbach proposed. What I had forgotten were the 1 star aspects of the book - Callenbachs sexist treatment of women, who are mostly sexual objects. For example, when the protagonist ends up in the hospital, his female nurse provides nursing services that include felation during a sponge bath, and later intercourse when he is well enough to perform.
Although Callenbach speaks of a society where women are the equal of men, his portrayal of women in this book comes straight out of the 1950s when Callenbach was coming of age. It's really a shame because there are so many great aspects to this book, but ultimately this book has an icky feeling one gets like when a 90 year-old relative sexualizes the waitress saying she "used to be much cuter before she got chunky" (true quote). Shame on you Callenbach for being able to see in to the future when it comes to the ecology, while his view of women is solidly routed in a sexist past.
5 stars for the concept, ideas, and inspiration this book generates
1 star for how he treats women as mostly sexual objects.
I first read this book in the late '70s during my time living in a hippy commune and I recently decided to revisit this seminal environmental novel. What I remembered about this book were the aspects that I rated 5 stars - the concept, the thoughtfulness of the solutions Callenbach proposed. What I had forgotten were the 1 star aspects of the book - Callenbachs sexist treatment of women, who are mostly sexual objects. For example, when the protagonist ends up in the hospital, his female nurse provides nursing services that include felation during a sponge bath, and later intercourse when he is well enough to perform.
Although Callenbach speaks of a society where women are the equal of men, his portrayal of women in this book comes straight out of the 1950s when Callenbach was coming of age. It's really a shame because there are so many great aspects to this book, but ultimately this book has an icky feeling one gets like when a 90 year-old relative sexualizes the waitress saying she "used to be much cuter before she got chunky" (true quote). Shame on you Callenbach for being able to see in to the future when it comes to the ecology, while his view of women is solidly routed in a sexist past.
Set up like a news article as well as a diary. I enjoyed it, but sometimes it was hard to get through.
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes