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akemi_666's review against another edition
4.0
One of the saddest books I've ever read.
While there are plenty of books, films, and games that depict the fallout of environmental devastation, there are fewer that depict the apocalypse itself. Perhaps because we're already living it. A world where the people who have poisoned the earth also sell the means of purification to its ruined subjects, consumer-clients who must protect what little space they can afford amidst dust storms, undrinkable water, and toxic foods. As the state rescinds social welfare and colludes with corporate interests, freedom shrinks to the level of the individual, to biopolitical self-management. Modulations through cycles of devastation and alleviation, without the possibility of restoration.
Post-anarchists try to live on the fringes of society, yet cannot escape the effects of pollution and ecological collapse. They ship worms from overseas, because the indigenous worms have died. Eco-terrorists bomb the forums of industry leaders. These leaders respond with jet fighters, shooting pacifist communities unconnected to the event, because they bear the same signifier of dissidence. Philanthropists ship food parcels to the countries they've devastated through unsustainable farming practices. The food parcels are laced with deliriants. Lumpenproletarian nihilists, with nothing left to lose, attempt to gain access to these parcels. An endless bad trip to end what began as the same. To go out in a mad rage. To rip apart a world already bifurcated and set against itself. The military open fire on them with lethal force.
I don't know how to express this feeling.
There was once a sky, and stars and light. There was once water, clear and blue and green. There was once dirt, rich and fragrant. Beams of light through leaves, sparkling gold.
There was once birds.
When I went to Tokyo, you could hear them singing around the city. You couldn't see them, because they didn't exist, anymore. They cried out of speakers, tucked in concrete folds, hidden from sight. You'd remember nothing but their trace. The next day, rain poured, falling on my skin in streaks of black. It was acid.
A week later, I was in Seoul. There were days when the dust was so thick, I could barely see the horizon. I could barely see the street. Buildings rose out of the dust like giants, like there was nothing beneath them, like the earth no longer existed. I saw an endless grid of towers. They were like fingers. Reaching for a sky that strained to be blue.
While there are plenty of books, films, and games that depict the fallout of environmental devastation, there are fewer that depict the apocalypse itself. Perhaps because we're already living it. A world where the people who have poisoned the earth also sell the means of purification to its ruined subjects, consumer-clients who must protect what little space they can afford amidst dust storms, undrinkable water, and toxic foods. As the state rescinds social welfare and colludes with corporate interests, freedom shrinks to the level of the individual, to biopolitical self-management. Modulations through cycles of devastation and alleviation, without the possibility of restoration.
Post-anarchists try to live on the fringes of society, yet cannot escape the effects of pollution and ecological collapse. They ship worms from overseas, because the indigenous worms have died. Eco-terrorists bomb the forums of industry leaders. These leaders respond with jet fighters, shooting pacifist communities unconnected to the event, because they bear the same signifier of dissidence. Philanthropists ship food parcels to the countries they've devastated through unsustainable farming practices. The food parcels are laced with deliriants. Lumpenproletarian nihilists, with nothing left to lose, attempt to gain access to these parcels. An endless bad trip to end what began as the same. To go out in a mad rage. To rip apart a world already bifurcated and set against itself. The military open fire on them with lethal force.
I don't know how to express this feeling.
There was once a sky, and stars and light. There was once water, clear and blue and green. There was once dirt, rich and fragrant. Beams of light through leaves, sparkling gold.
There was once birds.
When I went to Tokyo, you could hear them singing around the city. You couldn't see them, because they didn't exist, anymore. They cried out of speakers, tucked in concrete folds, hidden from sight. You'd remember nothing but their trace. The next day, rain poured, falling on my skin in streaks of black. It was acid.
A week later, I was in Seoul. There were days when the dust was so thick, I could barely see the horizon. I could barely see the street. Buildings rose out of the dust like giants, like there was nothing beneath them, like the earth no longer existed. I saw an endless grid of towers. They were like fingers. Reaching for a sky that strained to be blue.
bookaneer's review against another edition
1.0
DNF at 50%.
Why? Because to me the book reads like this:
Boring character (3 paragraphs)
Random horrible event
Flat character (4 paragraphs)
Main horrible event
Boring character (wait, did he/she appear before? I could not remember)
Random horrible event
Uninteresting character (3 paragraphs)
Snippet about main/random horrible event
Dull character (4 paragraphs)
Random horrible event
....ad infinitum.
I think I will appreciate the book better if 1) it's better written/edited (the sentences are so sloppy/choppy, narrative disjointed) because it is so frustrating to read and 2) if I read it in the 70s or 80s. Now, it feels like reading a news compilation but taken to the extreme. I might be so desensitized already so it is no longer fascinating.
Why? Because to me the book reads like this:
Boring character (3 paragraphs)
Random horrible event
Flat character (4 paragraphs)
Main horrible event
Boring character (wait, did he/she appear before? I could not remember)
Random horrible event
Uninteresting character (3 paragraphs)
Snippet about main/random horrible event
Dull character (4 paragraphs)
Random horrible event
....ad infinitum.
I think I will appreciate the book better if 1) it's better written/edited (the sentences are so sloppy/choppy, narrative disjointed) because it is so frustrating to read and 2) if I read it in the 70s or 80s. Now, it feels like reading a news compilation but taken to the extreme. I might be so desensitized already so it is no longer fascinating.
arthurbdd's review against another edition
5.0
Though sometimes unsubtle, The Sheep Look Up is so devastatingly accurate in its predictions - both of the direction we were going in, and our abject inability to change it - that it remains a classic. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/baaa-humbug/
bogumila's review against another edition
4.0
Jakim cudem nikt tego jeszcze nie zekranizował?!
Połączenie Huxleya, Orwella i Atwood, brud, syf i plastik, czyli generalnie nasza super rzeczywistość i nieświetlana niedaleka przyszłość w jednym mocnym uderzeniu.
Niby na początku jeszcze się jakoś to wszystko trzyma na słowo honoru, ale mniej więcej w połowie widać już jak pękają szwy i uśmiechy na twarzach wszystkich. Ale co z tego jak potem i tak je zaszyją i udadzą, że nic się nie stało.
Książka ważna, ale nie wiem czy cokolwiek jest w stanie w świadomości ludzi zmienić. Jesteśmy dokładnie tacy jak opisuje Bruner, ślepi, ignoranccy i raczej ratunku dla nas nie widać.. Jak to mówią: "ofiary własnego sukcesu".
Połączenie Huxleya, Orwella i Atwood, brud, syf i plastik, czyli generalnie nasza super rzeczywistość i nieświetlana niedaleka przyszłość w jednym mocnym uderzeniu.
Niby na początku jeszcze się jakoś to wszystko trzyma na słowo honoru, ale mniej więcej w połowie widać już jak pękają szwy i uśmiechy na twarzach wszystkich. Ale co z tego jak potem i tak je zaszyją i udadzą, że nic się nie stało.
Książka ważna, ale nie wiem czy cokolwiek jest w stanie w świadomości ludzi zmienić. Jesteśmy dokładnie tacy jak opisuje Bruner, ślepi, ignoranccy i raczej ratunku dla nas nie widać.. Jak to mówią: "ofiary własnego sukcesu".
atsumori's review
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
alexreadsd9aa4's review
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
magentabyfive's review
1.0
I tried I got 50% through the book and didn't care. To disjointed for me to really get into.
innae's review
3.0
I think I may have missed some of the nuances by listening to this rather than reading it. Saying that - this is a super creepy book. 1972, but feels like it could be written about today. in the US - Filtered water is a necessity because the oceans are a mess, people regularly wear masks in the city (truth for China, and other parts of the world), the birth rate is declining, the ecofolks have become terrorists (because that is the ONLY way anyone is paying attention). If you have money, you are still doing ok, but even money isn't going to save you. Life is bad. and if things don't change in my world, this could be MY WORLD. scary.
canislatrans's review
4.0
This book seemed like entertaining hyperbole when I first read it 30 some years ago… Now it seems frighteningly prescient. Very much worth a read even now.