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A review by karp76
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond
3.0
“[T]he values to which people cling most stubbornly under inappropriate conditions are those values that were previously the source of their greatest triumphs.”
(2.5 out of 5) This is a tale of two books: neither organized (well) unto themselves, though researched meticulously, gathered, and collected haphazardly and then fitted into the same box with a common lid/cover, purported however tenuously about the collapse of past society and the looming danger facing our own modern on. In the past, Diamond's writing and voice could pull the reader into the material, ease them into the subject and if not help them understand, visit with, talk with them and hope that something meaningful is taken away. "Collpase" does not offer that. There is no narrative structure or evident organization, and Diamond's voice, though present and striking, drones, rather than elevates. There is a feeling he is constantly looking down at his notes, making sure the data is there, the numbers are there, so you can believe him and the problems of the past and present least you challenge him, as some did after "Guns, Germs and Steel" (which in many ways, "Collapse feels like an continuation of that work or rather the outtakes from it, assembled here for your reading pleasure). In the end, "Collapse" collapses in on itself, too dense, too many numbers, more lecture than conversation and less than the sum of its parts.
(2.5 out of 5) This is a tale of two books: neither organized (well) unto themselves, though researched meticulously, gathered, and collected haphazardly and then fitted into the same box with a common lid/cover, purported however tenuously about the collapse of past society and the looming danger facing our own modern on. In the past, Diamond's writing and voice could pull the reader into the material, ease them into the subject and if not help them understand, visit with, talk with them and hope that something meaningful is taken away. "Collpase" does not offer that. There is no narrative structure or evident organization, and Diamond's voice, though present and striking, drones, rather than elevates. There is a feeling he is constantly looking down at his notes, making sure the data is there, the numbers are there, so you can believe him and the problems of the past and present least you challenge him, as some did after "Guns, Germs and Steel" (which in many ways, "Collapse feels like an continuation of that work or rather the outtakes from it, assembled here for your reading pleasure). In the end, "Collapse" collapses in on itself, too dense, too many numbers, more lecture than conversation and less than the sum of its parts.