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A review by robynlynae
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 stars. Do I feel giddy giving this book of reviews a review? Yes. Do I feel hopeless in the pressure to review this book as eloquently as John Green reviews Diet Dr. Pepper or Sunsets? Yes. Alas, I will try my best.
This book was refreshingly vulnerable and raw. It amazes me how Green can relate the most mundane day-to-day things to great existential ponderings in a way that make me feel so big and so small at the same time. On the surface, these reviews seem unconnected and even whimsical, but underneath it all this was a conversation about humanity and the experiences and emotions that connect us all.
I read this book slower than I would normally read a book and I feel like that is the perfect way to enjoy it. The essays are short and easy to read but I often felt I needed to put the book down after only a few and think on them for a while. Green has a way of writing about big and small things so that they feel the opposite. Much of this book centers on Green's experiences with mental illness and I connected with those passages most profoundly. I really appreciate how he is able to make something in my life that is so big and overwhelming feel simple. My mental health, which I struggle with and can sometimes feel insurmountable, is something that Green is able to parse out and show that it is, in fact, surmountable. In his examples of feeling so alone, I felt less so. Depression and loneliness was made small. Whispers and a dog's belly turned big.
There is a sly wit and humor generously sprinkled throughout that add levity to each essay and there were several times where I laughed out loud. It was wonderfully cathartic and I would recommend it to anyone who struggles with mental health, feeling small in this big world, or feeling any sort of affection for geese.
This book was refreshingly vulnerable and raw. It amazes me how Green can relate the most mundane day-to-day things to great existential ponderings in a way that make me feel so big and so small at the same time. On the surface, these reviews seem unconnected and even whimsical, but underneath it all this was a conversation about humanity and the experiences and emotions that connect us all.
I read this book slower than I would normally read a book and I feel like that is the perfect way to enjoy it. The essays are short and easy to read but I often felt I needed to put the book down after only a few and think on them for a while. Green has a way of writing about big and small things so that they feel the opposite. Much of this book centers on Green's experiences with mental illness and I connected with those passages most profoundly. I really appreciate how he is able to make something in my life that is so big and overwhelming feel simple. My mental health, which I struggle with and can sometimes feel insurmountable, is something that Green is able to parse out and show that it is, in fact, surmountable. In his examples of feeling so alone, I felt less so. Depression and loneliness was made small. Whispers and a dog's belly turned big.
There is a sly wit and humor generously sprinkled throughout that add levity to each essay and there were several times where I laughed out loud. It was wonderfully cathartic and I would recommend it to anyone who struggles with mental health, feeling small in this big world, or feeling any sort of affection for geese.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content and Mental illness
Minor: Death