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A review by annauq
Notes from an Apocalypse: A Personal Journey to the End of the World and Back by Mark O'Connell
5.0
"A question I have frequently asked myself is whether the appeal of the apocalypse, in all its vastness and finality, is that it can comfortably absorb the personal fear of death. And not just death, either, but every other ancillary fear , too - of change, of instability, of the unknown, and of the precariousness of life itself, all positions held within it."
Notes From an Apocalypse is a quiet thing, somewhere between a meditation and a lament for the state of the world, a reflection on anxiety, politics, climate, and our duty to ourselves and others. I read it in one sitting, from an e-reader that has seen more action in the last month than in its entire previous existence. It's my fourth, nearly fifth, week inside, and in many ways, the world feels like it has ended.
Irony is an understatement, but much has been said about the comfort of reading, so I won't waste any time on it here. Suffice to say that it was both cathartic and incredibly moving, and I couldn't have read it at a better time. A literary and philosophical exploration of The End, in all its abstract forms, it had me in tears on the final pages. The incredible humanity shining from the pages -whether through an anxiety-ridden musing on climate change or through a breathtaking description of a laughing child - turns Apocalypse into a celebration of the sheer absurdity of existence that made me feel (glad to be) alive.
Notes From an Apocalypse is a quiet thing, somewhere between a meditation and a lament for the state of the world, a reflection on anxiety, politics, climate, and our duty to ourselves and others. I read it in one sitting, from an e-reader that has seen more action in the last month than in its entire previous existence. It's my fourth, nearly fifth, week inside, and in many ways, the world feels like it has ended.
Irony is an understatement, but much has been said about the comfort of reading, so I won't waste any time on it here. Suffice to say that it was both cathartic and incredibly moving, and I couldn't have read it at a better time. A literary and philosophical exploration of The End, in all its abstract forms, it had me in tears on the final pages. The incredible humanity shining from the pages -whether through an anxiety-ridden musing on climate change or through a breathtaking description of a laughing child - turns Apocalypse into a celebration of the sheer absurdity of existence that made me feel (glad to be) alive.