Scan barcode
A review by vitsa
Notes from an Apocalypse: A Personal Journey to the End of the World and Back by Mark O'Connell
4.0
Really quick and enjoyable read. I found the writing very easy going and hilarious in places.
The book read like essays all linked by the common theme of the end of the world. I found them all interesting in their own way. I especially enjoyed the chapter on the preppers, it was very funny but also made a lot of very interesting points.
Overall it was a light read. It doesn't contain any groundbreaking revelations but I don't think that was the point. It's very much a personal account and it does contain ample interesting insights that bear thinking about. A good few observations were very apt and striking, and especially so given the current situation.
"Trump is only the most visible symptom of a disease that has long been sickening the country's blood - a rapidly metastasizing tumour of inequality, hyper-militarism, racism, surveillance, and fear that we might as well go ahead and diagnose a terminal-stage capitalism" Nothing like the response to a pandemic to confirm the diagnosis.
The book read like essays all linked by the common theme of the end of the world. I found them all interesting in their own way. I especially enjoyed the chapter on the preppers, it was very funny but also made a lot of very interesting points.
Overall it was a light read. It doesn't contain any groundbreaking revelations but I don't think that was the point. It's very much a personal account and it does contain ample interesting insights that bear thinking about. A good few observations were very apt and striking, and especially so given the current situation.
"Trump is only the most visible symptom of a disease that has long been sickening the country's blood - a rapidly metastasizing tumour of inequality, hyper-militarism, racism, surveillance, and fear that we might as well go ahead and diagnose a terminal-stage capitalism" Nothing like the response to a pandemic to confirm the diagnosis.