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A review by baoluong
A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green
5.0
i would have been fine without a sequel but damn did i need speculative science fiction during a pandemic
Hank is back at it again with indeed another banger which I often don’t describe books. I know the first book was open ended and I was prepared to live with things being unresolved. We may not truly know what the Carls are and why April was the figurative chosen one. And to some extent that allowed me to ponder cool existential questions.
In the sequel we get a rather bizarre wrap up with lack luster enemies. If we can call them that at all. They’re more just power hungry ego maniacs who want attention no matter the cost. That might just be the most obvious analogy we have to our current climate. The integration of advance communication has connected so much knowledge but at the same time, people have found a way to exploit this tool. While Hank by no means is attempting to blame technology itself for the rampant surge of disinformation, there is something to be said when that it is not a coincidence the frequency of lies being told in a targeted manner. Anyone is susceptible to believing in the improbable given the right circumstances and with little evidence but faith to go on.
I was more or less disinterested with the battle for the future of humanity. The showdown was convoluted and the cathartic climax we hoped to get by slaying the big bad guy behind the curtains was of course disappointing. This issue stems from the very notion that we are only individuals unconnected to each other. As online platforms have proved, this is definitely not the case. So the idea that we’re all in this together and if few are suffering that is enough to rethink and change the way our system works. Yet, we face a challenge when it comes to collective wellbeing as not a loss of the person but a net gain for the whole.
I found the writing to drag a bit at times especially with the large cast of characters who I sometimes lost track of. Literally, a character was stuck in another realm for months and we just never heard from her until we needed her access to the building and general knowledge of how things worked in the lair of evil. Some of the characters were definitely annoying. Particularly, April who never manages to shake off this self aggrandizing regard only to have an epiphany that she’s not so special. I understand it’s a writing tool and it’s much deserved as she does go through hell and back to reach this inner peace. It’s just the whole speech I’m not here for and are any of us? That was a joke.
I do recommend this for fans of the first book. This is a cool science fiction novel that explores the idea that humans are indeed insignificant but that doesn’t diminish or invalidate the meaning we’ve managed to inject into our lives.
Hank is back at it again with indeed another banger which I often don’t describe books. I know the first book was open ended and I was prepared to live with things being unresolved. We may not truly know what the Carls are and why April was the figurative chosen one. And to some extent that allowed me to ponder cool existential questions.
In the sequel we get a rather bizarre wrap up with lack luster enemies. If we can call them that at all. They’re more just power hungry ego maniacs who want attention no matter the cost. That might just be the most obvious analogy we have to our current climate. The integration of advance communication has connected so much knowledge but at the same time, people have found a way to exploit this tool. While Hank by no means is attempting to blame technology itself for the rampant surge of disinformation, there is something to be said when that it is not a coincidence the frequency of lies being told in a targeted manner. Anyone is susceptible to believing in the improbable given the right circumstances and with little evidence but faith to go on.
I was more or less disinterested with the battle for the future of humanity. The showdown was convoluted and the cathartic climax we hoped to get by slaying the big bad guy behind the curtains was of course disappointing. This issue stems from the very notion that we are only individuals unconnected to each other. As online platforms have proved, this is definitely not the case. So the idea that we’re all in this together and if few are suffering that is enough to rethink and change the way our system works. Yet, we face a challenge when it comes to collective wellbeing as not a loss of the person but a net gain for the whole.
I found the writing to drag a bit at times especially with the large cast of characters who I sometimes lost track of. Literally, a character was stuck in another realm for months and we just never heard from her until we needed her access to the building and general knowledge of how things worked in the lair of evil. Some of the characters were definitely annoying. Particularly, April who never manages to shake off this self aggrandizing regard only to have an epiphany that she’s not so special. I understand it’s a writing tool and it’s much deserved as she does go through hell and back to reach this inner peace. It’s just the whole speech I’m not here for and are any of us? That was a joke.
I do recommend this for fans of the first book. This is a cool science fiction novel that explores the idea that humans are indeed insignificant but that doesn’t diminish or invalidate the meaning we’ve managed to inject into our lives.