on
3.5/5
Non-Fiction
- Get link
- Other Apps
 |
Read in hardcover at Grandma Julia's house; I borrowed Grandpa Don's copy when I saw it on his shelf.
Rating: 4.5/5
Pages: 274
Started: 4 July 2022
Finished: 4 July 2022
Summary:
The Anthropocene Reviewed is a collection of short essays on things both directly and tangentially associated with humanity. From the Canada Goose to the Indy 500, each essay comes with an out-of-five-stars rating.
Thoughts:
I originally didn't intend to read this book. It was non-fiction, after all, and it just didn't seem worth it. But then I saw it on Grandpa Don's shelf, just as I was running out of eBooks I was interested in, and decided to go for it. Now, when I get home, it'll be the first book that I buy, because it was brilliant. In not reading as much contemporary/realistic YA, I had forgotten how genius John Green's writing is. It's so witty and clever. He knows so many things, and his delivery is perfect. He is the kind of author I would give anything to know in real life. I mean. I read a four-page essay on Penguins of Madagascar and thought it was incredible. How is it even possible to be that smart and cool? I gave the book 4.5 stars not 5 because there wasn't a ton of emotion or impact, and I'm picky about what I 5-star, but I'd recommend Anthropocene to anyone interested in random stuff. I can't wait to get a copy of my own so I can re-read.
Quotes:
"Almost as if art isn't optional for humans"
"I have some way-down vibrating part of my subconscious that needs to self-destruct, at least a little bit"
"It is easy for me to feel like climate is mostly an outside phenomenon, whereas I am mostly an inside phenomenon"
"I'm not sure whether it's even possible to talk about the suffering of others without exploiting that suffering, whether you can write about pain without glorifying and ennobling or degrading it"
Words:
Anthropocene (n) the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment
Eschatology (n) the part of theology concerned with death, judgement, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind
Temporal (adj) relating to worldly as opposed to spiritual affairs; relating to time
Actuarial (adj) relating to actuaries or their work of compiling and analyzing statistics to calculate insurance risks and premiums
Commensurate (adj) corresponding in size or degree in proportion
Galley (n) a printer's proof in the form of long single-column strips, not in sheets or pages
Trimalchio (n) a character in a 1st century AD Roman work of fiction, featuring an ostentatious nouveau-riche host who was formerly a slave but became quite wealthy as a wine merchant
Parse (v) analyze (a sentence) into its parts and describe their syntactic roles
Ambivalent (adj) having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone
Quark (n) any number of subatomic particles carrying a fractional electric charge, postulated as building blocks of the hadrons. Quarks have not been directly observed but theoretical predictions based on their existence have been confirmed experimentally
Simulacrum (n) an image or representation of someone or something
Platonic Ideal (theory) a general philosophical position deriving both directly and indirectly from the writings of Plato, which holds that the phenomena of our world are to be truly known by contemplating them in their ideal forms or abstract essences
Legion (adj) many; numerous
Cultivar (n) a plant variety that has been produced in cultivation by selective breeding.
Ubiquitous (adj) present, appearing, or found everywhere
Deleterious (adj causing harm or damage
Solipsism (n) the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist
Berm (n) a flat strip of land, raised bank, or terrace bording a river or canal
Mawkish (adj) sentimental in a feeble or sick way
Balletic (adj) relating to or characteristic of ballet
Vitriolic (adj) filled with bitter criticism or malice
Huckster (n) a person who sells small items, either door-to-door or from a stall or small store
Amalgamation (n) the action, process, or result of combining or uniting
Grandiloquent (adj) pompous or extravagant in language, style, or manner, especially in a way that is intended to impress
Monolithically (adv) in a way that relates to something large whose parts are all the same or all behave in the same way
Dichotomy (n) a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different
Bourn (n) a small stream, especially one that flows intermittently or seasonally
Recursive (adj) characterized by recurrence or repetition
Inborn (adj) existing from birth
Ennobling
Morass (n) an area of muddy or boggy ground; a complicated or confused situation
Inveterate (adj) having a particular habit, activity, or interest that is long-established and unlikely to change
Microcosm (n) a community, place, or situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristic qualities or features of something much larger
Enclave (n) a portion of territory within or surrounded by a larger territory whose inhabitants are culturally or ethnically distinct
Interminable (adj) endless (often used hyperbolically)
Mealymouthed (adj) afraid to speak frankly or straightforwardly
Beatific (adj) blissfully happy
Catastrophizing (v) assuming the worst will happen
Pestilence (n) a fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague
Laud (v) praise highly, especially in a public context
Graupel (n) soft hail
Remoulade (n) a sauce closely resembling tartar sauce, made of mayo, herbs, pickles, and capers
Skeuomorph (n) an object or feature which imitates the design of a similar artifact made from another material
Nihilism (n) the rejection of all religious and moral principles in the belief that life is meaningless
Travail (n) painful or laborious effort
Scrum (n) an ordered formation of players, used to restart play in Rugby
Voltaic (adj) relating to electricity produced by chemical action in a battery
(54)