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A review by smart_as_paint
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green
4.0
“Find a place you trust and then try trusting it for a while.”
Corita Kent
The Anthropoce Reviewed
My first exposure to John Green began in the most John Green way imaginable. I was 16 and my first girlfriend left for spring break with her family to a cabin without internet. My near-constant stream of reaffirmation suddenly ran dry. I was on my own, my thoughts a whirlpool I would only later learn to label "anxiety". Through the imagined seduction of rugged park rangers and/or surprisingly tender cryptids— I became convinced she would leave me and I would have to return to a world in which I was, once again, unlovable.
In a desperate attempt to wrangle my wandering mind, I started organizing my family's middle-class Lego heap while listening to audiobooks. My familiarity with Looking for Alaska consisted entirely of rumors about adult content. And when you're 16, that's reason enough to buy an audiobook on the family Audible account.
I devoured Looking for Alaska. One 7-hour Lego session later, I lay on my back in a slowly expanding puddle of my own tears. It's a sad book— but tears are rarely so simple. For the first time in my book-reading life, I felt an author give voice to a particular set of experiences that felt reserved for me and me alone. It seems so simple now, but the conclusion that there are other people who think like you is a radical one the first time you really feel it. John Green was the right author at the right time and his words felt like fate. And I don't believe in fate. But I also don't have a better puzzle piece, so fate will have to do.
If you are an anxious millennial growing up in the 2010s, there are few better favorite authors to have than John Green. There was never a shortage of new material. I burned through the rest of the mainline books and discovered the Green-o-sphere.Through Vlog Brothers, Crash Course, the Swindon Town Swoodilypoopers, and many many more— I had near unlimited access to my favorite author. John and his brother Hank Green were a life preserver and I consumed everything they made with deathgrip. This is— even at the best of times— a dangerous space to inhabit. And the 2010s were not the best of times.
Now, how do I review The Anthropocene Reviewed? Certainly not with any objectivity. We're a decade late for that party.
For the well-seasoned John Green fan, there is nothing new here. This is a pure encapsulation of the JohnGreenisms that I've been reading about since I was in high school. Before opening the cover, I could guess what was contained within. John Green loves to write about Liverpool and Dr. Pepper and The Mountain Goats— about the stumbles of the past and hope for the future. I knew that he would use too many quotes and punctuate his prose with simple yet profound statements. I knew that I was going to read "Like humans, Canada Geese usually mate for life, although sometimes unhappily" (57) and I knew that I was going to love that sentence.
Reading the Anthropocene Reviewed doesn't feel like reading a new book. It feels like coming home and sitting in a well-worn La-Z-Boy. It's impossible for me to know how you would like this beloved seat, but I've sat in it for a long time. And now it just feels like home.
I give The Anthropocene Reviewed four stars.
My Favorite Fact that didn't make it into today's Review: While listening to Looking For Alaska, I finished sorting the Lego and, noticing my large quantity of red bricks, decided to build the Golden Gate Bridge. That bridge still stands, watching over the dining room in my mother's house.
Corita Kent
The Anthropoce Reviewed
My first exposure to John Green began in the most John Green way imaginable. I was 16 and my first girlfriend left for spring break with her family to a cabin without internet. My near-constant stream of reaffirmation suddenly ran dry. I was on my own, my thoughts a whirlpool I would only later learn to label "anxiety". Through the imagined seduction of rugged park rangers and/or surprisingly tender cryptids— I became convinced she would leave me and I would have to return to a world in which I was, once again, unlovable.
In a desperate attempt to wrangle my wandering mind, I started organizing my family's middle-class Lego heap while listening to audiobooks. My familiarity with Looking for Alaska consisted entirely of rumors about adult content. And when you're 16, that's reason enough to buy an audiobook on the family Audible account.
I devoured Looking for Alaska. One 7-hour Lego session later, I lay on my back in a slowly expanding puddle of my own tears. It's a sad book— but tears are rarely so simple. For the first time in my book-reading life, I felt an author give voice to a particular set of experiences that felt reserved for me and me alone. It seems so simple now, but the conclusion that there are other people who think like you is a radical one the first time you really feel it. John Green was the right author at the right time and his words felt like fate. And I don't believe in fate. But I also don't have a better puzzle piece, so fate will have to do.
If you are an anxious millennial growing up in the 2010s, there are few better favorite authors to have than John Green. There was never a shortage of new material. I burned through the rest of the mainline books and discovered the Green-o-sphere.Through Vlog Brothers, Crash Course, the Swindon Town Swoodilypoopers, and many many more— I had near unlimited access to my favorite author. John and his brother Hank Green were a life preserver and I consumed everything they made with deathgrip. This is— even at the best of times— a dangerous space to inhabit. And the 2010s were not the best of times.
Now, how do I review The Anthropocene Reviewed? Certainly not with any objectivity. We're a decade late for that party.
For the well-seasoned John Green fan, there is nothing new here. This is a pure encapsulation of the JohnGreenisms that I've been reading about since I was in high school. Before opening the cover, I could guess what was contained within. John Green loves to write about Liverpool and Dr. Pepper and The Mountain Goats— about the stumbles of the past and hope for the future. I knew that he would use too many quotes and punctuate his prose with simple yet profound statements. I knew that I was going to read "Like humans, Canada Geese usually mate for life, although sometimes unhappily" (57) and I knew that I was going to love that sentence.
Reading the Anthropocene Reviewed doesn't feel like reading a new book. It feels like coming home and sitting in a well-worn La-Z-Boy. It's impossible for me to know how you would like this beloved seat, but I've sat in it for a long time. And now it just feels like home.
I give The Anthropocene Reviewed four stars.
My Favorite Fact that didn't make it into today's Review: While listening to Looking For Alaska, I finished sorting the Lego and, noticing my large quantity of red bricks, decided to build the Golden Gate Bridge. That bridge still stands, watching over the dining room in my mother's house.