World Made by Hand: A Novel
by James Howard Kunstler
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Book Reviews of World Made by Hand: A Novel
Book Review: If the world doesn't end by fire . .
Summary: 4 Stars
For me, one of the most fascinating things about this particular post-apocalyptic story is that the world or at least civilization as we know it didn't collapse in any sort of huge, big fiery moment. Rather, civilization just begins to slowly erode and perhaps implode upon itself. The way Kunstler tells it, first technology and the energy grid start to break down, then disease sweeps through your society carrying off everyone that you loved, then some sort of civil disorder breaks out, and gradually there's no central government, no transportation, no commnications infrastrcuture, no "globalization" -- and you find yourself tuning into a radio that sometimes cuts through the bleakness wondering if you can get a little news about the outside world. For me, the most stark thing about Kunstler's vision is that eight or ten years after the breakdown is mostly complete, you will find yourself in a situation where you seldom travel more than five or so miles from your house, your neighbors are the only people you know about or care about (so much for celebrities or any of the other information we presently clog our minds with)and the life you once had has receded so far into your mind that you frequently wonder if it was ever even real, or if it was in fact just an illusion. Again and again, we get that image of Robert Earle tuning in to his radio admitting that he has no idea who the president is, or where the president is (after the bombs went off in LA and DC)-- and admitting that in any case it makes very little difference to his day to day life in which there are crops to pick, cows to milk and his fondest wish is someday to own a horse of his own.
The book I found myself comparing it to was Geraldine Brook's "Year of wonders" as well as a minor history classic called "a World Lit Only By Fire." The interesting thing is that these are both books about medieval Europe -- but the social structures described, the day to day life and the mindset are so similar. I found myself wondering if Kunstler was familiar with either of these books or if he had read them in his research.
I found this book in some ways profoundly spiritual. Kunstler simply matter of factly relates that someone used to be a professor, while someone else worked on wall street -- but now everyone is a farmer or even a peasant, if he's forced to work for someone else. The question you find yourself asking is "who would I be if I were to lose everything that I presently think of as defining who I am -- my family, my career, my house, my possessions, my dreams and aspirations"? In such a situation, how would I cope with the choices which Kunstler's characters are asked to make about good and evil, about faith and community? In this regard Kunstler's writing is more like Sozhenitsyn's, or some of the writers who emerged from the Holocaust. This book will certainly engage you, provides a wonderful vehicle for discussion in a book group, might just scare the pants off of you (for example, the first event in the avalanche of events that led to the breakdown of civilization is "the Mexican flu" -- sound familiar, anyone?)and will definitely make you think. Highly recommended.
Book Review: Pick a world made by a hand other than Kuntzler's! There are much better choices out there in this genre.
Summary: 2 Stars
Interesting concept, poor writing, lots of pompous pontification
I am open to the concept of a collapsing society, and while I am not convinced that this will happen in the next few decades, it is certainly a possibility. I enjoy this genre of fiction, and I have a great deal of respect for McCarthy's The Road for its masterful, poetic writing and profound themes, for Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl for its handling of a multitude of modern dangers and compelling plot, and for Atwood's Oryx and Crake for its bold premise of humanity re-engineered and also for its fluid writing.
Kuntsler's World Made by Hand, on the other hand, also contains interesting and important ideas, but these are masked by the poor, overly explicit presentation of Kuntzler's world view, and by poor writing, wrought with cliches.
Example one: "with his bare hands" This is how the book's villain is tagged by Kuntzler. The villain is suspected of strangling his first wife "with his bare hands," and that trite phrase is repeated a few times.
Example two: This same villain was a motorhead before the collapse, someone who loved snowmobiles, four wheelers, and NASCAR, and who didn't seem at peace without the whir of an engine next to him. OK, I'm a backcountry skiier and whitewater kayaker and I have no great love for snowmobiles or jet skis, but I don't look down on people who do like these things. No, I don't want a snowmobiler ruining a the atmosphere of a national park with the roar of the engine, but I am prepared to compromise with snowmobilers who also pay taxes and thus support national parks. This villain is two dimensional, a bit like the bad guys cruising around on the oil tanker in Waterworld, and all of us, redneck, yuppie, hippie, and executive are party to the imposition of possibly great social and environmental costs to future generations due to our consumption.
Example three: Every few paragraphs Kuntzler indulges in moralistic asides about discount stores or some other irresponsible behavior of modern capitalistic society. I recognize that free-market fundamentalism is a problem in modern society, perhaps our greatest current problem, but better authors show this instead of telling it.
This is more like a hybrid between an essay and fiction, and while I respect Kuntzler's efforts, there is better stuff out there.
Book Review: Good, though not unique, story
Summary: 4 Stars
Speculative "post-earth-changing-event" fiction set in a time slightly in our future, about 20 years after the United States economy collapsed due to the lack of availability of oil, there were several nuclear bombs dropped on major cities, and this was followed with a couple of serious flu epidemics which depopulated the country to about a quarter of its former self.
The folks of Union Grove, a smallish town in upstate New York, like everyone else in the country, live in a whole new world. A world without cars, electricity, and supermarkets. A world without mass-produced goods, medicines, and a world where former bank presidents and real estate agents work in the fields like peasants in days of yore. The middle-aged ones still clearly remember the days of cell phones, computer and commuter trains. The younger ones--and there aren't that many, since exposure to the flu viruses seem to have sterilized most people--gape in awe as their elders try to explain what a car is and how it used magic fluid to 'drive.' It wasn't necessarily the smartest folks who survived--it was those who were adaptable to change, who were willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work.
This is the story of a month or so in the life of Union Grove, primarily of Robert Earle, a forty-seven-year-old former software executive who is now a carpenter, earning his keep (most business is conducted by barter) by repairing and revamping things around town. Several different factions exist in the area, including a big farm cooperative, a gang of hoodlums who run the 'general store' which sells salvaged goods, and a rather freaky religious cult. What this story tells us is that regardless of how much things have changed, some things remain constant: the capacity for human beings to do evil, and the capacity for human beings to do good, and that the capacity for both resides within each of us.
This was a good story, an interesting story with a few well-fleshed and real characters that you came to care about (although a lot of the secondary ones seemed to be almost caricatures in a way) and it was a well-written story, but it wasn't a truly unique concept and the book seemed to run out of steam at the end. I'm reminded of Pat Frank's 1959 classic Alas, Babylon, among others. Definitely worth a read though if you enjoy this sort of book.
Book Review: A low-key P/A novel
Summary: 3 Stars
After grimacing through "The Road," this novel was a welcome relief. I gathered that the author didn't care for much in our modern American society, and that's alright, since there's lots to criticize. The book is divided into 65 manageable chapters and the protagonist tells the story in first-person narrative. There are some violent scenes, but not too many. Most of that kind of action takes place in the latter part of the story.
I enjoyed the story, overall, but it was really kind of low-key, and I didn't think the narrator was too much of a leader, but he was adequate. I wished he had spent less time talking about old songs and such, but it wasn't too bad. My feelings about the story are rather lukewarm because not too much was happening, I didn't know what the goals were, and the story ended on pretty much the same note that it started with. I didn't understand why the cult leader, Brother Jobe, was given such a positive role, and why he seemed to be more effective than the narrator in getting things done. I also didn't understand why two individuals, who died at different places and times, seemingly died with identical wounds and injuries. What was the point of that?
I think I agree with the author about many of his put-downs of the habits and gizmos of most modern Americans, so I'm not faulting him for that. I just couldn't get too excited about most of the events related in the story, especially the many festivals and celebrations, but I didn't have to force myself to endure the story as I did Cormac McCarthy's tome, so I give it 3 stars overall, and not more, because I couldn't feel passionate about the book.
I've been reading all the post-Apocalyptic novels I can get my hands on, and it's disappointing that there's so few, but I think Earth Abides was probably the best of the lot, though I gave my thoughts on its limitations in the review of that book. With the world climate the way it is, and the global recession, and rabid terrorists looking for victims they can kill for the glory of God, it would seem this type of novel should be quite popular. Let's hope there are more entries into the field, and some that give thought to a renewal of civilization; in brief, realistic hopes for a possible future. I guess this was what I missed in Kunstler's novel.
Book Review: After the apocalypse, the simple life isn't so simple
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a bit baffled by some of the low ratings some reviewers have given this fantastic novel. Two possible rationales: First is that readers of Kunstler's non fiction (depicting a bleak future for humanity) may be bummed out that this fictional post apocalyptic story doesn't have a harder edge or even more depressing tone. Personally, I think that making the world of the story harsh but not overly primitive allowed the story to actually be a "story" instead of just cannibalistic survival (such as depicted in The Road, as an example). Second, the book admittedly comes to a very abrupt ending with a mystical twist right at the end that can be seen as a convenient injection of Deus ex Machina to wrap things up, as others have pointed out. I have a sneaky suspicion that it was done to make sure readers get the next installment (Witch of Hebron, on my reading list), but I am willing to give him some slack on that (and since I know book 2 is out and I don't have to wait a year to buy it).
The point here is that anyone who soaks up post apocalyptic fiction will find every ingredient for a novel that sucks you up into a possible future that isn't as far fetched as people might want to believe. Personally I loved the characters, even if some are more thinly fleshed out than one would want in an opening book of a probable series. The world in the small town of Union Grove was believable to me, the apathy of the residents at the start of the story felt legitimate, the outside world is depicted in a way that I could buy, and the story itself immersed me in the simple way of life Kunstler has envisioned after the oils is gone and the bombs have dropped. He doesn't show radiation or armies or roaming death squads, that hardcore collapse occurs before this story begins, but in letting the dust settle for a few years after humanity's collapse, he let's us see a glimpse of the process of picking up and carrying on.
For me, World Made by Hand had everything a good post apocalyptic book needs, and it also had something that many in this genre don't have: namely a undertone of hope and an intimate look at how life would be if people literally had to redefine what they stood for and what civilization really means. I wholeheartedly recommend it.