Collapse

Interesting subject, not as good as GG&S

Interesting and important subject, but I had a really hard time remaining interested in this book. I really enjoyed his other book, "Guns, Germs, and Steel". This one, however, seemed a lot more disjointed. The individual points he covers are interesting to learn, but I frequently struggled to see how they related to each other or to the theme as a whole. Towards the end it started getting very preachy (most of the book is not) and I found a few logical fallacies during his countering of opposing views (mostly "straw man"issues, like picking 2 outrageous false claims by an opponent and countering them against very mild invalid claims from members of his camp). Overall I would say I learned from the book, and it made me examine a few of my beliefs on the subject, but I would have a hard time recommending it to others.

Side note on the performance: overall, the reading was done well. Occasionally, there were major shifts in the tone and intensity of the reader's voice, from a higher pitch and higher intensity level to a softer, smoother voice. It was as though he were steadily getting more forceful in speaking, then ended for the day and resumed in a milder voice the next day. It didn't didn't really detract from the reading, but I was very aware of it each time it happened.

15 of 19 people found this review helpful

So Many Ways to Die Like a Viking

Jared Diamond uses a telescopic lens to assimilate a big picture view of the globe. It is this ability to synthesize that makes reading his books an enjoyable experience… a learning experience. But, more than a textbook look at ecological factors, Diamond touches base with what individual places mean to the world around them. He not only describes individual loss in a region, but the impact of that collapse on the world around. He describes such archeological study methods as the study of middens, tree rings, and ice cores. He discusses the problem of ‘creeping normalcy,’ ‘landscape amnesia,’ and ‘tragedy of the commons.’

 

The Mayan Civilization and the Viking Colonies take up some of the largest sections of treatment. Diamond looks at how these societies failed to respond to ecological problems. The answers he gives to the Maya problem are some of the best researched and most clear reasons I’ve seen to date. I read the book from the Kindle version with whisper-sync, narrated by Michael Prichard. I read it as a part of my Journey Around the World in 80 books while in Guatamala (The Maya Civ,) and am excited about moving ahead to the Honduras.

 

He compares the sustainability of the volcanic Iceland soil to the fragile Greenland soil, and points to the way in which the Norse Vikings failed to adapt to living conditions that were vastly different from European Norway. Two of the surprising factors of the Viking problems I noticed were that the Greenland Norse apparently did not eat fish. They insisted on trying to raise their beloved beef, though their starving & stunted cows refused to eat seaweed, and had to be force hand-fed. That is certainly maladaptive, and unlike the Vikings in the other colonies. Seriously, when in Rome, do as the Romans. When living on an island, eat fish. Second, Iceland today is one of Europe’s richest places due to exports, where it was the poorest then. But, my bet for the Greenland Vikings disappearance is that their Inuit neighbors grew tired of their less than neighborly habit of checking to see how heavily they bled when pierced with a knife. They referred to the Inuit natives as Skraelings, or “Wretches.”

 

Individually, the book lays bare the experience of a number of societies; past and present, and looks for underlying contributing factors to their demise. Besides the Maya and the Vikings; Diamond analyses the disappearance at Easter Island, Pitcairn and Henderson Islands, the Anasazi Natives of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, among others. He sheds light on the sustainability of other nearby societies, like New Guinea (and Japan) where people have maintained resources for more than a millennia with only similar ecological conditions because of the choices they made.

 

Modern societies such as the Hutu and Tutsi of Rwanda were also covered. Diamond shows how racial genocide was exacerbated by ecological problems and population density. He illustrates that the politicized racial problem was sometimes just an excuse to wipe out neighbors who had resources you needed. For example, some areas only had one Tutsi living there, yet during the massacre, Hutus killed many of their own Hutus anyways since there were no Tutsi nearby to kill. The political race bait was just the ‘match to light the keg.’ He compares and contrasts the Dominican Republic’s sustainability efforts with the lack thereof in Haiti, while both share the island of Hispaniola and a history of dictator government.

 

The book also covers the modern prospering countries of China and Australia that are on the cusp of having major ecological problems in the coming years. Throughout Diamond uses a framework of five factors that contribute to collapse: self-inflicted environmental damage, unanticipated ‘normal’ climate change, hostilities with other societies, friendly trading relations with other societies, and cultural attitudes. I highly recommend the book for those looking for a common sense, apolitical view of ecology in a global world.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Jared Diamond Downs You in Explanation

Jared Diamond explains in 60 pages, what he could probably explain in 10. I think that's what makes his books so difficult to read. He gets away with it under an academic cover, but I think he just doesn't know how to concisely make a point. That said, his books are good reads. You could probably fast forward through a few parts, but you'll do so at the risk of missing something really valuable.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Will Our World Collapse

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes,with the proviso that Collapse was written in 2005

What did you like best about this story?

That choices led to a few ,notable, societal collapses. A few societies chose to make choices that enabled their survivial.

Have you listened to any of Michael Prichard’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No I have not heard Mr. Prichard before.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Listening to the book in one sitting was impossible. Collapse was a warning and hopeful in 2005. We've added some good precautions since then and thrown others to the wind. In sum it might be less hopeful now to someone who was not prepared dot fight for ecological truths.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Slow but good

A bit slow at times but otherwise good. There is quite a political bent to the work

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Relevant but outdated

Mr Diamond’s book is still relevant but since it was published in 2005 many changes have occurred in the world. I always enjoy his work and would suggest listening to this one. You will be able to imagine how he would have modified it today.

Important info, but dry

The content, message and lessons to be learned were very interesting. I would say rather important even. However the narrator and narrative are rather dry and slow most of the time. A good read, but probably not digestible for everyone.

Love the ideas in book

The ideas presented in this book are amazing to hear, I truly love that about this book. Jared Diamond has been one of my favorite authors since I found his books in the library in college. I highly recommend this book, but I do feel it could be notably shorter without sacrificing any content. The author tends toward verbosity (more so in some chapters than others). Don't let that make you skip this book, the book is interesting all the way through and the ideas are some no one interested in this subject should be without.

Simply phenomenal!

Well the topics and the details in which they are covered in this audiobook is simply phenomenal. I also enjoy how the author looks at the subjects from multiple lenses: economical, political, cultural, etc.. This is the second book I've listened to by the author and it was simply great! The first one, as may have been seen in previous reviews, was guns germs and steel.

Jared Diamond has done it again

poor decision making disscussed is a chapter i will never forget...well done sir Jared Diamond