Anthropozän, so heißt unser aktuelles Erdzeitalter. Was steht sinnbildlich für unsere Zeit? Was spiegelt unser Leben wider? Der Autor John Green stellt unterschiedliche Facetten dieser Epoche dar - und zwar in Form von Rezensionen.

 

„Wie hat Ihnen das Anthropozän bis jetzt gefallen?“ ist ein Sachbuch von John Green.

 

Meine Meinung:
Das Buch beginnt mit einer sehr persönlichen Einleitung, deren Offenheit mich sofort eingenommen hat. Daran schließen sich 43 Texte, die Rezensionen, an, wovon nur eine bebildert ist. Sie bauen nicht aufeinander auf und können in beliebiger Weise gelesen werden. Das Buch endet mit einem Nachwort, Anmerkungen sowie den Text- und Bildnachweisen.

 

Alle Texte sind in der Ich-Perspektive verfasst. Der Schreibstil wechselt immer wieder zwischen sachlichen Darstellungen und faktenbasierten Passagen sowie Anekdoten und eigenen Anmerkungen, sodass der Inhalt zwar informativ ist, aber nicht zu trocken vermittelt wird. Die Sprache ist leicht verständlich und locker, aber angemessen und nicht zu salopp. Es gibt 45 Fußnoten.

 

Inhaltlich umfasst das Buch ein erfreulich breites Spektrum interessanter Themen. Es reicht vom Internet über Klimaanlagen und Teddybären bis zu Sonnenuntergängen. Auch populäre Marken, Produkte, Figuren und Phänomene werden rezensiert. Einschränkend ist anzumerken, dass einige Rezensionen für ein US-amerikanisches Publikum wohl besser nachvollziehbar sind, weil Dinge wie Dr Pepper dort wesentlich bekannter sind. Ich hatte allerdings keinerlei Verständnisprobleme.

 

Das Konzept, Aspekte des aktuellen Erdzeitalters zu rezensieren, gefällt mir. Obwohl ich nicht alle Bewertungen unterschreiben würde, habe ich mich prima unterhalten gefühlt. Das Gute: Nebenbei erfährt die Leserschaft nicht nur eine Menge Wissenswertes, sondern lernt auch den Autor selbst besser kennen. Zudem schafft er es, zum Nachdenken anzuregen.

 

Das Cover entspricht der amerikanischen Ausgabe und erschließt sich nicht direkt. Der deutsche Titel ist leider etwas ungelenk formuliert und nicht so treffend wie das Original („The Anthropocene Reviewed“).

 

Mein Fazit:
Mit „Wie hat Ihnen das Anthropozän bis jetzt gefallen?“ ist John Green ein ungewöhnliches und unerwartet persönliches Sachbuch gelungen, das gleichsam unterhaltsam, kreativ und lehrreich ist.

 

The government of England is one of appeasement. Furigans, misfits who thrive on violence and anarchy are deemed not responsible for their criminal behavior because of being disadvantage and marginalize. Indeed, to condemn them is to commit an act of Nastiness, be harried by Compassion Stewards, and come under the scrutiny from the Commission for Fairness. All parties adhere to this Political Consensus. Debate is empty and meaningless.

 

Roger Tyson, a business magnate, is a solitary voice calling for a return to truth, justice, freedom of speech, and an end to mandated Niceness. He’s being vilified for it until his dire predictions of economic collapse begin to manifest.

 

But are Roger’s tough-love politics and bare-knuckle tactics enough to save England from the shadowy Muhonin who are preparing to violently overthrow the decaying, corrupt government and reinvent this Green and Pleasant Land by imposing their own violent and radical ideology?

 

Steve Shahbazian’s novel, Green and Pleasant Land, is cleverly conceived and well-considered dystopian fiction similar to George Orwell’s classic in that the government seeks to gain consensus not through violence but by influencing the cultural milieus of the masses. If you disagree with the policies of the government of the day they don’t make you disappear, they use their unwitting operatives to shame you into silence.

 

However, the strength of this novel is also its weakness. Replete with political machinations and characters launching into philosophical diatribes it is dense, plodding and much of the dialogue is didactic. Real action, the exciting kind that builds tension is scarce, and similar scenarios of debate, discussion, and ultimately indecision, are presented again and again with little or no consequences.

 

Well-developed characterization is also lacking with the host of characters only defined by their political affiliations.

 

The author has also chosen to use Japanese greetings and political terminology throughout the story. Perhaps it is a metaphor to indicate how far the birthplace of the Parliamentary system has drifted from its roots. If so, it’s an unnecessary impediment.

 

 

#amreading #readingcommunity #booklovers

April May discovered a scripture and she considered it pop-art. She called her friend Andy to make a video of it, thinking it is an art piece.

Turned out there are many similar incidents and her video is a the first one posted. So she become an Internet celebrity. She wanted to own this thing and used this as a opportunity to have a voice. Andy's father is a lawyer and they are started to earn for the video footage. Then she did something else, she discovered a code. Following the clue, she do something else and activate part of the statue. She also started dreaming of puzzles and found many people are doing the same thing.

This is about a robot and how we deal with being sudden celebrity. Hank did a really good job in dealing with that part.

A descrepency, but it didn't ruin the story. You, as a reader, have to be willing to look past the little things. Like whether the dog had stitches or not.
Still this was short and sweet!
I definitely am left wanting more, and wanting to know how this relationship develops further between Bill and Olivia. 
In such a short time I was able to see what a talented writer Jane Green is. She pulled me right into their chaotic and funny world, and left me pining away!
Gotta go find more from this author right away!

 

 

I enjoyed the Prequel to this novel, The Retail Therapist, meeting Gigi and her friend Ritchie for the first time. Now we get to spend more time with them as Gigi tries, often against the odds, to build her fashion consultancy business. The only thing that I guess didn't really sit well with me, was how judgmental Gigi is of others' dress sense; I'm sure she'd have shot me down in flames. Justine Ellis makes an excellent job of narrating this novel, based on Gigi's efforts to build her business and expand into male shopping consultancy. There are plenty of ups and downs along the way, as there would be in any growing business. There are competitors who would sabotage her efforts and friends who stand behind her. There are less successful projects and others who become recurring happy customers. And then there's the love interest, which also has its ups and downs. I think what I liked most about this book is that Gigi doesn't rush to buy the latest items as they come out, she shops selectively, in clearance warehouses and end-of-line stores, which really spoke to the anti-waste person in me. This was an enjoyable frivolous read, just what we all need during this strange year.