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World Made by Hand A Novel James Howard Kunstler 9780871139788 Books

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World Made by Hand A Novel James Howard Kunstler 9780871139788 Books

I really enjoy these slower, more relaxed dystopias that occupy the opposite end of the spectrum of bloodbaths like The Road. Station Eleven and even the Ember YA series (especially the third book), are other examples of dystopias that take as realistic as possible a view about how societies might work after government stops functioning, and when resources are scarce, and it's not always doom and gloom. In fact, World Made by Hand is as much utopia as dystopia.

Union Grove, NY is a small community struggling to survive in the aftermath of an economic collapse which catalyzed a government collapse, which made everyone vulnerable to flu and encephalitis that dramatically reduced the population. No electricity, no public works to maintain roads, no social safety net whatsoever. So in rural Union Grove, they farm as much as they can, and make everything by hand, hence the title. Kunstler is a surprisingly great fiction writer considering his nonfiction background--not just in terms of the prose, which a nonfiction writer must master anyhow, but in terms of the interesting plotting and the fascinating characters. Because of course several "interim" power structures crop up--some gangsterism, some graft, some religious zealots, and some ordinary townsfolk who would like to try and make everything fair. Kunstler throws all of these personalities in a town together, and we see what shakes out.

I was especially fascinated by the character of Jobe, the leader of the cultish religious sect that moves into town. Of course, you don't trust him, and fear that he's going to try and convert everybody, and he does a bit of this, but Jobe is a much more complex character than you'd expect, and Kunstler totally subverted my expectations of him.

My only complaint, and I always get down votes on Amazon when I mention this but bring it on, is the female characters. I'm sorry, I have to call "mantasy" when I see it. Of the four-ish female characters who have speaking lines, each one throws herself at the narrator at some point. Each female character is either desolate with grief, or in need of protection. It's unheard of in this "future" for women to live alone, for them to do anything other than domestic work. And they're all hungry for the narrator. Commence longest eye roll ever. Don't get me wrong--I can see certain parts of this prediction making sense--division of labor is one of the most important ways to hang together as a community, and the scarcer resources are (and it's hard to have babies here because of environmental contaminants), the more you want to protect your women. I get it. That DOESN'T mean that every woman would be content to sit back and make jam. That not a single woman would volunteer for the city council. That not a single woman would prefer to live alone (or, gasp, with another woman), and use her guns for protection, rather than taking up with a man twenty years older than she, and eventually showing up naked in his bed. That not a single woman would be an entrepreneur. COME ON! Kunstler's apparent lack of thought about women other than as sexual objects to be cosseted is alarming, because obviously as a writer who makes predictions for a living, this is what he really thinks about us.

Enjoyable read, if you can ignore all of that.


Tags : World Made by Hand: A Novel [James Howard Kunstler] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <div>In the best-seller <I>The Long Emergency</I>, James Howard Kunstler explored how the terminal decline of oil production had the potential to put industrial civilization out of business. With <I>World Made By Hand</I> Kunstler makes an imaginative leap into the future,James Howard Kunstler,World Made by Hand: A Novel,Atlantic Monthly Press,0871139782,Literary,Environmentalism;United States;Fiction.,New York (State);Fiction.,United States;Economic conditions;Fiction.,AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY FICTION,American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +,Economic conditions,Environmentalism,FICTION Literary,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction-Literary,GENERAL,General Adult,New York (State),United States

World Made by Hand A Novel James Howard Kunstler 9780871139788 Books Reviews

Since I read 99.99% non-fiction, I found this series highly entertaining, and whizzed through all three books within a week. They are the most fun and least depressing way to learn about how to cope in the energy and other resource depleted world of the future. Kunstler clearly did a lot of research. I've also spent a good deal of time reading what life was like in the past to understand how we might go back to the lifestyles of the 15th century (before coal), and he has some very clever ideas about how this might happen, though the story takes place in the not too distant future and hasn't receded as much as it will given the detritus of the 21st century still lying about.

I wish the wonderful children I've watched grow up and enter college would read this series, they are mostly embarking on careers that are not likely to exist 5-20 years from now. I'll have to hope they manage to live in a good area, since that's going to be one of many factors in getting through the bottleneck.

I had heard some brouhaha about how women were depicted in this book, but that is all the more reason for this series to be included in women's studies at universities. Women need to think about how they can maintain their hard-won equality.

In my opinion, I do not think women are going to be equal in a future world where might makes right and men are more valued for the ability to do labor and fight. Women will have no birth control, and once again be consigned to child rearing, have less higher education, or interesting careers than now. Of course, the way some of the presidential candidates are talking, women's rights could disappear long before peak oil, coal, and natural gas bring on an ecological crash.
It's decently well-written, but I felt almost as though the author has no enthusiasm for the end of the world genre. He seems to be more of a pioneer days fetishist. The story is mostly limited to one town, and the immediate surrounding area. The dates are vague, but it becomes a little clearer in the second book. Everything broke down shortly after 2009, and it's about nine or ten years later (an eleven year-old who was ten at the beginning of the first book can remember riding in a car seat). But except for depression and disappointment stemming from their loss of modern amenities, the characters act as though they stepped out of the 1800's. The. local musicians play weird music and people make their own cheese. Yet in a town located on a river, nobody can figure out how to generate a little bit of electricity? There also seems to be a disconnect between the size of the population and the availability of scavenged items. If everyone is still around, why can't some of the electrical infrastructure be rebuilt? If almost everybody is dead, why are they making their own shoes instead of scavenging? It's only been less than years! The author tells us almost nothing of what transpired in the decade since everything broke down. Going from "today" to a dystopian future is always tricky, and most authors find a way to cheat it a little. But here it's skipped entirely. The oddest missing piece is the question of where everyone went? There was a flu epidemic, and a meningitis outbreak, but did a lot of city people starve? Where is everyone? And if they are all dead, why don't the remaining people have access to their stuff? All this said, it's a good book, just not completely satisfying for someone looking for a something with more of an apocalyptic slant.
I really enjoy these slower, more relaxed dystopias that occupy the opposite end of the spectrum of bloodbaths like The Road. Station Eleven and even the Ember YA series (especially the third book), are other examples of dystopias that take as realistic as possible a view about how societies might work after government stops functioning, and when resources are scarce, and it's not always doom and gloom. In fact, World Made by Hand is as much utopia as dystopia.

Union Grove, NY is a small community struggling to survive in the aftermath of an economic collapse which catalyzed a government collapse, which made everyone vulnerable to flu and encephalitis that dramatically reduced the population. No electricity, no public works to maintain roads, no social safety net whatsoever. So in rural Union Grove, they farm as much as they can, and make everything by hand, hence the title. Kunstler is a surprisingly great fiction writer considering his nonfiction background--not just in terms of the prose, which a nonfiction writer must master anyhow, but in terms of the interesting plotting and the fascinating characters. Because of course several "interim" power structures crop up--some gangsterism, some graft, some religious zealots, and some ordinary townsfolk who would like to try and make everything fair. Kunstler throws all of these personalities in a town together, and we see what shakes out.

I was especially fascinated by the character of Jobe, the leader of the cultish religious sect that moves into town. Of course, you don't trust him, and fear that he's going to try and convert everybody, and he does a bit of this, but Jobe is a much more complex character than you'd expect, and Kunstler totally subverted my expectations of him.

My only complaint, and I always get down votes on when I mention this but bring it on, is the female characters. I'm sorry, I have to call "mantasy" when I see it. Of the four-ish female characters who have speaking lines, each one throws herself at the narrator at some point. Each female character is either desolate with grief, or in need of protection. It's unheard of in this "future" for women to live alone, for them to do anything other than domestic work. And they're all hungry for the narrator. Commence longest eye roll ever. Don't get me wrong--I can see certain parts of this prediction making sense--division of labor is one of the most important ways to hang together as a community, and the scarcer resources are (and it's hard to have babies here because of environmental contaminants), the more you want to protect your women. I get it. That DOESN'T mean that every woman would be content to sit back and make jam. That not a single woman would volunteer for the city council. That not a single woman would prefer to live alone (or, gasp, with another woman), and use her guns for protection, rather than taking up with a man twenty years older than she, and eventually showing up naked in his bed. That not a single woman would be an entrepreneur. COME ON! Kunstler's apparent lack of thought about women other than as sexual objects to be cosseted is alarming, because obviously as a writer who makes predictions for a living, this is what he really thinks about us.

Enjoyable read, if you can ignore all of that.