Book Review: John Green’s Anthropocene Reviewed

This book has apparently received rave reviews and is listed as a bestseller. My short response is that it is OK – but not great. I gave it two and half stars (out of five).

A couple of weeks after I had finished reading, I realised that it was a very forgettable book. This was despite my initial response after a few chapters was that it seemed to be not a bad read.

The publishers say: The book is a mind-expanding essays on modern life and the human experience in the first non-fiction work by #1 internationally bestselling author John Green – one of the world’s most beloved novelists.

The topics covered were many, ranging from some being  of interest to others being of no interest at all. A couple of chapters I skipped after a few paragraphs and some others I skimmed.

I am sure John Green is an interesting person, but this book made him sound very ordinary. One reaction I had was that maybe the culture he reflects is very American (USA) and for those of us who live elsewhere (not in the USA) his interests are sometimes parochial – or you have to be American to appreciate what he is talking about.

This book will be off to the charity shop soon.

As I said above: two and half stars (out of five)