Cary Neeper's Blog: Reviewing World-changing Nonfiction - Posts Tagged "fiction"

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH is a standout choice in understanding why steady state economics is the answer to our current dilemmas. Why? It's the elegant simplicity and regularity of its presentation. First, engaging anecdotes set the stage. 2) Undeniable data and simple graphs make the reason for change clear. 3)This why is then followed by a no-nonsense listing of what needs to be done.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH's crystal clear how and why makes it a book for anyone, and an excellent text for students of any age preparing to design the future. Rob Dietz and Dan O'Neill have handed us the prescription we need to cure the ills of our overused planet and to secure a perpetual, humane future for its life. There is no illegible scrawl in the prescription. The directions are precisely laid out--even the troublesome imperatives, like population stability. The authors introduce each chapter with engaging anecdotes, and illustrate data with simple graphs. A striking conclusion expresses the need to recognize which nations need economic development to attain a good life for their people, countries that should maintain their steady state, and those that need to plan and execute substantial degrowth. The benefits of a no-growth economy are beautifully summarized near the end, along with extensive notes on sources of information and a usefully detailed index. It should be required reading, not just for students.

Buried in the authors' reasoning, which tells us why we must take this medicine, are concepts we can all expand on--the need for technical development that is rationally selective, the need for legal ethics that do not allow the obfuscation of truth, and the need to deny business ethics that trample integrity in pursuit of the bottom line.

Dietz and O'Neill's pills may seem difficult to swallow, but they will go down easily, for their necessity is made quite clear. We all want the same thing. We want human genius and the awesome beauty and diversity of life on Earth to survive the long-run--with health, ever-growing enlightenment, and joy in living for all. They outline a good plan for how to achieve that.Rob Dietz

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter will serve as an example when I feel my writing has faded to pale vanilla. It seems redundant to review a book that has won so many awards, but, as a writer, I wanted to share what I found so valuable in his writing. Though the chapters jump decades and continents--back and forth, here and there--they are carefully titled and the story threads are linked tighter and tighter as you are carried deeper into the warp and weft of a very satisfying experience. Characters speak with distinct language in a variety of ways, and the story progresses with a variety of styles—through bits of plays, the first chapters of a failed memoir and a novel, and an enthusiastic movie pitch. Most helpful to me is the way Jess Walter weaves the characterizations and settings seamlessly into the action. Themes—like the price of fame and the cost of ego--are illustrated brilliantly in the characters’ interactions, without comment. The reader never loses a sense of experiencing the story and its setting. With fifteen years in the writing, itself a fascinating story, Walters’ agonizing effort has woven a beautiful and life-enhancing tapestry.

Fiction can provide powerful images that change minds; imprinting can result in a lifetime of believing violence is normal. I’m seriously worried about the current obsession with violence and dystopia.

Since I’m so critical, I thought I’d better get educated. My granddaughters watch and read it. They were eager to show me the “Hunger Games” movie, so I sat through the jiggling camera that is supposed to dilute the violence of the games. I was still horrified by the dystopian premise and teen blood-letting, even though the idea is to criticize current TV games.

How about some hope for Christmas? I’m shamelessly providing my award winning book The Webs of Varok to consider for your Holiday giving. It’s not just crass commercialism. Why not a fun story that includes some positive suggestions for securing a stable future? Take a look at a few excerpts below:

“...there are rumors of an Earth launch—more humans coming to Varok.”
“Rumors? Orram and Conn can continue blathering to Earth about water conservation. That doesn’t mean anything to us. But if humans do manage to get here, we must be ready to snuff them out before Conn can raise a fin.”

“Snuff them out? How?” Gitahl’s patches strained to find Mahntik’s true mind. “Let me be clear. Surely you wouldn’t use the diseases you’ve engineered on humans.”

“Why not? I’d use them to keep ahlork in line—even varoks.”

The ahlork Nidok appears on the cover of the Webs. He is one of our heroes, of sorts.
Conn the elll notes to human Tandra that female ahlork have bright blue scales.

“Better not call them birds,” Orram said. “Varok’s small avioids don’t have such a distinguished ancestry as Earth’s.”

“No dinosaurs?”

“Not enough heat or light out here. And ahlork are built differently than birds, like tanks with external hard parts.”

“Insectoids then.”

Orram’s sense of fun surfaced. “No, no, Tandra. Bad biologist.”

He waved an invitation, and with a clatter of broad, plated wings, the ahlork came toward us, swooping low over two elder varoks sitting nearby. One varok grimaced and ducked ever so lightly in revulsion. The ahlork noticed, circled, and made another pass at him.

I felt a surge of mirth. Orram warned me to stifle it, but the ahlork had already seen my wavering smile. He flapped toward me and landed on my head, then peered down into my tear-filled eyes. I burst into laughter despite the dig of his talons.

“You are nothing more than an elll, with all that shaking and grimacing, First-Human-Being-On-Varok,” the ahlork said...

The blue-plated ahlork standing on the floor spoke in a voice broken with foam. “Surely Earth be beautiful. Not this heap of ruins. Why do you come to Varok?”

One more excerpt. The Webs of Varok is a model of what it takes for humans to do long-term survival, based on the nonfiction text Enough Is Enough: Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources by Rob Dietz and Dan O’Neill.
The issues are challenging, good for Book Club discussion. Here’s one we can all agree on:
“I thought manufacturers are required to take responsibility for their products throughout their entire lifetime, including final disposal or recycling. So much of this cloth must be disposed of, every cycle. How do they pay the cost, with such low prices?”

“I have often wondered,” Orserah said.

“It’s as though the weavers wanted the cloth to wear out quickly—so we would buy more.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. “You have just defined planned obsolescence, an old trick on Earth—one of the favorites when business ethics turned sour in the interest of profits.”

Check out http://archivesofvarok.com for more excerpts and information about the series.
Enough Is Enough: Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite ResourcesRob Dietz ]

The story of 40 years developing fiction that portrays solutions to secure the future,including award-winner The Webs of Varok. Social issues in an alternate 21st century solar system.
http://archivesofvarok.com/articles/t...

Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America by Thomas L. Friedman, New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008.

Unlike many valuable books reminding us why we Americans must pull back on our overuse of the planet, Hot, Flat and Crowded focuses on the observation that the world’s economies are so interconnected (i.e. The Earth is flat.), the more we depend on high energy usage the more we support those who hate us. His message is a simple challenge—we know how. As Shawne teaches in our novel soon to be released (The Alien Effect) “You in America were the first to build too rich a life. Now you must do better. You know how to become the example to the world you used to be—an example of a much simpler, time-rich life that will preserve and enhance Earth’s beauty and diversity for all its natural time.”

Friedman’s anecdotes are precise, his challenges direct, and the consequences of failure frightening. We know what we have to do to pick up the lead being taken by Japan and Europe, to devise what he calls a “Code Green” now. This book was published in 2008.