The End of the End of the Earth

by Jonathan Franzen

A sharp and provocative new essay collection from the award-winning author of Freedom and The Corrections

In The End of the End of the Earth, which gathers essays and speeches written mostly in the past five years, Jonathan Franzen returns with renewed vigor to the themes – both human and literary – that have long preoccupied him. Whether exploring his complex relationship with his uncle, recounting his young adulthood in New York, or offering an illuminating look at the global seabird crisis, these pieces contain all the wit and disabused realism that we’ve come to expect from Franzen.

Taken together, these essays trace the progress of a unique and mature mind wrestling with itself, with literature, and with some of the most important issues of our day, made more pressing by the current political milieu. The End of the End of the Earth is remarkable, provocative and necessary.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Nature, Science, Audiobook, Environment, The United States Of America

175 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 15, 2018

About the author

Jonathan Earl Franzen is an American novelist and essayist. His 2001 novel The Corrections drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, was a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist, earned a James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. His novel Freedom (2010) garnered similar praise and led to an appearance on the cover of Time magazine alongside the headline "Great American Novelist". Franzen's latest novel Crossroads was published in 2021, and is the first in a projected trilogy.
Franzen has contributed to The New Yorker magazine since 1994. His 1996 Harper's essay "Perchance to Dream" bemoaned the state of contemporary literature. Oprah Winfrey's book club selection in 2001 of The Corrections led to a much publicized feud with the talk show host.

Reviews

[Roxane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sigh. Franzen can write. He is intelligent. His nonfiction is just not my cup of tea. There is an authorial distance I find offputting but I understand why he might write with that distance. As a whole, the collection is uneven. There is a set of rules for the novelist that feels like he jotted some ideas on a napkin and included them in the book. The essay on Edith Wharton.... yikes. He spends quite some time discussing that she was unattractive and like, has he seen male writers throughout history? Let’s not throw stones from glass houses. If you like Franzen’s writing you will like this collection. He loves birds A LOT. He loves birds the way I love Beyoncé.

[Jeffrey Keeten · Rating 4 out of 5]

”If you stand in a forest in Southeast Asia, you may hear and then begin to feel, in your chest, a deep rhythmic whooshing. It sounds meteorological, but it’s the wingbeats of Great Hornbills flying in to land in a fruiting tree. They have massive yellow bills and hefty white thighs; they look like a cross between a toucan and a giant panda. As they clamber around in the tree, placidly eating fruit, you may find yourself crying out with the rarest of all emotions: pure joy. It has nothing to do with what you want or what you possess. It’s the sheer gorgeous fact of the Great Hornbill, which couldn’t care less about you.”

I always love those moments when something reminds me of how insubstantial I am, compared to the forces of nature. The ultimate feeling of insignificance for me was to see, in a flash of lightning, a tornado, in all its beautiful glory, just off the road from where I was riding in a car. The sight of this destructive power of swirling winds inspired instant terror and awe, and as the lightning faded, the terror for me increased exponentially with the descending of complete and utter darkness. I was so unnerved I buckled my seatbelt (this was the 1980s) as if that act would shield me from the onslaught of such a power entity.

I’ve been remiss about reading Jonathan Franzen novels. I’ve liked what I have read. He has a self-deprecating style that allows me to see the human in the writer, even as he dazzles me with insightful prose. He questions his own beliefs and is a master at disputing both sides of an argument within himself. This could lead to indecision, but that doesn’t seem to be an insurmountable hazard for him. He still continues to move forward, even as he keeps a tongue pressed into his cheek to remind himself that he could be completely wrong in his assessment.

Franzen is a Bird Lister, and winged beasts figure prominently into these sixteen essays. As a gently mad book collector, I am always excited to find someone whom I can perceive to be more insane than myself. These bird listers go to great, sometimes dangerous, lengths to check a bird off their list. Franzen’s excitement at seeing a Jamaican Blackbird, or an Opal-rumped Tanager, or a Saint Lucia Black Finch are equal to my own excitement at finding a rare Graham Greene, or a bright copy of a Virginia Woolf vastly underpriced, or say an interesting appearing book by an author I’ve never heard of before. Of course, I slide my new acquisition onto my bookshelf, while he hopefully retains at least a mental image of the bird he has spotted. He might be slightly more mad than I.

Franzen’s girlfriend offers to go with him anywhere in the world. He suggests the idea of going to Antarctica, which he regrets almost immediately. He is unsure why, out of all the destinations in the world, he chose to torture her with the idea of attempting to vanquish the frozen, southern extremes of the planet. ”By this point, I, too, had a developed a vague aversion to the trip, an inability to recall why I’d proposed Antarctica in the first place. The idea of ‘seeing it before it melts’ was dismal and self-canceling: why not just wait for it to melt and cross itself off the list of travel destinations?”

I like the practicality of waiting for Antarctica to melt and crossing it off the bucket list. I’ve become more annoyed with the whole concept of a bucket list in recent years. This list has become a grand piano, suspended over my head, ready to fall on me the moment I show any weakness or hesitation in accepting an opportunity to cross something off the list. The list is not stagnant, either. As I cross things off, more things are added. It is a list that can not be conquered; by design, I am destined to fail.

The book is not all about birds, who are harbingers of the end of the end of the earth, as his title suggests, or about climate change. He also talks about his relationship with William Vollmann and his reverence for one of my favorite writers, Edith Wharton. He drops in a few mentions of writers like Rachel Cusk, whom I have not read, and Karl Ove Knausgaard, whom I have not read enough of. If I read a grouping of essays and don’t come away with an expanded book reading list (which is in some ways worse than a bucket list), I am disappointed.

Moreover, Franzen delves into the research of Sherry Turkle, who explores the impact that technology is having on who we are. ”Our rapturous submission to digital technology has led to an atrophying of human capacities like empathy and self-reflection, and the time has come to reassert ourselves, behave like adults, and put technology in its place.”

I have recently started feeling better about our future relationship with technology. I’ve heard more and more dissatisfaction coming from people twenty plus years younger than myself, so it isn’t just nervous old fuddy duddies, like me, who are starting to understand the diminishing returns of more advanced technology. It is the same theory as being rich. Once you reach a certain level of comfort, your happiness meter starts to plummet with the more money you acquire. What most people find is that you are happier when you are comfortable financially, which could be equated to reaching that level where technology is helping to improve your life. The trouble begins when money starts to rule your every thought or when technology begins to take over your life.

The big questions that Jonathan Franzen seems to be seeking answers to in writing these essays are, can we adapt our thinking enough to save the birds, save the planet, and in the process liberate ourselves from our own destruction? The environment should not be a political issue. Scientists are in agreement about the starkness of the facts. We should not be putting ourselves in a position where nature can bring her absolute worst against us. The tornados, the wildfires, the hurricanes, the torrential rains, the droughts are all punishments, increasing in frequency and velocity, as we continue to abuse this lovely, lovely blue planet. We, whether we want to accept the task or not, are the elected stewards, and we must make better, tougher, more responsible decisions going forward.

I want to thank Farrar, Straus, Giroux for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten

[Fabian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before you denigrate yourself for picking up a collection of essays instead of a novel, Franzen makes a brazen argument early on in "The End of the End of the Earth" for its importance (the essay's) in our lives & in Litland as a whole. An essay is a mirror to the writer, to society, to the reader. He gives it a valid worth; these little nuggins are all worth their weight in gold.

Please go read "The Corrections." &, yeah, even "Freedom" has its good parts. But essays? Like what personal stuff, apart from the writer's autobiography (there's a little bit of that, obviously), do I really need to take away? Jeez, the more I read about affluence, and a sustained type of it, the more I'm left peeved. Like, I will listen to you, buddy. Even admire the way your argument is meticulously flouncy but in serious (ahem, masterful) prose. It is your right, your privilege, Mr. Franzen, to explore the theme of birds/birdwatching to Death, as well as: global warming, Sep. 11, travelogues, bird statistics (like those of an impatient kiddo with his computer-like wealth of useless info about dinosaurs, distant cousins to birds), literary critiques. He gives us a few tidbits on the writer's way and even littler on his own poetics.

Still, what an amazing writer. Impressive organization of factoids, of subjects he finds fascinating. (In this world of Trump & hate and HUMAN (not raptor or seagull) migration.

[Andrew Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The two prevalent themes in this collection of essays by the celebrated fiction writer are climate change and birds. They often crop up in tandem, too, and sometimes unexpectedly interrupt the discourse on another subject. Birds are certainly the author’s passion, they represent his hobby (he’s a lister he says, keeping records of every bird he sees and sub-dividing his lists to ensure he can track his captures by timeline) and global warming and all its resultant ills seems to be the nightmare scenario he’s long feared but now accepts as inevitable.

To me, there was rather too much of both subjects here, and I was particularly irked when one or another upset the flow of an essay I was particularly enjoying. Those I liked best involve people he remembers fondly and reflections on time spent with them; he’s really good at isolating precisely what it is about these people who made such an impression on him. In Manhattan 1981, a Friendship, the title essay itself, these are the elements that stood out for me. Of course, everything is well written. You’d expect no less, but there weren’t enough pieces here that really grabbed me. What I was left with was an impression of a man with relatively narrow interests and an unhealthy habit of sharing rather too many of his twitching adventures.

If you’re particularly intrigued by these subjects or you just want to spend some time in the hands of an expert wordsmith, then this is certainly a collection worth seeking out. Or maybe read the pieces over a prolonged period, in between and amongst other books you’re playing with – it might just be that the total immersion I executed just isn’t the best way to experience this collection.

My sincere thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and NetGalley for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Kuszma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Franzent két dolog érdekli. A madarak meg az írás. Szerintem ebben a sorrendben. Ezen kívül még ír más dolgokról, amelyek nem ennyire foglalkoztatják, de hát azok olyanok is. Már el is felejtettem őket. Nekem személy szerint az tetszik jobban, amikor előbbiről értekezik. Edith Wharton kapcsán írja a szerző, hogy ha egy szereplő sóvárog valami után, akkor vele könnyebben tudunk azonosulni, még akkor is, ha különben ellenszenves alakról van szó. Talán mert a vágyakozás mintázatait felismerjük és respektáljuk, tudunk szorítani kielégüléséért, minden mástól függetlenül. Na, itt is ilyesmi lehet a helyzet: ha én nem is vagyok oda a madármegfigyelésért*, de más dolgokért oda vagyok meg vissza, és az író mániáiban nem nehéz saját mániáim tükörképét felfedeznem. Meg aztán Franzen olyan jól ír (ez egy ilyen állandó eposzi jelzője lehetne Franzennek: "jól író Franzen"), egy császárpingvinnel való találkozást is olyan ízletesen tud tálalni, hogy az ember látja maga előtt az egészet. Öröm olvasni.

És emellett Franzennek van még egy remek (ezúttal kifejezetten esszéírói értelemben "remek") tulajdonsága: hogy van érzéke a léptékekhez. A Védjük meg, amit szeretünk c. írásában ki is fejti, mi a baj a "nagy léptékekkel": amikor mindenki a klímaváltozás elháríthatatlan és katasztrofális, de időben távoli apokalipszisére koncentrál, akkor elfelejti, hogy akár most is tehetne valamit, olyat, ami igenis számít. Nem eldobni egy papírpoharat vagy kicserélni az izzókat energiatakarékosra, nos, igen, ezeket meg lehet vagy meg kell tenni, de ezzel nem vagyunk sokkal előrébb. De csengőt rakni a macskánk nyakára, vagy nyugodt fészkelőhelyet kialakítani a kertben a madaraknak, az most rögtön teszi jobbá a saját kis világunkat. Mégpedig úgy, hogy az eredményét is látjuk, tehát megkapjuk a szükséges visszacsatolást. Mostanában a legtöbb esszéista meg véleményvezér mintha a világot akarná megváltani: kozmikus katasztrófákat akadályoz meg univerzális meglátásaival, a mindent mentené meg, mert alább nem adja. Közben meg nem látja, ami az orra előtt van. Talán ezt tanulhatják meg a kezdő írók is Franzentől, a léptéket. Hogy lehet írni arról is, ami éppen itt van, konkrétan, nem csak a félelmeink vagy vágyaink által idevetítve. Egy rigóról, egy különös pintyről, bármiről. A pici dolgokról. És ha jól van megírva, a pici dolog úgyis nagyobb lesz önmagánál.

* Bár egyszer, vagy másfél évtizede első polgári szolgálatért kapott juttatásom nem elenyésző százalékát elherdálva vásároltam egy madárhatározót. Tulajdonképpen abban a szent pillanatban megbántam, túlságosan költséges felbuzdulásnak éreztem, és ezzel kapcsolatos bűntudatomat csak úgy tudtam kezelni, hogy elhitettem magammal, ez egyfajta égőáldozat a rendszeres fizetés oltárán, ami majd az "apád-anyád ide jöjjön!" mintájára épp tündéri nagyvonalúságával vonzza be a még több pénzt. Ez korlátozottan teljesült ugyan, de ez a madárhatározó per pillanat is az ablakpárkányon hever, mert bármikor szükség lehet rá, ugye, követezésképpen életem egyik legjobb könyves befektetésének bizonyult.

[Meike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Birds, birds, birds, birds, birds, and more birds - listen to the cover, not the blurb: Most of these texts deal with the before-mentioned flying animals, how they are threatened, what it means to Franzen to be a birdwatcher, and why birds are generally awesome. In my opinion, Franzen is also generally awesome, but the bird overload in this essay collection was really testing my patience. There is nothing wrong with writing about your favorite animal, but the book marketing appears to make an effort to gloss over the fact that the author has one main focus here, or at least that he talks about different issues like climate change, tourism and friendship while always bringing birds into the equation. Some texts, like "Ten Rules for a Novelist", don't quite fit into the overall collection. Unfortunately, I had the impression that the concept of the book lacked stringency.

The upside: Franzen is just a great, great writer. If you're not into birds though, this book can be a tough read.

[Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this book was a bit like being chained to a radiator for 5 hours while an old eccentric yells at you about birds.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't feel the need to read every essay in this collection, but I do feel the need to defend Edith Wharton's honor. I also have a personal anecdote about running into Franzen...or Franzen running into me.

In 2012, which was the 150th anniversary of Wharton's birth, Franzen wrote a piece about her for The New Yorker entitled "A Rooting Interest." For what it's worth, I am a Wharton fanatic. I wrote my MA thesis on her, I've read almost every secondary source about her that was published before 2010, and I have been to The Mount twice. While at The Mount, I got mistaken for a docent while I was talking to a fellow fan about her, which was embarrassing and flattering in equal measure. All of this is to say that EW is one person I feel I can say I know a lot about.

With this in mind, I can say honestly that Franzen's article about Wharton is without a doubt the most egregiously misogynistic piece by a male author written about a female author that I have ever read in my life. His entire thesis is that Edith would have been a better writer if she'd been sexier. He goes into a ridiculous pseudo-intellectual analysis about her facial features, draws silly conclusions about her sex life, and even denigrates the titles of her novels! My hands trembled the entire time I read it--to say nothing of the plentiful inaccuracies throughout. I have seldom been more furious reading an article about a famous author before or since. And this trashy article is included in this collection.

Franzen doesn't exactly have the best record when it comes to women. He's the only guest Oprah un-invited from her show, he's denigrated Jennifer Weiner and women's fiction in general, and he ran into me a few years ago.

Yes, ran into me. I mean that literally, not as a figure of speech. This is a story that must be told.

I work at a university, and I had just stepped out of the campus Starbucks. I turned my head to the left and was about to walk in that direction when a man walked into me with such gusto that he almost knocked me down. I said "excuse me," but he showed no reaction; he and a woman who was clearly a professor just kept walking onward as if I did not exist. What an asshole, I thought to myself. I walked on for a few steps before I did a double take.

I knew the man was familiar, and then I realized it was Jonathan Franzen. There were posters all over campus advertising his talk, which was about to take place. I checked my watch, and sure enough he was heading to the library at the correct time. Wow, I thought, maybe I should introduce myself. I mean, he is a famous author. As soon as this thought occurred to me, however, I remembered his dickish interviews on Today and CBS This Morning and his stupid article on Edith Wharton--to say nothing of his almost knocking me down--and I decided, Bleh, I have better things to do. I went my way, and he went his.

I can't speak for everything the man has written, but "A Rooting Interest" is less legitimate than The National Inquirer, and his manners are, ehem, lacking.

—————-
NOTE: When I said this story “must be told,” I meant it must be told because it’s funny and illustrative of his arrogance and obliviousness—two qualities that are also evident in his writing. I’ve received some pretty cruel and enraged accusations that I’m trying to accuse him of a #metoo moment. That could not be farther from the truth. I think he’s a jackass, not a lecher.

[Mircalla · Rating 2 out of 5]

la fine della mia pazienza

Caro Franzen, posso chiamarti Jon? Come fanno i tuoi amici?
Sai che ti ho letto con interesse in Forte movimento,
con amore in Zona disagio,
con moderata passione in Le Correzioni
e con trepidazione in Libertà,
un poco meno motivata in Più lontano ancora,
già con Purity abbiamo avuto i nostri attriti,
ma con questa raccolta di articoli, che mi spiace dirti ho letto insieme a quella di Amis, quindi paragonandovi di continuo, mi hai davvero reso difficile restare sveglia.

Mi piaceva il tuo entusiasmo, ma adesso mi sembra fanatismo,
mi interessava il tuo punto di vista, ma ora non lo distinguo da quello della mia portinaia,
oltretutto è ormai stantio il tuo stupore di fronte al macello del pianeta,
e i neanche tanto sottili riferimenti alla tua amicizia con DFW ora cominciano a essere un tantino forzati,
come uno sfigato che per farsi notare racconti alle ragazze di essere amico del capitano della squadra di calcio del liceo...
infine devo confessarti che del birdwatching a me interessa meno di nulla,
quindi temo che le nostre strade si divideranno qui.

Non volermente, ci ho provato in tutti i modi a seguirti, ma la classificazione degli uccelli per il mero piacere di stilare un elenco a me sembra una roba ossessiva assai, e per ascoltare contenuti anali di questa portata solitamente prendo una parcella, mai che me li sia inflitti gratis o addirittura pagando, come nel tuo caso.

Ti saluto e ti auguro un buon proseguimento nelle tue attività, spero di leggere presto una recensione del tuo prossimo romanzo dove non si parli di ecologia e di uccelli e forse potremo rivederci, fino ad allora addio.

[Mehrsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dude, no. stick to fiction. He's just so annoyingly condescending about birds and people and everything. I loved Crossroads and I wanted more so I came to this one and it's like thinking something is water when you're thirsty and taking a big drink only to realize it's actually like stale sprite someone mixed with soap

[Lyubov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Franzen is always a good idea.

[Girish Gowda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rumours are true. Jonathan Franzen likes Birds like some people like Beyoncé.

It was Immanuel Kant, the German Philosopher, who said that sublime is when an observer is subjected to both beauty and terror equally. By that definition, these essays are truly sublime. The title is hardly concealing the subject matter of these essays; yet Franzen prior to letting us know how rapidly the deterioration of the biomass and the wildlife is happening around us, he tenderly uncovers what we are missing out on and what we are actively losing. Because, as a species, how are we going to mourn the loss of something that we primarily don't understand or fundamentally are unaware of? It has taken me over 4 months to read this overwhelming collection and it has crossed borders with me because one requires a toughness to read it as a whole, which I do not admittedly have.

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

By any measure, Jonathan Franzen is a fortunate man. For one thing, he has a God-given talent for writing (both fiction and non-). He has not been without controversy, but has managed to rise above it and when he churns out one of his lengthy, involving novels every seven years or so, is rewarded with a loyal readership. Another way in which he is lucky is that he has an all consuming passion -- he loves birds. Anyone favored with such an interest can be considered lucky. Having something to aim for, to pursue, gives life flavor and brightness. Because of his success as an author, he has time as well as means to pursue this passion, and many of these essays share his experiences in far flung places if only to add to his list of birds he has encountered. He knows as much as can be known about the habits and fates of his winged quarry, whether they be in Albania or even Antarctica. But I must admit that since I don't share his enthusiasm to his extent (who does?), I enjoyed more the personal glimpses into his life that he intermittently shares. I liked finding out the fate of his misplaced suitcase in the Jet Blue terminal at JFK more than his quest to track down the Saint Lucia Oriole.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover is accurate: there are LOTS of birds in these essays. Unless you’re a birdwatcher or have a burning interest in the plight of birds threatened by hunting and habitat loss, be prepared to skim or completely skip over the multiple pieces on traveling to a particular place to appreciate its endemic or migratory bird species. I enjoyed the more autobiographical pieces: his temporary friendship with William Vollmann, what it was like in New York City two days after 9/11, and taking a two-week Antarctic cruise.

I also valued Franzen’s general conclusions about the state of the planet and what we can and can’t do about it: “drastic planetary overheating is a done deal”; “our world is poised to change vastly, unpredictably, and mostly for the worse. I don’t have any hope that we can stop the change from coming. My only hope is that we can accept the reality in time to prepare for it humanely”; “Love is a better motivator than guilt.” This last quote explains his passion for birds. People will only be motivated to save what they care about, and for him birds are a synecdoche for the planet as a whole.

“The Essay in Dark Times” is brilliant and worth reading no matter what. Also be sure to find his “Ten Rules for the Novelist.”

[José Simões · Rating 5 out of 5]

Se Franzen peca nalgum sentido é, sendo consciente, acabar por ser moderado.

Ao longo de muitos destes ensaios aborda questões como a extinção de espécies (sobretudo aves, um dos subtemas mais recorrentes no livros), as perceções e inquietações com as alterações climáticas (essa expressão que por vezes serve para ganhar votos e deixar tudo na mesma), a utilização abusiva dos recursos terrestres, o consumo excessivo de carne, etc. Franzen é humano, como nós, e como tal nenhum defeito humano lhe é estranho. Peca por ter as mesmas dúvidas que eu e tanta outra gente. Mas não peca por falta de consciência: apesar de cético, pessimista e conciliador (se é que alguém consegue juntar estas três características), está alerta para os problemas que nos afetam agora e nos afetarão no futuro.

E nesse sentido o título pode ser enganador: não estamos a assistir ao fim do fim da Terra, estamos talvez no princípio do fim. (De resto o fim do fim da terra - com minúscula - refere-se a uma viagem que o autor faz e relata aos confins da Terra, à Antártida.) Numa perspetiva mais geral, temos aqui um conjunto de ensaios urgentes (o primeiro fala-nos de Trump e destes «tempos negros» - e é curioso que Biden falava durante a campanha precisamente nesses «dark times» - e vemos nós como a realidade segue os autores de ficção, hélas!), ensaios, como dizia, que nos fazem pensar sobre o nosso tempo.

Um dos mais elucidativos, «Capitalismo hiperacelerado», recorda-nos que a nossa forma de comunicar está a mudar: deixamos cada vez mais de conversar uns com os outros presencialmente, refugiando-nos atrás de um ecrã. Não que a tecnologia não possa ser nossa aliada, mas lembrando sempre que pode ser a nossa pior inimiga. O vórtice digital está a todo o momento prestes a engolir-nos: estamos viciados na comunicação online, na receção de informação instantânea e inútil, nas roletas de entretenimento à la facebook. O apelo é urgente: estamos a perder não para as máquinas, mas para um mundo que nem existe.

Depois disto, Franzen é fundamental. Tem o condão de tornar as narrativas mais simples em histórias que queremos devorar, e que não obstante nos deixam marcas profundas. Um livro obrigatório? Não. Mas um livro muito importante.

[Come Musica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un saggio sui temi caldi che riguardano il benessere del Pianeta e quindi di tutti noi, a partire dalla passione di Franzen per gli uccelli.
Un invito alla consapevolezza e alla presa di coscienza da parte di ciascuno di noi, che il nostro modo di vivere ha delle conseguenze sulla vita degli altri esseri viventi.

Franzen sostiene che “Se potessimo vedere ogni uccello del mondo, vedremmo il mondo intero. Le creature alate si trovano in ogni angolo di ogni oceano, e in habitat terrestri cosí inospitali che non sono habitat per nient’altro.”

E si chiede: “se noi valiamo tanto di piú degli altri animali, allora la nostra capacità di distinguere il bene dal male, e di sacrificare consapevolmente una minima parte del nostro tornaconto in vista di un bene piú grande, non dovrebbe aumentare, anziché diminuire, la nostra sensibilità alle richieste della natura? Una capacità unica non comporta forse una responsabilità unica?”

“Gli animali non potranno ringraziarci per avergli permesso di vivere, e di certo se fossero al nostro posto non farebbero lo stesso per noi. Ma siamo noi, e non loro, ad aver bisogno di dare un senso alla vita.”

[Andrew]

I once worked with a grumpy old coot with a lot of opinions, and despite the fact that I generally agreed with him re: environmental horror, the contradictions of capitalism, etc., I generally wanted him to shut his damn trap – I'm already bummed out, and I'd rather be bummed out by a brilliant essay in Dissent or Current Affairs then listen to an aging boomer talk about... anything.

It's the same with this volume of Franzen essays. He's a grumpy old coot too, albeit one with writing chops.

But do I really care about birds that much? In my onetime life as an environmental science student, I couldn't bring myself to go birding with classmates... you needed a serious love of avians, and I just didn't have it. And so even when it's one of the finest prose writers in modern America writing, it's hard to truly care. He's written some great stuff, but feel free to skip this.

[iva° · Rating 4 out of 5]

franzen mi je draži kao romanopisac, nego esejist, makar vješto izmiče boljki mnogih eseja - da zvuče docirajuće i da su zamarajući. jedino što zamjeram ovoj zbirci eseja jest da se, zapravo, mnogo toga vrti oko njegovog hobija - promatranja ptica. kao stručnjak u tom području, mnoge retke posvetio je životu i naravi ptica (a u širem smislu i ekologiji, borbi za zaštitu okoliša i suptilnim upozorenjima gdje će nas odvesti vlastita ignorancija prirode i Zemlje) koje mene, zapravo, uopće ne interesiraju pa bih u tim trenutcima gubila interes i pažnju. ali na stranu ptice, ostali eseji su sasvim na mjestu.

[Dustin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first essay about climate change and the complicated human response to it is pretty great... The rest is offensively self indulgent and boring.

[Arybo ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

First time with Jonathan Franzen - or an Antarctica Journey❄️



I've just finished this book and I don't know what to say. This was a really interesting read. I've never read a book from this famous author, I didn't know what to expect, and I was surprised. His ideas are clear as crystals and every word expresses its meaning in full power. There are ironic and serious words, dreaming and actual phrases. It was sometimes as if I was missing something, maybe because I'm not a fan of birdwatching. There are essays only about birds, and they are really interesting, as are interestings are the parts about travel in Africa or Antarctica. This last part was really fasciating.
I don't know, I appreciated something, I didn't understand something else. The writing style is great, sometimes dry, sometimes empathetic, sometimes just perfect. I want to read other books from the same author because his voice is powerful and evocative.
If you are interested in books about writing, about life, about climate change I totally recommend this, it's really good.

*I received a free digital copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review *

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

“We spend our days reading, on screens, stuff we'd never bother reading in a printed book, and bitch about how busy we are.” 

Franzen seems to be the most divisive of all living authors. I know he is abrasive and highly-opinionated but so are many artists. I have only read Franzen's The Corrections, which I did love. I always wanted to try his essay work and when I learned that he was such an avid “birder”, I knew I wanted to try this collection. There are birds galore here, so I was not disappointed. I just wish I had the money to go to all these amazing places. Sadly, many of these pieces deal with the destruction of birds and their habitat, (the numbers are truly staggering). As a novice birder myself, it was enough to make you weep. That said, his passion and joy watching and discovering birds, helped balance his well-documented rants.
He also loves books, so a few of these essays also deal with authors and literature, which obviously I can also relate to. This collection is not for everyone and it was not perfect but, if any of those topics hold any interest, give it a try.

[Raisa Beicu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Atipic pentru scrierile lui Franzen, tipic pentru viața lui Franzen. Cei care cunosc măcar un pic din viața lui Jonathan Franzen, știu despre pasiunea lui pentru păsări. Birdwatching-ul îi ocupă mare parte din viață, iar călătoriile sale se învârt în jurul acestei pasiuni - inclusiv atunci când a venit în România a vrut neapărat să viziteze Delta Văcărești pentru a descoperi noi specii.

"Sfârșitul sfârșitului lumii" este o colecție de eseuri construite în jurul păsărilor. Pe alocuri, birdwatching-ul pare doar un pretext pentru povești legate de familie, climate change, protejarea păsărilor și reacția diferitelor culturi la schimbările climatice. Ușor polemic, ca de obicei, Franzen este un foarte bun observator al lumii în care trăim, trăgând câteva semnale de alarmă și fiind sincer îngrijorat de incapacitatea umanității de a reacționa în fața încălzirii globale. 

Jonathan Franzen este fără doar și poate unul dintre cei mai talentați și cunoscuți autori americani, însă el este și unul dintre cei mai responsabili și implicați social oameni din câți am cunoscut.

[Bobparr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saggi che sono scritti in un periodo di tempo abbastanza lungo e che spiccano tutti per la misura e l'equilibrio. Molto interessante quello che dà il titolo alla raccolta: parla di Antartide, troppo lontana e costosa perché se ne possa avere esperienza diretta. Tanta autobiografia e non solo esercizio di un pensiero nitido, che è un basso continuo nella linea di scrittura dell'autore. Leggere Franzen è quasi un dovere civico, anche se non siamo particolarmente interessati al birdwatching - cosa di cui non perde occasione per farne argomento di conversazione, ma che si rivela veicolo per altre e molto più interessanti riflessioni.

[philosophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meanwhile the personal essay itself - the formal apparatus of honest self-examination and sustained engagement with ideas, as developed by Montaigne and advanced by Emerson and Woolf and Baldwin - is in eclipse.

Franzen gets into line with the tradition of essayists that share both their ideas and experiences and does so impeccably.

This copy was kindly provided to me in exchange for an honest review by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Simona · Rating 3 out of 5]

"La fine della fine della terra" non è come si possa pensare un segnale sulla fine del mondo, anche se potrebbe esserlo, considerando i vari cambiamenti climatici e quando sta accadendo nel mondo (vedi Australia).
Paragonandosi a un pompiere che tenta di salvare più vite possibili, e che affronta il fuoco, il pericolo, mentre tutti gli altri scappano, Franzen mette il lettore davanti alla realtà dei fatti invitandolo a riflettere, a prendere coscienza e posizione di fronte a quanto sta succedendo.
Sono 16 saggi che invitano a non girarsi dall'altra parte, ma che spingono ad affrontare il tutto per il benessere di ognuno di noi e dell'ambiente. Da Trump ai cambiamenti climatici sino all'avvento dei social network, al birdwatching, sua passione, Franzen si mette in discussione fornendo il suo parere, raccontando anche la verità più scomoda.
Sono saggi e pensieri che aprono un mondo su varie tematiche alle quali è bene porre attenzione prima che "la fine della fine della terra" sia più vicina di quanto si pensi.

[Jolanta (knygupė) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mano pirma pažintis su garsiu autoriumi ;)
Patiko visos esė apie paukščius, jų naikinimą/nykimą. Visos kitos - ne.

[Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Any of the essays herein contained, were I to stumble across one unlooked-for in a magazine, would hold my attention and be an interesting read. Gathered together in a single collection, however, they become too similar, insufficiently distinct, so that the eyes glaze over after a few have been read. I do like Franzen, though, he's a good writer with interesting things to say and, whether you agree with him or not, he says them well.

[Shannon A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the first page;Shared in these essays are the realities we are afraid to voice or even admit silently. The truths gathered here are an intelligent and raw meditation on the various and sundry anxieties that define our collective human guilt.

[Mientras Leo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mira que me gustan sus novelas, y mira que me ha aburrido leer lo que opina de todo

[Antonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had these essays offered a bit more diversity on subjects, I would have liked this book much better. While I appreciated Franzen's writing and insights on birds and the state of the environment they thrive in or on the contrary - become extinct, at some point I felt overwhelmed by this repetitive theme.