- Paperback
- Publisher: Penguin Books (2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0140279512
- ISBN-13: 978-0140279511
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 440 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #354,781 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
A few summers ago I visited two dairy farms, Huls Farm and Gardar Farm, which despite being located thousands of miles apart were still remarkably similar in their strengths and vulnerabilities. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
A few summers ago I visited two dairy farms, Huls Farm and Gardar Farm, which despite being located thousands of miles apart were still remarkably similar in their strengths and vulnerabilities. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
boring, but worth a read if you don't know this stuff,
This review is from: Collapse (Paperback)
This is a good book if you don't already realize that we're screwing ourselves as a species. If this describes you, then read this book. It is methodical, it makes a strong case, and it doesn't degenerate into rhetoric like lots of environmentally themed books. Diamond does not present an Ehrlich-like appocalypitic certainty-he is generous enough, and confident enough in human beings' resourcefullness, to give us even odds. This is nice, because, while I do believe we're hooped if we don't change, I do believe we CAN change, and alot of popular books on this subject always just tell us we're done like dinner. For fans of Guns, Germs and Steel, don't expect this book to be anywhere near as good. If you are an environmentally-minded person and have done some reading on the subject, don't expect to take a whole lot of new, relevant, information from this book. It is pretty damn boring. By making his case methodically, step-by-step, Diamond bored me to tears (especially in the early going). It is important that he makes his case in this manner, to close the loop-holes for lunatic right-wing economists, but from a literary point of view it is a terrible read.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast, reliable Canada Post,
This review is from: Collapse: Revised & Updated (Paperback)
The good thing about ordering from other companies on Amazon.ca is that usually the book is cheaper, and best of all it is delivered using regular mail. This means the Postal worker has access to your building and leave the small package at your door. Sure beats UPS holding onto it for more than a week trying to deliver it when ever you are out or at work.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ultimately, disappointing,
By Jimbo Jones (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Collapse (Paperback)
I first heard about this book by hearing someone say that it was "genius." It's certainly not, but it's worth a read anyway... at least the first 3/4.
I'm not overly interested in environmentalism -- I read this book primarily for the narratives and analyses of the ancient and recent societies that collapsed. The book is, after all, called "Collapse." Collapse starts off very strongly. It gives a nice description of what constitutes a collapse and explains how history should be studied like a science. His intro chapter on Montana basically sets the tone for the next 13 chapters of the book, which are interesting for the most part, although sometimes redundant. His analyses of past and modern societies are insightful and exhibit a comprehensive knowledge of history... too bad he didn't stop there. The last section is called "Pracical Lessons." After reading the previous chapters, I was pretty pumped for this part, as Diamond is obviously a vary smart man (not that his biases don't show at times). Unfortunately, without the use of a storyline to present his thoughts, as in the previous chapters, his writing derails and becomes extremely dry... almost unbearable to read. I reduced myself to generous skimming because he really presents nothing new; the average reader should be smart enought to extend what he was saying in the historical examples to modern society. Thus, I'm not sure that I would reccommend this book. If it's history you're looking for, there are better books, and I'm sure the same goes if you're looking for a book on environmental issues. The book really doesn't work well as a hybrid; the last section doesn't flow with the first three. I would suggest reading only a few chapters... say, the ones on Easter Island, the Anasazi, Rwanda, and Australia. These are very good, but the rest is really redundancy. My suggestion: get this from the library, read 4 or 5 chapters, and don't waste your time and money on the rest.
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