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Review
Nearly every sentence offers yet another concretely sensible proposal, giving the book substantial density. . . . As a first primer for how to get it together as a stable-state humanitarian society, it is the best book I've seen yet. -- Not Man Apart
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
A novel both timely and prophetic, Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopia is a hopeful antidote to the environmental concerns of today, set in an ecologically sound future society. Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as the “newest name after Wells, Verne, Huxley, and Orwell,” Callenbach offers a visionary blueprint for the survival of our planet . . . and our future.
Ecotopia was founded when northern California, Oregon, and Washington seceded from the Union to create a “stable-state” ecosystem: the perfect balance between human beings and the environment. Now, twenty years later, this isolated, mysterious nation is welcoming its first officially sanctioned American visitor: New York Times-Post reporter Will Weston.
Skeptical yet curious about this green new world, Weston is determined to report his findings objectively. But from the start, he’s alternately impressed and unsettled by the laws governing Ecotopia’s earth-friendly agenda: energy-efficient “mini-cities” to eliminate urban sprawl, zero-tolerance pollution control, tree worship, ritual war games, and a woman-dominated government that has instituted such peaceful revolutions as the twenty-hour workweek and employee ownership of farms and businesses. His old beliefs challenged, his cynicism replaced by hope, Weston meets a sexually forthright Ecotopian woman and undertakes a relationship whose intensity will lead him to a critical choice between two worlds.
Ecotopia was founded when northern California, Oregon, and Washington seceded from the Union to create a “stable-state” ecosystem: the perfect balance between human beings and the environment. Now, twenty years later, this isolated, mysterious nation is welcoming its first officially sanctioned American visitor: New York Times-Post reporter Will Weston.
Skeptical yet curious about this green new world, Weston is determined to report his findings objectively. But from the start, he’s alternately impressed and unsettled by the laws governing Ecotopia’s earth-friendly agenda: energy-efficient “mini-cities” to eliminate urban sprawl, zero-tolerance pollution control, tree worship, ritual war games, and a woman-dominated government that has instituted such peaceful revolutions as the twenty-hour workweek and employee ownership of farms and businesses. His old beliefs challenged, his cynicism replaced by hope, Weston meets a sexually forthright Ecotopian woman and undertakes a relationship whose intensity will lead him to a critical choice between two worlds.
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First Sentence
The Times-Post is at last able to announce that William Weston, our top international affairs reporter, will spend six weeks in Ecotopia, beginning next week. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
The Times-Post is at last able to announce that William Weston, our top international affairs reporter, will spend six weeks in Ecotopia, beginning next week. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
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4.0 out of 5 stars
an entertaining read,
By
This review is from: Ecotopia (Paperback)
Ernest Callenbach's novel is written in a clever and well thought out manner. The novel tells the story of an American journalist who travels to the independent state of Ecotopia which is a country formed by environmentalists who managed to secede northern California, Oregon and Washington from the American union. The journalist spends time in Ecotopia learning about the young society and how its inhabitants strive to live in a stable state with nature.It is a well written novel and it is quite clever. The novel clearly serves as a kind of call to arms for environmentalists, not in the military sense but in a "how-to" manner. It describes in fair detail the system of government that has been put in place, how energy, food and consumer goods are produced and how the people live and interact with each other. The novel reads a lot like a manifesto for a "new" kind of environmental movement and is also full of several contradictions and oddball ideas. One part talks about a secret 3 day war between the USA and Ecotopia shortly after independence and how the Ecotopians shot down about 7000 US combat aircraft. Well, today, the US air force has less than 7000 aircraft and it seems rather absurd that the strongest military on earth would be foolish enough to lose its entire air force in a few days. That being said, the novel is fiction of course. Callenbach is an entertaining writer, but to really love this book I am fairly certain that you have to be a strong environmentalist. If you're not, you can still enjoy the story and be intrigued by the detail that Callenbach has put into the utopia he created.
4.0 out of 5 stars
I love this book, but........,
By "efoff" (Ecotopia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ecotopia (Paperback)
This is one of those books that only a mother could love. This is one of my favorite books, but all the critical reviews are correct: the writing style flips back & forth between pretentious & wooden, the characters either shallow or dopey (usually both). This book is no "A Tale of Two Cities." In fact, for this kind of story, Thomas Moore's "Utopia," Bellemy's "Looking Backward"--and probably everything written by Jules Verne are better stories....Way better (especially Moore, the grand-daddy of the genre).I still love this book, because of all that. When written during the 1970s, it was so "out there" for its time--that reading it now is terribly dated. It's almost like watching 1950s movies about space flight....But this book (in its own weird way) was an important book that helped inspire the environmental movement. No, it's not Rachal Carsons's "Silent Spring," but it reads a heck of a lot better than "Unsafe at any Speed." If you're in your forties (or older), and want a drift back to the "future" of 1970, or you're younger & want to know why your parents are so weird--Read this book. Or if you are an environmentalist, and want to know where your roots lie--this is a good book to read. But if you don't have any special interest, and are just looking for a ripping good yarn to pass a rainy saturday afternoon....It's not this book, babe.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Looking at the other side!,
By "crazetiger04" (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ecotopia (Paperback)
I loved reading Ecotopia for my Government class. This book is really easy to understand. The author goes into great detail. For those of you who do like exploring new things this book is for you. It is possible to have a world like Ecotopia, that's whats so appealing. I recomend this to everyone. Open your mind explore something new and don't be afraid.
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