We the Living, by Ayn Rand

Excellent book, 10/10. Would highly recommend despite its size and heavy nature.

~LCoco

The Yacoubian Building by Alaa al Aswany

An excellent book, I would definitely recommend to anyone looking to learn more about mainstream-yet-quiet Islamic culture. In case I haven't said it enough, I'll see you in June for a review of Kafka's "Metamorphosis".

-LCoco

Anthem, by Ayn Rand

Review of Anthem, by Ayn Rand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnXTjVJtoNQ

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, by Bill McKibben

Bill McKibben’s "economics of environmentalism" book fully covered the community crisis surrounding our world today. From the economics of happiness to environmental stability, his text flowed smoothly from eating local to lack of community aid in our country to our durable future. He gets straight to the heart of many of these issues, down to the fundamental attitudes that effect our decision making. While McKibben addresses so many of the problems we have in our society quite well, there are holes in his logic.

When it comes to eating locally, he spent a year eating only foods that grew within an hour or two of his home. While that was a great decision, McKibben lives in Vermont – probably one of the densest farm states in the nation. In fact, I think they do have the most farms per square mile of any state in the country. Most of America doesn’t have a fully sustainable (meat, cheese, dairy, egg, fruit and vegetable) CSA farm within an hour of their home, like McKibben does. This doesn’t give us an excuse to eat pineapples in January, but one should realize that eating completely local might not be a realistic goal for most of the country. While I have a fabulous farmer’s market minutes from my home, they do not sell meat, cheese or dairy, so if I ate those and wanted them locally, I’d have to go all the way to Foster to get them, if I could even get them there. McKibben also completely ignores the plight of inner-city communities where fresh food is totally unavailable in any form – he doesn’t even acknowledge that living completely locally simply isn’t realistic for a lot of people. That being said, McKibben has a lot of great ideas that, in my opinion, are fairly realistic solutions to our problems.

McKibben also has a distinct bias. I got some pretty Socialist leanings based on his political commentary. He seems to support forcibly driving out “bad” industries or technologies using laws and regulations. It’s still a good book, but take his opinions with a grain of salt. A lot of issues (taxes, national health care, Social Security) are a lot more complex than simply giving all for the good of the community. (Although, to his credit, when covering politicians’ roles in these issues, he seemed to give fair play to both George Bush and Bill Clinton).

He strikes a good balance when it comes to statistics. He isn’t heavy on them but he provides data along with the anecdotes. However, I don’t trust some of them outright. For example, McKibben stated that as more Wal-Marts arrived in a specific community, those communities grew poorer. That may not be totally accurate – the appearance of the Wal-Marts (to me) signifies a demand for cheap goods, implying an inherent community poverty that would motivate Wal-Mart to open multiple stores within a fairly small area. He also cites a statistic in which “security” outranked any form of “being able to help your children” as a benefit of money – where in my mind, money provides security, partially in the ability to help your children.

While McKibben’s points are good, he has a difficult time pulling what we call in literature a “red thread” – a topic or overarching theme that ties all your evidence or reasoning together. While the book was an enjoyable read, I found myself forgetting his overall message – that we, as a society, need to ease back on economic efficiency so intense that it sacrifices community, family time and our happiness. That we must make our economy less traditionally efficient in order to increase the wealth of our communities, happiness of our citizens and increase both our independence and codependence. And that above all, we need to focus more on improving the quality of life for all human beings, including ourselves, rather than the quantity in our bank accounts.

Overall: 7 out of 10.

Details:

Paperback: 272 pages

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; Later printing edition (March 4, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0805087222

ISBN-13: 978-0805087222

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart

Sorry it's been so long since I posted - I've been busy and this book took 2-3 weeks to come into the library. I'm making my way through my reading list, which contains a lot of nonfiction (Kolbert's climate change novel was also on that list). In a similar thread, Cradle to Cradle is basically about environmentalism, but it absolutely shattered every notion I'd had about being good to the environment. McDonough and Braungart start off talking about the effects the many different products we use on a daily basis have on us. They don't bog down with statistics, chemical or biological terms, but run quickly through some of the hazards of modern chemical living.

One concept I found very interesting was their view on recycling. Braungart, a chemist, explains that to break down soda bottles into rugs or coats, or even more soda bottles, not only are you doing more damage to the environment with chemical processes, risking your own health as these chemicals off-gas into your home and using much more energy than just creating a new bottle, you're "downcycling" the material. An analogy I would like to make is to recycled paper. Compare it to a new piece of virgin paper - recycled paper is grainy, brown, thin and aesthetically very unappealing. This is because turning that used piece of paper into "new" paper, actually downgrades the quality of the material - the same with almost everything we recycle in modern life. They say our products should be designed to be recycled indefinitely, with no effect on quality (which is possible). Braungart and McDonough blow the cover off modern environmentalism, basically stating that we need to redesign the way we live. Being "less bad" by buying recycled paper, "all natural" sheets and using the bus isn't good enough. They want American innovators to design products that are made to be good. Focusing less on what we're taking out of the environment, but how to give back to it. Basically, a version I suppose of their ideal product would be something made of nonharmful, effective and limited "ingredients" that benefits whatever it is meant to be used on, then goes back into the earth and further benefits the ecosystem that lives there. Their design proposition for products basically is this: Think outside the box. Don't work on improving the car - redesign our transportation system so that it eliminates the need for cars entirely.

I would also describe them as "locavores" in that they believe products should be made for individuals, not in a "one size fits all" mentality. They say that laundry soap flakes are made for the hardest job they might have to do, which means they can do anything, but it also means they are too strong for the job they usually have to do. Many people in less developed countries apply these soaps with their hands, in rivers used for bathing and washing. In this situation, these women need gentler soap that will work with the environment they are being used in. They want to design products made to be used in particular situations, suited totally to the needs of one system or group, and that are enjoyable to use. Respect diversity, don't eliminate it.

Another concept they introduce in the book is improving modern manufacturing. They describe the work they did with a Ford factory implementing eco-effective strategies to manage problems from worker happiness to rainwater management. With Braungart and McDonough (and a team of biologists, chemists and toxicologists), Ford cleaned up the dead and polluted soil around the factory using native plants and microrganisms, installed an underground water collection system that would filter water out to local waterways in a safe way. They also installed tons of skylights and windows in their building and implemented new heating and cooling strategies - making the workers much happier and more productive, aesthetically improving their building, and saving thousands on energy costs.

The book was exceptionally well-written, well-organized and easy to read. Their language flowed beautifully and kept the reader interested and in the loop - you won't find dry statistics, charts and technical jargon here. That being said, you must have an interest in environmentalism - it will be boring without one. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone as an essential read - but get it from the library. Although it is made of a durable, waterproof, indefinitely-recyclable and chemically safe synthetic, this technology is new and very expensive.

Overall: 10 out of 10.

Details:

Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: North Point Press; 1st edition (April 22, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0865475873
ISBN-13: 978-0865475878

Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change, by Elizabeth Kolbert

Elizabeth Kolbert's nonfiction book, Field Notes from a Catastrophe provides an honest, factual and comprehensive look at climate change in today's world. From Alaskan villages to South American jungles, Kolbert details the devastating effects of pollution on today's world - in places where it's already happening. While the book is quite dry for anyone not interested in climate change, it is a crucial and encompassing work that will leave any reader better informed. Kolbert cites a lot of facts and figures in her book, but don't be alarmed if they aren't true - it is five or six years old, so I wouldn't take any of her numbers as fact before checking them yourself. Kolbert interviews many experts on the subject of climate change. She is also very factual when addressing the causes and solutions to many problems, but doesn't shy away from politics either. While many would say that climate change is a "leftist" issue, purported only by fear-mongering Democrats (and yes, Kolbert was a writer for the New York Times), she gives fair recognition to politicians of all stripes. She expresses disappointment at the Bush administration's handle on climate issues, but also praises Senator John McCain for supporting and introducing strong climate legislation in the Senate. She also addresses the arguments of global warming disbelievers, and explains the faults in a respectful but comprehensive way. Among all Kolbert's warnings of future devastation, hope is present. She spends an entire chapter detailing the efforts of Burlington, Vermont to make their town more eco-friendly. This rather large town has worked hard to reduce their carbon emissions by over 175,000 tons in 16 years. Their electricity use has dropped by 1%, while the rest of Vermont has risen by 15% (so a total 16% savings). Her book provides a clear, focused and wide-sweeping look at the effects of climate change (from melting ice sheets to extinct Costa Rican toads), to our future losses, to solutions to the problems facing the next generation. While not quite as passionate as other climate-related books, Field Notes from a Catastrophe is a hard look at our energy future, and the changes that need to be made for our planet, our children and future.

The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth, by Tim Flannery

This book is exactly the opposite of Gretel Ehrlich's book I reviewed last month, but they make great companions. While Flannery's book gives you the facts, figures and politics of global warming, Ehrlich's is a tribute to what is being lost, giving a face to Flannery's hard numbers.

What I liked: It debunked a lot of global warming myths that I have found hard to explain in global warming debates; for example, the "Medieval Warm Period", when the Earth was thought to be warm due to evidence of wineries in England. As evidenced by global temperature records (ice cores, tree rings, etc.), the Earth was overall cooler, but warmed in a sort of patchy way due to natural stratospheric shifts. Flannery's book gave me a lot of the facts, numbers and predictions I was looking for out of Ehrlich's book, but having read Ehrlich's book helped me clearly envision what he meant. I would highly suggest reading them together. I also liked that he made it clear that even if we stopped emitting any fossil fuels this very minute, the Earth would still warm a little (maybe 2 degrees overall) because of the lifetime of carbon dioxide to stay in our air.

What I didn't like: For all of Flannery's hard facts, putting compassion behind facts is very difficult. Saying that the hole in the ozone is 11 million miles wide (made up number) is not the same as showing it. I often found myself checking the page numbers to see how long I had before I was done.

Overall: I would give it a 7 out of 10.

Alternative review:

Publisher's Weekly:

Mammologist and paleontologist Flannery (The Eternal Frontier), who in recent years has become well known for his controversial ideas on conservation, the environment and population control, presents a straightforward and powerfully written look at the connection between climate change and global warming. It's destined to become required reading following Hurricane Katrina as the focus shifts to the natural forces that may have produced such a devastating event. Much of the book's success is rooted in Flannery's succinct and fascinating insights into related topics, such as the differences between the terms greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change, and how the El Niño cycle of extreme climatic events "had a profound re-organising effect on nature." But the heart of the book is Flannery's impassioned look at the earth's "colossal" carbon dioxide pollution problem and his argument for how we can shift from our current global reliance on fossil fuels [...]. Flannery consistently produces the hard goods related to his main message that our environmental behavior makes us all "weather makers" who "already possess all the tools required to avoid catastrophic climate change."

Details:

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Grove Press (January 10, 2001)
ISBN-10: 0802142923
ASIN: B001PO66MG