Customer Reviews: Read 222 more reviews...
 Fascinating, but depressing July 19, 2008
This book was a selection for our non-fiction book club at our local library. I agree with the quote on the front of the book by Bill KcKibben; that this book is "a tremendous feat of imaginative reporting". It was both extremely informative and depressing all at once. Still not sure if it qualifies as non-fiction or not, but much of the information, data, and statistics were very much real. For those interested in the future of the earth, it's worth a read.
 This amazing work of fiction... July 15, 2008
..Had me in laughing tears over the imagination of the writer in fits of ecstasy and rapturous delight as he typed out the pages. And then rushing into the bushes buck naked to be One with Lady Gaia!... ..Before coming back in for the bug solvents and creams for all the bites and poisonous plants out there that he ran into. I'm sure the profits of the book will calm his Rage over all those Thousands of Trees that where sacrificed for this Cautionary tome....
I give it FIVE STARS for its' laugh out humor and tree hugging - and then cutting delight!
 Without information on potential improvement, the fascinating, grim message is rendered hopeless and useless. Not recommended July 14, 2008
What would happen to the world if, sometime in the immediate future, without a catastrophe that damaged the planet, every human on Earth were to disappear? This is the premise of The World Without Us, which explores the effect of man's absence across the the world: the swift disintegration of homes and cities, the long-lasting effects of pollution and plastic, the health and death of flora and fauna. The topic is interesting and eye-opening, but the book leaves something to be desired. The narrative lacks structure and the voice is stinted, and while Weisman discusses, in detail, the damage done by man, the premise cripples the usefulness of the book: he does not provide any alternative, any advice on how his readers can change or control their impact on the earth in the likely event that mankind doesn't disappear tomorrow. As a result, this book is a long and painful read, and its grim message, although well worth hearing, is rendered useless by the lack of real-world advice. I don't recommend it.
I found The World Without Us disappointing and depressing--but I don't disagree with Weisman's message. Urban skyscrapers and suburban houses may swiftly crumble without human occupation, but some effects of human habitation on earth--extinction, introduced species, pollution, plastics, nuclear waste--will be remain for thousands or millions of years, whether we stay or disappear. Pulling on past events, longterm trends, some theorizing, and a wealth of research, Weisman shows both sides: those which would bounce back, and those which may never be rid of humanity's indelible mark. The hopeful improvements are overwhelmed by the negative lasting impact, especially when Weisman concedes that mankind will probably still be around tomorrow and the the centuries to come. The message is depressing but it is also true, and it serves as grim and brutal wakeup call to the reader: by nature of our very existence, exacerbated by modern life, humans damage the planet that we inhabit.
This message is true, but it is also little more than depressing because Weiman fails to provide any information about what mankind can take to decrease their negative impact on the planet. He provides no information about positive effects, nothing on potential change, no advice local or large. If anything, Weisman makes it seem as if there is nothing we can do--the damage done is too great, and humanity as a whole has no desire to change, so we will continue to harm the planet for as long as we live here. The reader has nothing to take away except for complete hopelessness. As a result, the book is long and slow, depressing to read and difficult to pick back up each time you set it down--factors which are exacerbated by the apparent lack of structure, which leaves the book's many subtopics floating unconnected, and Weisman's stinted writing style, which reads not unlike a newspaper article and makes for tedious style to fill an entire book.
In short, The World Without Us is depressing. It is depressing because it offers unsettling information about the impact that humans have on the planet, information which is true and well worth reading. However, the book fails to be a dire warning with the potential to urge its readers to action; instead, it offers no hope, no action, no real-world application at all. Compounded by mediocre writing, I simply can't recommend this book. The premise is fascinating and the content is meaningful, but in the end this book is simply too difficult to read with too little redeeming content. I don't recommend it.
But Who Will Take Out The Trash? July 10, 2008
There's just too much darn plastic everywhere. Once it gets in the ocean, it doesn't leave. That stuff will be constipating fish and zooplankton long after the E.P.A. mandates that all plastic products be made out of stuff that doesn't contain any plastic. I say take all the plastic waste and throw it in with all the nuclear waste in some mountain in a country we don't take kindly to (but we should put a lock on a fence around the mountain so the bad guys don't make terrorist trinkets with all that junk). The real problem is that there are just too many people messing up the planet (as usual). Weisman didn't mention Wal-Mart by name as an entity messing up the planet (not to mention such nice neighborhoods as Inglewood), but I bet he sure wanted to. Of course, I personally have nothing against Wal-Mart except for all those darn shoppers that keep getting in my way while I'm trying to buy stuff. To sum it all up: we are all going to die and take out a whole bunch of biomass in the process because of our [as a species] gross and negligent industrializational [spiffy new word, eh?] by-products and plastic. But once we are all dead and really long, long, long gone but before the sun goes super-charged-Nova (which is just plain silly and a waste of money and gas) and fries our dearly beloved planet to a crisp memory: THEN the earth will be a truly great place to live or at least vacation.
Thought Provoking and So Original July 8, 2008
I had only heard a very brief description of The World Without Us, and caught a brief snatch of the author being interviewed ona BBC Radio Prog.
My imagination was fired up from these brief moments and I bought the book almost immediately. I could not put it down once I started reading it. I read it over two evenings, and I am now in a second reading of the book. The science in the first part of the book is pitched at lay-man level and very easily understood. Throughout the book I was so impressed with what must have been a mammoth task undertaken by the author, going to many parts of the world to uncover the facts which abound in this book. I have to loan the book out to my immediate family soon, as they are fed up with me going on about it!
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