Reviews

The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable by Amitav Ghosh

lucybreit's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

3.0

ela_lee_'s review against another edition

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3.0

The world was void,
The populous and the powerful was a lump,
Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless—
A lump of death—a chaos of hard clay.
The rivers, lakes and ocean all stood still,
And nothing stirr'd within their silent depths.

-Darkness by Lord Byron (George Gordon)

The Great Derangement is an interesting discussion on climate change and unlike any other environmental books I’ve read. It touches on vast subjects such as geography, history, poetry, literature, and religion, encouraging a more philosophical approach on how society views climate change. Ghosh is a fiction novel writer and it shows (especially as he name drops several of his other books throughout, which I found tacky.)

This book helped me research climate change in a unique way, but overall it was way too wordy and dry for me. It took a couple weeks to finish (which is rare) especially since it is a shorter book. As someone else mentioned in the comments, I could see this novel fusing better as an essay or detailed article.

Overall, I appreciated learning about natural disasters from the 1800’s, how climate change has and continues to affect Asian countries, and a more detailed look at The Paris Climate Agreement suggesting it may not be as effective as we’d hoped.

gre_books's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

Il libro raccoglie i discorsi di Amitav Ghosh presso un'università americana e il libro è diviso in temi. Il volume è scorrevole e abbastanza snello, tratta di tematiche estremamente attuali in modo semplice e molto incisivo. Ottimo volume per approcciarsi alle tematiche trattate da Ghosh e per comprendere altri suoi volumi. 

jrt_lit's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

loililo's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

sujithpadar's review against another edition

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5.0

A conglomeration of ideas and facts from literature, history and politics about climate change which build up to present the chilling challenges that is ahead of us.

sunflowers_and_storms's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

huddycleve's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.75

hollyevaallen's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

saraekali's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective

5.0

This should be required reading for anyone living in the world today. Clearly unpacks the current climate crisis and its historical and political roots, revealing its entanglement with both capitalism and imperialism.