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shonaholmes's review
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
Interesting and insightful look at how humans process apocalypses in relation to the world we live in. As a Gen Z, having grown up in a world that seems hopeless, I felt very seen by this set of essays.
notsarahconnor's review
dark
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Katie Goh's The End provides an excellent analysis of apocalypse fiction and why viewers consume them during dire times, like during the Covid19 pandemic. I particularly enjoyed Goh's analysis of the movie A Quiet Place which opened allowed me to see the film in a new light.
Read the full review on my blog!
Read the full review on my blog!
figgy_pudding's review
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
I did not imagine this to touch me the way it did. A stunning mediation on why we gravitite to the end of the world
krilves's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Brilliant. I love disaster/end of the world/apocalyptic movies of all kinds (though my favourites lean towards natural disasters) so I was really curious about this. Katie Goh writes smartly and with insight and though I may not necessarily agree with all the points she makes, I can understand the reasoning and logic behind her arguments and I think they're valid takes. This was also just an all round interesting and *good* read - well written, rounded, breezy. You'd think a book about the end of the world would be a heavy read, but it isn't, at all. I also appreciate the personal touch and how Goh uses her own lived experience to infuse the text with something to relate to - after all, she does make the point that when it comes to disaster movies, they need something personally relatable to really stick. There were a few films mentioned I haven't yet gotten round to watching so I will, and there are a few I think I will rewatch with a fresh perspective.
fiendfull's review
5.0
Part of 404 Ink's Inklings series, The End is a look at disasters in fiction, how they work, and why we return to them, whether in times of crisis or not. Katie Goh starts with her own fears of apocalypse in the introduction and then explores four kinds of disasters in fiction—pandemic, climate, extraterrestrial, and social—to see what these stories say about us and consider why they work (or don't work, in some cases).
This book is a fascinating chance to think about why 'the end of the world' is such a feature in fiction and why it matters what kinds of things the story is saying about the apocalypse. Though it's about disaster fiction, especially films and books, The End also feels like it is sharing tools for critiquing disaster fiction and what we get from it, and thinking about using these stories as ways of presenting brighter futures rather than falling back on the same old narratives. I particularly enjoyed the part that questions superhero films and where they can go when the stakes are always to save the world/universe/etc, in contrast to films that use these kinds of stakes and disasters to tell more interesting stories.
As warned at the start of the book and maybe obvious from the premise, The End is a book full of spoilers about various kinds of 'ends' in fiction, exploring what stories are told and why they might be popular. By necessity it covers the COVID-19 pandemic, but also emphasises that these stories (and seeming apocalypses) have been going on for much, much longer, and what our current disaster fiction 'go-to' stories are might say a lot about us. I enjoyed its accessible style and combination of ideas and analysis of media within a small space, making for a very readable book that will definitely come to mind when I consume disaster media in the future.
This book is a fascinating chance to think about why 'the end of the world' is such a feature in fiction and why it matters what kinds of things the story is saying about the apocalypse. Though it's about disaster fiction, especially films and books, The End also feels like it is sharing tools for critiquing disaster fiction and what we get from it, and thinking about using these stories as ways of presenting brighter futures rather than falling back on the same old narratives. I particularly enjoyed the part that questions superhero films and where they can go when the stakes are always to save the world/universe/etc, in contrast to films that use these kinds of stakes and disasters to tell more interesting stories.
As warned at the start of the book and maybe obvious from the premise, The End is a book full of spoilers about various kinds of 'ends' in fiction, exploring what stories are told and why they might be popular. By necessity it covers the COVID-19 pandemic, but also emphasises that these stories (and seeming apocalypses) have been going on for much, much longer, and what our current disaster fiction 'go-to' stories are might say a lot about us. I enjoyed its accessible style and combination of ideas and analysis of media within a small space, making for a very readable book that will definitely come to mind when I consume disaster media in the future.