jeremidoucet's review
5.0
If you're not angry, you're not paying attention.
"Premise Thirteen: Those in power rule by force, and the sooner we break ourselves of illusions to the contrary, the sooner we can at least begin to make reasonable decisions about whether, when, and how we are going to resist."
Amazing book.
"Premise Thirteen: Those in power rule by force, and the sooner we break ourselves of illusions to the contrary, the sooner we can at least begin to make reasonable decisions about whether, when, and how we are going to resist."
Amazing book.
kosr's review
4.0
Well, F*ck.
I originally wanted to only use a quote from this book as my review. Yet, having now finished it, I do want to add a few more words. Due to my kind nature, however, I will insert this quote as an alternative for readers not wanting to read my slightly longer critique. See below:
"We're f*cked. We're so f*cked. Not in the good sense of the word."
I feel this is a good summary.
Now for anyone looking for a bit more information on this book please feel free to read further on.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before I start, I need to make a separation between the subject Jensen tackles, and him as a writer.
The first distinction, the subject matter, is utterly unquestionable (in my humble opinion), and is the most important part of this book a potential reader should bare in mind. In fact, I would go as far to say that the subject matter overrules anything else discussed in this review. I found myself in total agreement with Jensen on many, many points he makes in this book. We are heading for a nightmare scenario, and reading this has only made it all the more clearer to me. Not just the facts of what we're doing (amount of trees harvested, miles of oceans vacuumed etc.), but the spiritual suicide we're committing. Readers of this review be warned, Jensen makes absolutly sure to dissect our spiritual loss in EXCRUCIATING detail. His editor made sure to leave no stone unturned in his critical annihilation. As an example, I considered myself pretty aware of the lack of care for nuance in our society, and the contempt those in power hold for our planet (global warming, psychopaths in power, my belief that our system needs a complete overhaul), but I was proven disastrously unprepared for the multiple emotional horrors Jensen was to make me conscious of. I won't detail more, as I hope you will give this book a try regardless of opinion. The subject matter is too important.
The second distinction - Jensen as a writer - I found to be not quite as solid in my analysis. This is my first Jensen book, and I'm still unsure as to whether it might be my last. About midway through reading I found - through a decent amount of time flicking through Goodread reviews - that this may not have been his most concise work. His other texts such as 'A Language Older Than Words' and 'A Culture of Make Believe' seem to be his most well regarded compendiums. Unfortunately, having not read them myself, I can't really make any comparison. As such, I can only go on this reading, and I found it a mixed bag to say the least.*
A good first half of Endgame, and it's thought-to-paper analysis of our current situation as a species, will punch the readers gut like a shotgun blast from two feet away. When Jensen hits his stride he's practically unstoppable in decapitating myths and long held beliefs raised high by 'civilised' cultures. Unfortunately, approaching the second half of the book, the reader may notice Jensen running out of steam. I tried to rationalise and compound this problem into something simple when thinking of writing this review, and I think I can sum it up in one or two sentences. Jensens straight-to-the-point, no bullsh*t criticisms eventually sneak up on him, and his (well founded) bitterness on the topic overwhelms his writing process. There really is only so many ways to convey the same "we're f*cked" message to readers in a 451 page book (and let's not forget it's sister novel, 'Volume II: Resistance', which if we add them together, totals a whopping 800+ pages). There's plenty of different aspects on the topic that Jensen covers, as well as great stories and examples he gives (Star Wars particularly sticks out) of how he feels we need to start viewing the world. But he also repeats himself, multiple times, about the same things, worded differently, throughout. He also manages to create more than a few unnecessary pages of subject matter that simply doesn't gel together (and this is coming from a reader like myself, who will happily put aside nit-picking [see my review of Empire of Illusion by Chris Hedges] an authors style if I believe the topic itself is far more important than the person drawing attention to said topic).
As such, I suggest the reader pick this up with the aim to engage in what Jensen is getting at - with regards to the subject matter -and not hope for a consistently engaging read along the way. Overall, I believe you will be rewarded for this - especially if you haven't read Jensen before, and especially if you haven't read anything environmental based - as the powerful outweighs the mundane in this mans writings by good mile.
* I do aim to read his other works, and the fact he uses said books as references in Endgame solidifies my belief that I'll aim to do so.
I originally wanted to only use a quote from this book as my review. Yet, having now finished it, I do want to add a few more words. Due to my kind nature, however, I will insert this quote as an alternative for readers not wanting to read my slightly longer critique. See below:
"We're f*cked. We're so f*cked. Not in the good sense of the word."
I feel this is a good summary.
Now for anyone looking for a bit more information on this book please feel free to read further on.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before I start, I need to make a separation between the subject Jensen tackles, and him as a writer.
The first distinction, the subject matter, is utterly unquestionable (in my humble opinion), and is the most important part of this book a potential reader should bare in mind. In fact, I would go as far to say that the subject matter overrules anything else discussed in this review. I found myself in total agreement with Jensen on many, many points he makes in this book. We are heading for a nightmare scenario, and reading this has only made it all the more clearer to me. Not just the facts of what we're doing (amount of trees harvested, miles of oceans vacuumed etc.), but the spiritual suicide we're committing. Readers of this review be warned, Jensen makes absolutly sure to dissect our spiritual loss in EXCRUCIATING detail. His editor made sure to leave no stone unturned in his critical annihilation. As an example, I considered myself pretty aware of the lack of care for nuance in our society, and the contempt those in power hold for our planet (global warming, psychopaths in power, my belief that our system needs a complete overhaul), but I was proven disastrously unprepared for the multiple emotional horrors Jensen was to make me conscious of. I won't detail more, as I hope you will give this book a try regardless of opinion. The subject matter is too important.
The second distinction - Jensen as a writer - I found to be not quite as solid in my analysis. This is my first Jensen book, and I'm still unsure as to whether it might be my last. About midway through reading I found - through a decent amount of time flicking through Goodread reviews - that this may not have been his most concise work. His other texts such as 'A Language Older Than Words' and 'A Culture of Make Believe' seem to be his most well regarded compendiums. Unfortunately, having not read them myself, I can't really make any comparison. As such, I can only go on this reading, and I found it a mixed bag to say the least.*
A good first half of Endgame, and it's thought-to-paper analysis of our current situation as a species, will punch the readers gut like a shotgun blast from two feet away. When Jensen hits his stride he's practically unstoppable in decapitating myths and long held beliefs raised high by 'civilised' cultures. Unfortunately, approaching the second half of the book, the reader may notice Jensen running out of steam. I tried to rationalise and compound this problem into something simple when thinking of writing this review, and I think I can sum it up in one or two sentences. Jensens straight-to-the-point, no bullsh*t criticisms eventually sneak up on him, and his (well founded) bitterness on the topic overwhelms his writing process. There really is only so many ways to convey the same "we're f*cked" message to readers in a 451 page book (and let's not forget it's sister novel, 'Volume II: Resistance', which if we add them together, totals a whopping 800+ pages). There's plenty of different aspects on the topic that Jensen covers, as well as great stories and examples he gives (Star Wars particularly sticks out) of how he feels we need to start viewing the world. But he also repeats himself, multiple times, about the same things, worded differently, throughout. He also manages to create more than a few unnecessary pages of subject matter that simply doesn't gel together (and this is coming from a reader like myself, who will happily put aside nit-picking [see my review of Empire of Illusion by Chris Hedges] an authors style if I believe the topic itself is far more important than the person drawing attention to said topic).
As such, I suggest the reader pick this up with the aim to engage in what Jensen is getting at - with regards to the subject matter -and not hope for a consistently engaging read along the way. Overall, I believe you will be rewarded for this - especially if you haven't read Jensen before, and especially if you haven't read anything environmental based - as the powerful outweighs the mundane in this mans writings by good mile.
* I do aim to read his other works, and the fact he uses said books as references in Endgame solidifies my belief that I'll aim to do so.
rebus's review
2.75
I used to believe that Jensen was THE answer to the world's problems and once gave this book a 5 star rating on another site.
It wasn't until the rise of the internet that I discovered that he's just a virtue signaling twat who lacks the courage of his own convictions--HE would never bomb a dam--and that he's simply a narcissist with sociopathic tendencies who is smug, sanctimonious and moralistic while wanting all the credit in the end for saving the world.
He's actually amassed a great deal of wealth and property and lives isolated in much the same fashion as the Unabomber, pontificating from his mountaintop, and I find that as loathsome as when Neocons like Bernie buy a 3rd house after not fighting for an election (and paying the entire 600K in cash).
Jensen is worshipped, but he is a fraud who is only looking out for himself.
It wasn't until the rise of the internet that I discovered that he's just a virtue signaling twat who lacks the courage of his own convictions--HE would never bomb a dam--and that he's simply a narcissist with sociopathic tendencies who is smug, sanctimonious and moralistic while wanting all the credit in the end for saving the world.
He's actually amassed a great deal of wealth and property and lives isolated in much the same fashion as the Unabomber, pontificating from his mountaintop, and I find that as loathsome as when Neocons like Bernie buy a 3rd house after not fighting for an election (and paying the entire 600K in cash).
Jensen is worshipped, but he is a fraud who is only looking out for himself.
vincenthowland's review
4.0
An unhinged screed that matches its insane subject. The conclusions aren't super-thoroughly researched, but I think that's kind of the point: the future can't be ensconced in scholarly research any more than the screeds about it can rely on it. Totalitarian generalizations are products of a death cult, and only the personal, local, and communal have a chance of enduring.
cedewey's review
It's been awhile since a book left me thinking so much. I love Jensen's style and he is great and connecting with people. He takes the reader into analyses that people typically won't even touch. Even being politically radical, I was still questioning and rethinking a lot of my thinking when I was done reading the book. It's definitely worth reading.
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