Ernest Callenbach
Paperback | Pages: 181 pages Rating: 3.59 | 3985 Users | 481 Reviews
List Regarding Books Ecotopia
| Title | : | Ecotopia |
| Author | : | Ernest Callenbach |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 181 pages |
| Published | : | March 1st 1990 by Bantam (first published 1975) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Science Fiction. Environment. Utopia. Dystopia. Politics |
Narrative As Books Ecotopia
A novel both timely and prophetic, Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopia is a hopeful antidote to the environmental concerns of today, set in an ecologically sound future society. Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as the “newest name after Wells, Verne, Huxley, and Orwell,” Callenbach offers a visionary blueprint for the survival of our planet . . . and our future. Ecotopia was founded when northern California, Oregon, and Washington seceded from the Union to create a “stable-state” ecosystem: the perfect balance between human beings and the environment. Now, twenty years later, this isolated, mysterious nation is welcoming its first officially sanctioned American visitor: New York Times-Post reporter Will Weston. Skeptical yet curious about this green new world, Weston is determined to report his findings objectively. But from the start, he’s alternately impressed and unsettled by the laws governing Ecotopia’s earth-friendly agenda: energy-efficient “mini-cities” to eliminate urban sprawl, zero-tolerance pollution control, tree worship, ritual war games, and a woman-dominated government that has instituted such peaceful revolutions as the twenty-hour workweek and employee ownership of farms and businesses. His old beliefs challenged, his cynicism replaced by hope, Weston meets a sexually forthright Ecotopian woman and undertakes a relationship whose intensity will lead him to a critical choice between two worlds.Itemize Books Toward Ecotopia
| Original Title: | Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston |
| ISBN: | 0553348477 (ISBN13: 9780553348477) |
| Edition Language: | English URL http://www.ernestcallenbach.com/Books.html |
| Characters: | William Weston, Vera Allwen |
| Setting: | United States of America |
Rating Regarding Books Ecotopia
Ratings: 3.59 From 3985 Users | 481 ReviewsAssessment Regarding Books Ecotopia
In brief: Ecotopia is a brilliant story illuminating a possible, bright sustainable eco-future where No. Cal, Oregon and Washington secede from 'Merica and are isolated for decades and a NY journalist visits for the first time since secession. The writing is not that great but the story and the vision of a sustainable high quality communal egalitarian life is brilliant. A must read for minds open to fighting for and having a sustainable, enjoyable life based upon sharing and enjoying Earth.Ecotopians have the feeling of never being alone. This classic read as if it had been written yesterday. That is beautiful.That is sad.Because I could have been living in Ecotopia instead of reading it. Sexual equality, sustainability, 3D printing, FaceTime, community, guilt avoidance warfare, recycling, solar power, environmental harmony, social justice, and my personal favorite - the revision of the Protestant work ethic.All the important issues being discussed today were addressed here in
Reading Ecotopia today is like watching men trying to invent a flying machine by flapping big finely crafted wings, as they did so for hundreds of years. Man can't fly that way! We are too much dead weight, we have to have a fixed wing and lots of power. We have to fire our jets against gravity. We need power, not a carapace of balsa wood and a bag of feathers. But oh, do I wish it weren't so! Ecotopia is hard evidence that good solutions only go as far as the people with good sense can carry
I wanted to read Ernest Callenbach's Ecotopia since early 2009. (It took me almost four years to get there.) I had heard about it that it was introducing an utopian society, that it was exploring near-scientific explanations to how a sustainable society can exist, and that it practiced what it preached (the book was printed on-demand, sustained by the demand of interested consumers rather than publishing economics). Having finally read it, I am impressed in the way that I was after having read
I'm a die-hard lefty and I still think this is a terrible book. It's poorly written, biased, and short-sighted propaganda. I read as much of it as I could before I just had to throw it down in disgust, and this was at a time when I was young enough believe I had to finish every book that I read. For decades this was the only book I couldn't finish. It's really not even worth my time to review thoroughly so I'll give you just one example of how stupid and ill-conceived it is: The people are
I liked this book very much. I very much enjoyed the way it was structured, with different 'articles' describing different aspects of life in this imagined Ecotopian society. I always enjoy when books about alternate futures focus on the way people live instead of a dramaticized plot. I thought the interspersion of journal entries and articles was an excellent balance between these two aspects of the greater story of Ecotopia.It is unfortunate to say that the book has not aged well. It is no
Northern California, Oregon, and Washington secede from the US. What's not to like? Five stars for imagination, given that this was written back in the 70s. This is a flawed masterpiece, an original vision that sticks to the inside of your head (OK my head) for decades. Callenbach shows us an alternative to the corporate- and profit-dominated world we live in now. Having read the book, I can't hear pundits talk about rising GDP and the need to increase our standard of living without wondering
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