Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2005)

Socities Fail/Succeed

A real disappointment for me, having loved two of Diamond's previous books. The central idea: that ecological collapse is possible has happened before and may happen to us is important, but Diamond really belabors the point and does not properly account for the transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy. Not nearly as well though-out and presented as I've come to expect from Diamond. Compacted into 100 pages or so, this might have been something. ( )

This is a painstakingly researched, extremely thorough examination of how environmental challenges, and the way different societies handled these, either brought about an eventual collapse or were overcome and the society able to continue. The book is roughly seperated into a first half dealing with past societies, and a second half with modern ones, with some overlap, such as Diamond's beginning the book with a look at a small slice of modern-day Montana.
The "past" portion of the book covers such societies as the Anasazi, the Mayans, and certain Viking settlements. I found this half of the book riveting- the filter of ages past allows a more linear narrative- this happened, then this, due to X Y Z- as well as an amount of emotional detatchment that allows the reader to take these in as cautionary tales, sad ones to be sure, but not with a frightening immediacy. And of course, some of the societies DO succeed, often through creative and ingenious methods, providing some relief from the pathos of famine and wars.
The second "half" of the book is a tougher read. These examples are happening today, and the problems these societies face, when laid down cold hard fact style in print- pretty overwhelming! Australia, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and China are a few of the societies examined. Again, fascinating information and a LOT of it - I learned SO much from this book! -but much more difficult to take without getting slightly hopeless or giving up & deciding that the Human race is a scourge upon the earth and hoping for it's demise sooner than later! There are "hopeful" examples of stewardship here, as well, but we don't have the luxury of knowing whether they will succeed in the long run, and frankly sometimes they seem like a drop in the bucket.
The final section of the book is titled "Practical Lessons" and attempts to determine why societies make decisions that allow a collapse. Again, very well researched and thought out, with a mix of deadly depressing and slightly hopeful examples, plus a few suggestions on how one might go about influencing positive change. My book edition (2011) also included an "Afterword" about the rise and fall of the ancient city of Angkor, really interesting stuff so make sure you get the second edition!
The best part of the book for me was Diamond's writing style and even-handedness. He is able to present page after page of intensively detailed facts without coming off as dry and boring, everything is brilliantly organized and presented. He presents information without passing judgment or pulling punches when such observations will be unpopular. One of my favourite quotes comes while discussing the environmentalist dictator (!) Balaguer: "The struggle to understand Balaguer reminds me that history, as well as life itself, is complicated; neither life nor history is an enterprise for those who seek simplicity and consistency. ". Awesomeness!
Starry-eyed idealists will probably abhor this book, fling it across the room and cry "Pessimistic Bastard"-but he does devote a good several pages to debunking "one-liner" objections to what they might consider his alarmist views on environmental problems, should they care to read on. Hard-nosed realists (whom no doubt some would call "pessimists") like myself MAY be in danger of becoming irretractable misanthropes, fair warning! Regardless, I think everybody should read this book. Politicians should be forced to read it at gunpoint, then take a test on it at gunpoint untill they get a passing grade. Then they should be shot anyway. Hah hah, just kidding (sorta).
If I have one tiny complaint about this book, it's that I would have liked to have seen more emphasis put on the population growth side of the equation, though in fairness it is not the focus of the book (environmental impacts), and he does admit briefly, when listing his 12 sets of problems societies face, that "human population growth affects all 11 other problems" (#12 being population growth itself) - though only in passing.
I love this book. I love it so much I'd marry it if I weren't already married to "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn. Luckily, that makes a great companion book to this one, so I'll happily continue my torrid affair with "Collapse" & pray to any & all gods that tons of other people will read it! ( )

To start off, I'd definitely recommend people give this book a read.

Let me get the bad out of the way. While the length doesn't faze me in of itself, this book could have used a great deal more editing. A number of sentences were mangled, clumsy messes that kicked me right out of the prose. Some of the sections were poorly organized and there were a handful of redundant passages that explicated what had already been explained. Perhaps this book was meant to be devoured in reader fashion rather than straight through so that each individual section stood independently? In any case, some parts are a chore to get through.

That out of the way, it's a fascinating book. Admittedly, it starts off slowly with a lackadaisical run-through of Montana, but then it expands to explore past civilizations in Polynesia and the US Southwest as well as Viking Greenland. Some people may complain about the level of detail Diamond included, but I found it all interesting and relevant. He paints pictures as best he can of these older civilizations so as to humanize them and help us to relate and connect.

That is, after all, what the book is about: a shared humanity and the shared environmental struggles thereof. His description of the past is used to posit an argument regarding the present situation. In all honesty, I thought that was the weakest part of the book. I'm a fairly radical environmentalist, so it's not the message so much as the execution. The lack of editing weighed especially heavy in the last section of the book, and Diamond's foray into Sociology 101 grated for me (I'm a sociology student). After the prolonged care taken in the earlier sections to detail ancient and modern civilizations, the final section wherein Diamond makes an environmental appeal almost feels like an afterthought.

The lack of focus makes me think that this book would have been better as a general overview of collapsed societies without the attempt to tie it all together with a green message. ( )

This is a brilliant book. It is very well laid out. The ideas in the book are so very relevant to our times. The argumentation is very well presented, and very logical indeed. The positions that Jared takes in this book are positions not to be taken lightly. The lessons from the societies that have collapsed are so very relevant to our times.

Yet, the one thing that was missing for me, is the effect of the sudden increase of our global population in the last 150 years, on the stresses that the world's environment must face today. The pressure on the world's resources is so dramatically different from the pressures of all the centuries ago. I am sure that with the seeming decrease in western populations, global migrations etc, the ways in which we will regard the problems of today, be different from the world of 200 years ago.

All in all, a highly recommended book. It is a book to be read slowly, with care. The lessons are to be absorbed, not forgotten when the book is put down. ( )