Pessimistic, slow, too detailed at the beginning which is why its not a 5 star. His ability to explore past cultures, climates and events is eye opening and thought provoking. There are more optimistic views later in the book. A must read. ( )

I am a fan of the author. Germs, Guns and Steel, especially, was a brilliant work of synthesis bringing together various disciplines to offer a theoretical explanation of perceived differences in human societies. But for some reason I could not slog through Collapse. I started to read it but lost interest. I rarely fail to finish a book I've started to read but this time I did fail. Maybe it's the author's style; maybe it's my fault; maybe I'll try again now that I have more time. For now the book has one star. ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1344006...

A totally fascinating book looking at how the human impact on the environment can cause societies to collapse or disappear. The particularly memorable chapters are on Easter Island and the Viking settlements on Greenland, both cases where the natural resources were exploited to the point of mass death. There are lots of other case studies as well, mostly dealing with larger societies or states, but none quite as dramatic or as detailed.

The final chapters are an excellent synthesis of the message of the book. Diamond has a not very profound but interesting take on the nature of political decision-making, and why it goes wrong; on business and the environment (I would like to know more about the Marine Stewardship Council, and why it has had so little impact in Europe), and finally on future prospects for saving the world, where he is cautiously optimistic but not complacent. He is clear that our current patterns of environmental exploitation are not sustainable, but hopes that a sufficiently conscious public will be able to pressurise its leaders into taking action. The book will certainly help. ( )

Although I enjoyed the book it is far from a structured whole, more like a collection of somewhat disjointed parts with theoverarching thema of civilization collapse linked to environmental factors. It is not necessarily a bad thing though since it allows one to skim through the book or read it in several distant sittings.

I mostly bought it for the description of collapse of ancient societies : Greenland Norses, native Polynesians, Mesoamericans. The fate of each entity is comprehensively and compellingly narrated, with much (avowed) speculation on how exactly things may have happen, and a more general presentation of the factors involved. Each of these chapters reads like a well-documented novella.

I was more skeptic of the presentations of today's situations but they are balanced, interestingly. Diamond manages to draw surprising and thought-provocating parallels these contemporary issues and those faced by other civilisations throughout History.

The environmentalist and political preaching is in my eyes the weakest part of the book but it is a small part only and confined to a few chapter. ( )

090928, 5/5 stars
This is a good companion to one's ecological awakening. The main thesis of the book is (again, as in Guns, Germs and Steel) simple and powerful: During good times societies expand too aggressively, so that during worse times the environment can't support the population, and it collapses. The examples of past and present societies that have undergone a collapse are interesting, illuminating, and contain tons of details (perhaps too much detail, again as in GG&S).

The best parts of the book were the chapters on China and Australia, and the two final chapters. Especially the stuff going on in China is just crazy. The attitude concerning major corporations is good, encouraging people to take action in all feasible ways instead of abstract complaint about their creed.

Along the flood of evidence, I would criticize the repetition of some ideas, over and over again, about soil erosion and so on. Also, the Finnish translation is far from perfect. It's better than on GG&S, but still I get the feeling of direct word-for-word translation.

This book had quite an impact on me, especially since I just recently became a father. I would recommend this to everyone. ( )