Planet of Slums (2006)

still looking for this

Read for class.

This is utterly terrifying and damning. These slums are the exemplification of hell. I have seen some of these slums myself, and can confirm, if only to a minor degree, some of the horrors there. You feel oppressed and filthy and sick just seeing them. Your senses are bombarded. Davis certainly gets this depiction right.

I would have loved to have had some answers aside from finger-pointing. It is incredibly frustrating to have a truly nightmarish problem presented and no clear solution, and even being blamed for unconsciously being part of the problem - although I confess his rhetoric is very convincing. But what is to be done in these circumstances? Any caring person would feel despondent or enraged. But what can we do about all this?

I would recommend reading up on books on reducing consumption in order to get some last shreds of hope back from this.

Recommended for anyone who wishes to despair for the state of humanity. ( )

I'm not going to lie: this is dry. Really, really dry. I like dry, as a general rule, or at least it doesn't bother me - but this? Man. Maybe it's because the things he covers are so wrenchingly, horribly emotional and in order to get through it with any objectivity he had to cloak himself in boringness. At any rate, the information is valuable - maybe critical - and well worth wading through the whole of the text. The glimpse of our urban future that Davis provides is one we need to look at, hard. And I tell you: you will never take your toilet for granted again. ( )

A hugely important book. This should be read by anybody who tries to talk about globalization. ( )

Mike. Davis. Is. God. ( )