Grab Instantly Apocalyptic Planet: A Field Guide To The Future Of The Earth Crafted By Craig Childs Supplied As Digital Format

book is quite a ride, I have trouble nailing down what exactly this book is, First of all, its divided into nine distinct sections, each, on their own, a potential stand alone piece, Yes, the text is fluid and reads as interrelated and calls back to itself at times, but, for the most part, these sections could all be read on their own, almost like episodes on the same nature program or something with the same host and the same style throughout but different concentrations.
Also: sometimes this reads like an adventure story a la Jon Krakauer sometimes it reads like fascinating geological history sometimes its pure numbers, data being flung around by aboutdifferent scientists from around the world.
Mostly, this book is a deepdive into the Earth, but not necessarily the Earth that we know in an everyday sense, Childs is a bold and, at times, lunatic explorer who, for the sake of this book and his vision, ventures often into terrain around the globe that is extreme, or unique, in various shades.
By showing us Earths history, and counterbalancing that by digging into Earths current condition and how it is, right now, changing, we get an aweinspiring look both into the past and into an array of potential futures many of them frightening.
Am excited to go to a reading by Craig Childs at Changing Hands in Tempe on Octoberth,pm, Definitely the best Childs book I've read, a strong next read after Secret Knowledge, I read this mostly in the mornings, a French press by my side, dreaming of the places Childs has had the chance to visit, and the words describing these places are just marvelous.
It's a captivating read, and one that tells a much more balanced story of the world, through climate change, through life and destruction, Dive in. I think the thing that pushed this book to a four star rating for me was the really unique way in which the author juxtaposed his musings on the upheavals that could end our civilization with descriptions of his travels in environments that mimic these upheavals on a smaller scalethe monoculture of a large Iowa farm, the tectonic majesty of a Tibetan river gorge, the blank ice fields of Greenland.
It gave his work an immediacy that others lack, Backpack porn Perhaps. It certainly evoked the feeling of being on an outdoor adventure, as I vicariously lived it page by page, comfortably sitting on my commuter rail ass.

More, though, it's theme is perspective, and how difficult it is for us transient beings to fully

appreciate geological Earth time let alone MBTA time, and thus how we get our knickers in a twist over environmental change, however rapid it seems to us.
Even he catches himself thinking of the now as a kind of "ending up" without realizing that, really, there is no ending,
There's definitely an elegiac quality to the writing, too, a nostalgia for what what is being created deserts has yet to vanish glaciers,
Refreshingly, it eschews semimystical, ecotrite it's at it's best in the bedrock of experience, so to speak, and pulls no punches, The man's a scientist, after all, AND a really good writer,
Oddly comforting for a book with this title, Not the kind of thing I typically choose to read, but my husband enjoys this author and he was a charming speaker at a Book Convention here in the Black Hills several years ago.
I particularly enjoyed the chapter "Civilizations Fall" and only wish Childs had written more about these cultures that were once so mighty and are now so utterly gone.


Having now read this book three times in two years, I am vexed by the realization that it's empirically one of my favorite books.
Some might think it distasteful to enjoy a book that contemplates the end of civilization, yet I am delighted in the discourse,

The author presents at once the humorous anecdotes of a Bill Bryson novel with the intrepid candor of Doris Kearns Goodwin high praise, to be sure, detailing the ups and downs of deep time in distant, grand locales that precious few would ever venture.


Craig Child's may not be the first name that you think of, if you do think of one, when you think of climate science or geology, but his thorough command of vast disciplines, and his humanist empathy with those that have come before us surely places him in the company of some of the finest writers of our day.
I'm stretching it a little bit to give this bookstars, It does have some parts that are pretty fascinating and the author seems to know a lot about a lot of somewhat odd things, I have written notes about each chapter so I'm not going to be repetitious in this review, The guy writes well. Is this a travelog An adventure story Accurately scientific He did occasionally make me want to get off my butt and go out and see the world again.
He reminded me of some of the places in the world that I have actually been at some point in my life and that was nice.
But what I mostly got out of this book was the realization that all of the things that threaten the earth like mostly what we hear about these days is climate change all of these things May very likely end life on earth but it is most likely that the earth itself will go on as it has for billions of years and many many changes some of which have been extraordinarily dramatic.
For some strange reason I find that fact to be an enjoyable realization, The closest timeframe that the author suggests for the end of human life isto,years if we manage to melt all the ice, So I guess if you are reading this you can rest easy, I've been a huge fan of Childs ever since I read the Secret Knowledge of Water, He has a way of telling stories that are so captivating that you can't put the book down until you're done, I love how he weaves a spiritual respect for nature amp wildlife into his stories, And I really appreciate how varied his past experience has been,

This book had two firsts from my experience with Childs, Number one this was the first book I've read from him in which he shared a lot of background about his family, He told stories about his mother, his upbringing, and even his own family, I enjoyed that.

Second, this was the first time I feel that Childs has truly taken the helm in the role of expert, In particular, the role of someone who understands science, Don't get me wrong, he certainly has moments of this in each of his other books, But this was the first book I've read from him in which this felt like the predominant role, The only downside to this is that I didn't feel as much of his role as storyteller in this book, It felt less exploratory and more commanding, This isn't necessarily a bad thing since there is a place for this, It's just not what draws me to Child's work, That being said I still found this book fascinating and highly recommend it to anyone interested in the natural wonders of this earth, Before you read this book you have to ask yourself what you want out of it, because if you want to read a book about the science of the apocalyptic potential of our planet, as I did, this is not the book for you.
By far, about three paragraphs in four, this book is about the adventures of Craig Childs in different locales across the world, In every one of these places Childs gives the reader about a paragraph or two of scientific information and then goes back to retelling his personal trek through them.
So unless you are more interested in reading about the authors promenades throughout the world your interest will probably be better served by a different book.
More of a memoir of the author trying to envision life in various apocalyptic events than a "what if" type of book, It reminded me of the show IT COULD HAPPEN TOMORROW, but lacked possible survival methods for each scenario, Personally, I was expecting more facts and less personal history, Im a sucker for apocalyptic places or weather, Growing up on Americas Eastern Seaboard, we would often experience hurricanes with torrential rain and incredible wind, I remember the urge to duck my head outdoors to feel what my ears were hearing before my mom wisely pulled my butt away from the door on multiple occasions.
As an adult I frequently on my vacations find some remote mountain to climb where visitors are few and I can experience what it might be like to be the last person on earth until a volunteer/ranger tells me on multiple occasions that its too dangerous to be hiking there and to stop immediately.
I rarely do.
Craig Childs book “Apocalyptic Planet” takes us to these remote places and gives us a taste of how they came to be and how their disappearance in a rapidly changing environment could be disastrous for our future.
Whether it is the melting glaciers of Greenland, violent river torrents in Tibet why the hell is he kayaking these!, the deserts of Arizona, or the volcanoes of Hawaii, Childs experiences these environments first hand in some truly thrilling and at times terrifying writing.
While its hard to be positive about the future of the planet while watching massive chunks of ancient ice break away and melt into the sea tight before your eyes, he is ultimately still optimistic about our ability to survive in the face of some environmental cataclysm.
Ultimately the story of the earth is about destruction and regeneration, We have been to the brink as a species and planet so many times in our history, and yet always manage to make it back.
This is not to say that massive changes to how we interact with the earth shouldnt happen, they clearly need to, However even in the worst case scenario, something, no matter how microscopic, will always survive and reproduce, It may take a generation or hundreds of millions of years, but like tiny ferns growing in the desolate lava pits of Hawaii, life in the end always wins out.
There is not much discussion of further apocalypse and thinks Im the Earths history, Still interesting to read in some parts, but it may be better to think of this as a catalogue of adventures in some of the harshest conditions on the planet.
If you enjoy that sort of thing, then this will likely be an entertaining read for you, A must read for anyone who is interested in understanding the bigger picture of earths moving forces on a large time scale on which we are nothing more than a tiny spot and mankinds influence on those natural cycles.
The book is packed with scientific facts and explanations, understandably set into context of actual natural phenomena and happenings, combined with Childs own outdoor experiences, written in his inspiring and poetic language.
An Hommage to this extraordinarily special planet we are able to call our home, and an urging reminder that we are a part of this system, and that we have to deal with serious consequences as we continue to influence it in a way no other species is capable of.
Instead of lecturing, Childs simply explains the facts, combines it with an incredibly beautiful writing about earths phenomena and wonders that he has experienced firsthand and lets you do the thinking.
Is this place our only and so precious home worth rethinking our perception of our own being Orion Book Award Winner
Sigurd F.
Olson Nature Writing Award Winner

Ours is not a stable planet, It is prone to sudden, violent natural disasters and extremes of climate, In this exhilarating exploration of our globe, Craig Childs goes to where the apocalypse can be seen now, From the driest deserts of Chile, through the genetic wasteland of central Iowa, to the site of the drowned land bridge of the Bering Sea, he uncovers cataclysms that tell us what could be next: forthcoming ice ages, super volcanoes, and the conclusion of planetary life cycles.
Childs delivers a sensual feast in his descriptions of the natural world, and undeniable science that reveals both the earth's strengths and frailties, Bearing witness to the planet's sweeping and perilous changes, he shows how we can alter the future, and how the world will live on, though humans may not survive to see it.
I'm not sure what I expected from this book or this author, I'd never read anything by Childs before but had heard him on NPR in a background sort of way and recalled, vaguely, liking what I heard.
I'm also planning a Big Trip by bicycle that includes parts of the desert southwest and his name came up in relation to thosewhowriteaboutthedesert and I thought I'd give him a go.


First, let me speak to the things I did NOT enjoy about his work,

Why are we treated to "sex on ice" not once but twice I'm not a prude, far from it, but if I wanted to read about sex on a melting glacier I would look for a book that had that sort of thing as a major current throughout the work.
Who knows There may be a market for such a thing and I may well take a thrust at writing it, pun intended,

What did this sly wink at sex on ice tell me Well,it's coldit's slippery, andit's wet, and not in a good way.


Revelatory it ain't,

Come to think of it, we get "sex on ice" three times, as the author specifically thanks the manufacturer of the crampons the little fuckers wore while learning those three points above.
Nice product placement where it counts,

Okay, I get it, . . a group ofandsomethings on expedition to the backside of nowhere in the austral regions of South America get a little horny and don't care who knows they are taking care of business.
No problem. Except

I don't care to know unless you spend a little or a lot more time on telling me about it, And drop the pretense of the "apocalyptic planet" while you're at it, Or do a better job of working that into the story, Better yet, leave it out and write a different book about sex in extreme climatological settings, "Woman in the Dunes," anyone

Another thing I didn't like was the author's habit of appending prepositional phrases to his sentences WITHOUT the preposition.
Just add a comma and ", . . a ghost in the night" or ", . . a redhot poker of doom, " Those aren't actual quotes from Childs but I hope you get my drift, The first time I ran across this it was as if I had actually run across it, as in barefoot across glass, Distracting and a bit painful, When it kept happening it actually hurt as I found myself gritting my teeth,

The final distraction was the overall tone of the work, The earth has gone through a number of mass extinctions, major geological changes, and death by global, icy, grip, We just happen to be here, sentient beings that we are, for this round of destruction, So why get excited Feh.

On the one hand I can see this, Sure, why get excited about the utter destruction of the surface of the planet Given enough time, the whole thing is going to vaporize as our star morphs into a red giant followed by a nova.
. . eventually. Just lie on the floor and remain calm, Maintain a "geological timeset" and don't worry about the nextyears, "You" won't be here anyway, right Who cares if the whole planet becomes some kind of uninhabitable rock, whether that uninhabitability be due to ice or heat or lack of water or asteroid impact or volcanism or.
. . whatever.

Sorry, but I'm still vested in my egodriven view of existence and it bothers me that we're likely doomed whether that means tomorrow or a century from now.
I find it hard to see the writing on the wall and just shrug,

Now, what I did like, and I REALLY like, is how Childs can describe the environment around him, Whether it's a Mexican desert or an Arctic island or a blasted, lavacovered landscape, Childs really puts you there with him, It's not so much an attempt to describe the fine details of a place as it is capturing the feel of it, even in the case of the Atacama the taste of it.


He also does a fine job when it comes to the people around him, To my surprise he does an excellent job putting those two things together the place and the people in it, He does, however, sometimes go a little overboard as above with "sex on ice" but usually not TOO far overboard,

I learned a great deal without either having the information spoon fed to me or being patronized, That in itself is a grand accomplishment,

All in all I'd say "Apocalyptic Planet" is worth reading,


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