In this book, Elizabeth Kolbert tells the story of man’s profound impact on the natural world. In each of the 13 chapters (perhaps a purposeful reference to the world’s unluckiness of being home to our race), Kolbert outlines the previous five mass extinctions that occurred through geologic time, the species that were lost in those extinctions, and the species that continue to be lost at an extreme rate today. By showing the history and devastating result of the mass extinction events of the past, and then showing the species being lost today, Kolbert brings into stark clarity the impact humans are having right now on the natural world.

As this is not a new concept for me, I found her method of storytelling to be adequate to get her point across. That said, for someone unfamiliar with the concept of mass extinctions and humans as the most “weedy” and invasive species on the planet, this may not be the best place to start. Kolbert is a bit polarizing in her exploration of this topic. Kolbert even states that ending on a hopeful note is not her intention, choosing instead to focus on the doom and gloom scenario. This leaves a feeling of despair and dissatisfaction, which generally is not a good place to leave a reader who you want to take action or change their behavior. In this way, I found Kolbert’s conclusion of this book to leave something to be desired. It felt like I was left hanging, and I was not motivated to do anything as a result of reading this book.

Kolbert’s relaying of the history of mass extinctions, various species extinctions in the past, and human history itself was factually accurate, if a little dry. I could see where Kolbert attempted to bring more interest to her stories, but I found them lacking the crucial element of relatability. Kolbert risks losing readers who are not thoroughly on board her train to boredom or simple lack of interest. It is well-known among science writers that to make topics not commonly in the public eye accessible to the public, the writer has to find those nuggets of thrill and relatability to tie their message to something the reader will care about. In my opinion, Kolbert writes well for a reader who is already in her camp, but is alienating to anyone on the other side of the fence.

TLDR: A good history lesson and commentary on mankind’s world-altering power, but lacking the vital “punch” needed to entice the average reader to continue past the first 50 pages.

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Created Feb 11, 2019 at 5:10pm • Submit your own review...