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Off the Shelf Book
Review
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| The Handmade Tale |
| by Suzanne Fisher |
James Howard Kunstler, an
author living in the Saratoga area, recently had a new novel published:
World Made By
Hand (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2008). Not only is Kunstler a
local celebrity, but his story is set in nearby Washington County. (And
yes, there's an eye-opening trip to Albany!) This richly imagined novel
is important, however, for reasons beyond its regional connections.
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| Shape of Things to Come |
World Made By Hand is set in the
future. But it is not the future we imagined as children. There are
flying cars, no robots to clean the house, no time travel. In this
future, our country has undergone a slow process of disintegration
following a string of very believable catastrophes and traumas. There
are allusions to a Middle East conflict, rising fuel prices and the
eventual disappearance of petroleum products. A couple of nuclear
terrorist attacks have occurred, as well. Pandemics have decimated the
population and many women have trouble conceiving. Hospitals have
closed.
Communication, as we know it, is a thing of the past. Electricity is
sporadic and the abandoned highways have fallen into disrepair. As a
result, the only news of the world beyond Union Grove, the
protagonist’s small town, comes from strangers who wander by, or from
people using the Hudson River to trade with Albany. The federal
government has shut down, while a loose form of town government is
evolving in Union Grove. A few large farms are the only employers left
in the area. One farm has become a self-sufficient village in its own
right. This settlement has its own hydroelectric generator,
experimental crops, and a cluster of small houses built for those who
come to labor and live within its boundaries. The owner/ farmer rules
over all.
Another community is clustered at the local dump, where residents
survive by selling and bartering salvage. (Barter has become important
for trade because the hyperinflated dollar is virtually useless.) A
religious community has settled in Union Grove after a long horse-drawn
quest for sanctuary. The novel also probes the psychological damage
these radical changes inflict on those who remain: Anger, despair,
alcoholism and suicide are common.
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Now
the Good News
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In
some ways, Kunstler offers a hopeful vision of our future. Fish
populations have rebounded in great numbers in the Battenkill. There is
no traffic noise. Wild animals, long absent, are returning to the area.
Fresh seasonal organic produce, available every day, has become a
dinnertime staple. Life in Union Grove moves along at a much slower
pace. The town still has water (thanks to a gravity-fed system), and
people are learning to rely on themselves and their neighbors to
survive. Shy individuals unexpectedly emerge as community leaders.
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Could
it really happen?
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The
remarkable thing about this story is its plausibility. Kunstler
presents a string of very credible events, which he follows through to
their logical conclusions. The author has mined this material for many
years — in The City in Mind, Home
from Nowhere, The Long Emergency, The Geography of Nowhere and
nine other novels. All of these books address the unsustainable ways
our society is organized and maintained. Much of Kunstler’s work has
been well-reviewed online. The Co-op has a copy of World Made By Hand in its library,
which you may borrow.
What James Howard Kunstler has to say about the consequences of “peak
oil,” and other dangers, is important. At the very least, he is a
fascinating thinker who has explored one possible future in a
realistic, thought-provoking way.
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