James Kunstler–World Made by Hand–Review

[goodcompanion]

A few months ago I read World Made by Hand–it’s a fictional account of events in the life of Robert Earle, a one-time corporate stooge turned carpenter, in Union Grove, a town near Albany that take place ten or fifteen years after oil becomes unavailable. For anyone interested in an animal powered future, it’s an interesting read.

In the absence of the military-industrial complex, characters in the story have crafted new ways to eke out a livelihood and new social structures that suit the altered circumstances. Generally people’s lives are heavily circumscribed by the limits of an ad-hoc subsistence agriculture and uncertain conditions beyond the borders of their knowledge–about two towns away, that is.

Inject into this some greedy self-serving types, some zany religion, mysticism, and Cosmic Events, a daring rescue, and a bit of romance and there you are.

It’s not a story about animal power primarily, but horses are at work throughout the story in agriculture, livery, and transportation. It is the main character’s dear wish to own one someday. “Sometimes it seems the whole world smells of horse.”

The religious and mystical aspects of the story have been derided by critics, but their presence does in a certain way blunt the impact of the general post peak-oil scenario on your average American reader. Even so, the popular reaction to the work has included a lot of denial and accusation of doom-mongering and pessimism. Not so, Kunstler counters, the outcome of the absence of oil in the story is not strictly negative for his characters. They have lost something in some ways, but gained unexpectedly in other ways. Each is functioning in their new reality to the limits of their capacity.

Being a small scale farmer myself, I guess I consider myself ready for some fairly strong meat in a piece of peak oil fiction and I really could have done without the paranormal aspects. But other in that the future sketched out in the story is a lot like the one I expect personally, and it made me think a lot more about the social and ethical ramifications of the decline of oil and the nature of sustainability on a community level.

My only other objection is the way the fictional collapse of the empire is set in motion by some crazy Islamic extremists who engage in some major act of terrorism. Isn’t the fault in the peak oil dilemma squarely in the West’s camp? Why does the collapse of the world need to be blamed on an Arab? Not the first time Kunstler has engaged in Arabophobia, either. Not long after 9/11 he was quoted saying “We need to kick crazy Islam’s ass because we can and nobody else will.” This kind of thing is really distracts from the larger issues of peak oil, which he articulates so well, and damages his credibility.

Post-peak oil literature is a small genre, though, and this novel looms large right now.

[Stable-Man]

The Geography of Nowhere is also a fairly good book by the same author. I read it awhile ago, but he describes the orginal intention and history of suburbs and how they blew out of control when car companies forced trolly and other modes of transporation out of business.

[Author]

Posts