Ecotopia
Ernest CallenbachEcotopia embodies in concrete, practical form the new biology-conscious philosophy that has been evolving in recent years, especially on the West Coast.
The setting is the early 21st century. Ecotopia, made up of what was once Northern California, Oregon, and Washington, has been independent for several decades. At last, an official visitor from New York is admitted: Will Weston, top investigative reporter. Like a modern Gulliver, Weston is sometimes horrified sometimes impressed despite himself, and sometimes touched by the strange practices he encounters–which include ritual war games, collective ownership and operation of farms and factories, and an attention to trees and reforestation which borders on tree-worship.
With beautiful new cover art and a new introduction by the author, this thirtieth anniversary edition of Ecotopia will delight old fans and new, and make a perfect gift for anyone who has ever asked the question, ”How can I make a difference?”
| status | Copy #1 (2099): in |
|---|---|
| genre | Sci-Fi |
| publisher | Heyday Books |
| publish date | June 1, 2004 |
| popularity | checked out 6 time(s) |
This book is beautiful, and brings a vision of a utopian Cascadia to life through the eyes of a stubborn American journalist. Callenbach leaves little to the imagination, covering nearly every aspect of Ecotopian society. This book is fascinating, and every once and a while I find myself really bummed that Ecotopia isn’t a real place.
A great book. The explanation of how the society functions is more interesting than the protagonist’s story.
The story of ‘Ecotopia’ (Cascadia) leaves out no element of the human condition; be it love, hate, violence, sex, sustainability or destruction, this tale has it all. The detailed accounts of Ecotopia’s workings are juxtaposed with that of the narrator’s cynical (though evolving) judgements and comparisons with the ‘civilized’ world. An excellent entry read into the philosophy of deep-ecology and definitely amongst the pioneers of bioregionalistic writings.
Very needed complete re-imagining of society’s structure… down to economic and waste disposal systems! The writing itself? Eh. The concept and execution? Yes!