GreenGuy
3rd February 2014, 01:00
I just finished Whitley Streiber & James Kunetka's terrifying novel Nature's End (http://books.google.com/books/about/Nature_s_End.html?id=ClPhAAAAMAAJ). It was a random paperback I picked up - well, not entirely random, as I noticed Streiber's name on the spine. I've read his book Communion, and he's actually a friend of a friend.
Taking place in the 2020s, it's a story of extreme overpopulation and environmental damage and the possible extinction of mankind. I had to double-check the date of publication (1986) because so many of the scenarios are creepily true today. Many things we take for granted, such as the internet (in the book it's the datanet) are accurately described even though they didn't exist at the time the book was written. A charismatic leader, Guptah Singh, has founded a popular movement called the Depopulationists or Depops, which proposes to reduce humanity by 1/3 using a random method - everyone must take a pill, one third of which are lethal while the others are harmless. The sheeple are being conditioned to believe it's the only humane way to save humanity and the planet. Actually, a very different agenda is behind it all.
I won't spoil the plot, and I highly recommend the book. I felt synchronicity after
synchronicity as it examined issues identical to things I've been thinking about or dealing with, and which we talk about at Avalon. It felt as if I was intended or even led to read it at this time.
By the way, at the link above, a couple readers gave the book mediocre reviews. Okay, so it's not Anna Karenina. I thought the plot moved along, with surprising twists and ending up a lot less nihilistic than I expected. It's one of those books like The Celestine Prophecy that frames important ideas and insights in the format of an adventure novel. Go forth and read!
Taking place in the 2020s, it's a story of extreme overpopulation and environmental damage and the possible extinction of mankind. I had to double-check the date of publication (1986) because so many of the scenarios are creepily true today. Many things we take for granted, such as the internet (in the book it's the datanet) are accurately described even though they didn't exist at the time the book was written. A charismatic leader, Guptah Singh, has founded a popular movement called the Depopulationists or Depops, which proposes to reduce humanity by 1/3 using a random method - everyone must take a pill, one third of which are lethal while the others are harmless. The sheeple are being conditioned to believe it's the only humane way to save humanity and the planet. Actually, a very different agenda is behind it all.
I won't spoil the plot, and I highly recommend the book. I felt synchronicity after
synchronicity as it examined issues identical to things I've been thinking about or dealing with, and which we talk about at Avalon. It felt as if I was intended or even led to read it at this time.
By the way, at the link above, a couple readers gave the book mediocre reviews. Okay, so it's not Anna Karenina. I thought the plot moved along, with surprising twists and ending up a lot less nihilistic than I expected. It's one of those books like The Celestine Prophecy that frames important ideas and insights in the format of an adventure novel. Go forth and read!