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As far as book reviews go, there won’t be too much negative I say about this
one. I started out with a book called Conversations with God, Part 3 and in
the back it had a list of other books that the author liked. I will almost always
take authors up on their lists of favorite authors if I like their writing,
and in this case, I found the book I’m reviewing here, called The Last
Hours of Ancient Sunlight.
The crux of this book and the theory behind most of the points in the book
is that everything is based on sunlight—you, me, the plants, the gasoline
used to fuel your car and definitely all of the electrons popping off of the
varied cathode ray tubes that you’re viewing right now. Did you know that
oil executives basically know where all of the oil on the planet is and
given today’s consumption rate there is only about 45 years’ worth
left? Today’s, not tomorrow’s! Did you know that oil is not being
“produced” but rather harvested? The Earth has been doubling in population
every 10 years, so even if we find another source of energy, there is a finite
amount of space left on Earth, which does not bode well with the American theory
of infinite growth and consumption. The book also includes some interesting
history tidbits that are usually not taught in school. So if you fell asleep
in class, or paid attention but your teacher was a government employee, then
this book will interest you.
That being said, it would be worth reading if that was all it talked about.
But it then went on to talk about the differences between tribes and city/states
and much of our pre-conceived notions about tribes, which mainly come from invalid
sources, like television. Tribe members work an average of two hours per day
to insure their survival and everyone that can work, does work. Which sounds
more primitive, working for eight hours per day to insure survival, or for two?
If I was being pulled apart by fishhooks and asked to talk about the negative
aspects of this book, I might mention that it was somewhat repetitive, the closing
didn’t have the gusto that the rest of the book had due to that and it
had some not-so-subtle Christian undertones. That being said however, I think
the author really thought ahead on how to present the large dose of reality
that humanity needs, without casting the reader into the throes of depression.
After all of the facts are laid out, immediate and concrete solutions are given
to change not only oneself, but also the world.
So if you would like to change yourself and therefore the world, or if you
would like to know how other people will be changing the world while you are
watching TV, then I highly suggest you read this book!
