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April 19, 2024

Book Tip: "A Friend of the Earth" by T.C. Boyle

Already gotten to the taste, as I wrote my text on the Internet of the forest, then further inspired by Upsi's beautifully illustrated post about the autumn forest as Soul Balm and not least triggered by the media coverage of the current events in the Hambach Forest: The topic ?Forest? is currently very present for me. Therefore, I would like to share a novel by T.C. Recommend Boyle, in which next to a whole series of bizarre types and animals of the forest as a silent protagonist is omnipresent. Parts of the plot even play in the crown of a huge redwood tree occupied by an eco-activist. Hambacher Forst, ick hear you trapse! Therefore, I can not resist a few personal sentences on this topic.

When a forest splits?

At this point, I will not spread my ecological-political outlook, but here is neither enough space nor the right place. This is done by T.C. Boyle in his novel anyway for me: We are both politically quite on a wavelength. However, the course of events in the Hambach Forest raises a question for me: How can a country that on the one hand calls for an energy turnaround and energy policy reorientation, on the other side of such unrestrained economic constraints? submit? I think this whole David-against-Goliath-charade is very questionable, but the taste in the mouth while watching the TV news has already gotten used to it. So much of me and now back to the book.

STOP ? UPDATE: The writing of this text has dragged on for several days and the development in the Hambacher forest has overtaken the topicality of the last paragraph. The current state of affairs looks like this: The planned clearing of the Hambach Forest is on ice until at least 2020. The eco-activists are already collecting material for new treehouses, and yet all police officers are to be withdrawn from the area. Hey, what a great surprise is that? In this country, people are simply not used to the fact that civil resistance sometimes bears fruit. About a million hours of police operations have come together in recent weeks, according to the press. That means: Completely apart from the moral distortions that have arisen, taxpayer funds have been burned at an astronomical level. But is not that totally secondary to the rescued trees? I mean, and really back to the book.

and a book connects

The novel bears the beautiful title? A friend of the earth? and was released in 2000. As early as 2001, the German translation was available in Germany. Well, the Hanser Verlag knows just what the German readers particularly urgently wait. That the publisher with its obvious conjecture, T.C. Boyle is read like, is correct, I can confirm based on my observations in subway driving. Especially in the subway line 1 I have often seen people who were absorbed in one of the many Boyle novels. Once a young man sat opposite me and we both happened to have the tome? by Boyle in the hand. A funny moment and we Boyle fans could exchange one of those insanely cool we-insider-know-stop-looks. Fortunately, such experiences make up for the otherwise annoying subway ride.

Go to content

The story takes place in 2025. In the not-too-distant future, many of the consequences of climate change (not invented by the Chinese?) Discussed today have already become bitter reality. The earth is not completely desolate and uninhabitable, but far from it it is no longer. Many animal species are already extinct, as their habitats have fallen victim to various climate and natural disasters. People tend to eat vegetarian food, grow rice, where once grain flourished and drink sake instead of beer. It is a barren world. Sun-drenched California sinks into monsoon rains interrupted only by periods of searing heat. Ongoing, stormy winds do not make the overall situation any better.

Here we meet our protagonist, the 75-year-old Tyrone O? Shaughnessy Tierwater. With life expectancy now around 100 years, Tyron, called Ty, is still in its prime, so to speak. Ty, longtime eco-activist with a latent bias towards militant eco-terrorism, has an unusual job, actually more of a mission: He manages his private zoo in the California hinterland on behalf of the heavyweight, aging pop star Maclovio Pulchris. Here live selected specimens of some endangered species, virtually the last passengers of a sinking Noah's Ark. After the impending apocalypse, they are to become the foundation of a new animal population. As far as the plan.

After a good 20-year break, Andrea, Ty's ex-wife and step-mother of his daughter Sierra suddenly arrive. She has come to stay.Ty, who on the one hand fears for his solitary rest, but on the other hand is aware of the futility of a possible argument, agrees.

Boyle narrates in numerous flashbacks from Ty's wild life between activism and jail, from his equally passionate and confusing love for the eco-Amazon Andrea and his daughter Sierra, who lives even more radically than he ever dared.

When a devastating storm destroys the animal enclosures and the water rises, only the lions get out of control at first, but do not worry: with each side of the chaos continues in the best Boyle manner around and? Stop! From here I run the risk involuntarily much to betray too much and spoilers among friends is not at all. Just so much: It's great, exciting, political, funny, heartbreaking and in the end way too short.