A Friend of the Earth

This was my first T. C. Boyle read, and I found it interesting enough. His style of writing is surprisingly consistent and doesn't feel redundant, while making the main character, Ty, and his thoughts well rounded and to the point. Personally, at first I had a problem reading it because the style is hard to read; I would read something, and then realize I had absolutely no idea what just happened because something is all of a sudden happening but there is only vague transition into the new idea or situation. This style is good because it projects the way the mind can often take in and express information, but I lose interest because I don't feel like I can fully input myself into the story.T. C. Boyle is undoubtedly a very intelligent man with countless great ideas and a mind sharp enough to be able to web these ideas together. He does his homework and researches things to the extent of his potential. I watched an interview of Boyle where he said something on the lines of "If I want to get to know something, I write a book about it." This book is an excellent example of that statement because it's not a novel that could be comprehensively and realistically written without a great deal of knowledge of the environment and multiple aspects of nature, not to mention people.Boyle's ability to make a realistic and relatable character is almost overwhelming. Many novels have characters that are created by their past, but Ty Tierwater in A Friend Of The Earth is rounded, made jagged, rounded again, and made all swirly afterwards by Boyle's style of enhancing character traits with the pent up emotion that makes a fool a fool, and the logic that makes characters like Andrea able to regard his foolishness with wisdom and sympathy.All-over, I feel that it is a novel that should be read by any who consider it, and by all who care about the environment. I doubt the relative timeframe of this novel's catastrophic events, but I have no doubt that if people don't stop damaging the Earth, we could unmistakably be in serious trouble, as this novel portrays.

"Lost" after the Goldfinch at the beginning of the year, I read a few other books (including Fowler's "We are all completely besides ourselves") and was okay but found myself hungry for another Real Decent Original Intelligent Relaxing Read. And found it in Boyle's Friend of the Earth. Written a few years ago, I enjoyed the benefit of discovering a hidden gem. And guess what: this one is even smarter!!! Way more so! Has grit and humour too. Of course, if you have no affinity whatsoever with the concerns of our planet, then this is probably not what you are looking for. Though maybe you should. It takes a moment to get into it -it is different after all- but once you do and notice how clever and eloquent, serious and fun this book is, there is no more stopping. And yes, one does relate to weirdo Ty even though I am not an environmental activist but a loving parent and a lover of the great outdoors like Ty. Admittedly, I haven't quite finished reading it as yet (one does have to go to work in between, unfortunately) but I am confident it will be good until the end. I'm hopeful that at least, this book, unlike the Goldfinch, is not going to be overly long drawn out (which did spoil that initial great Goldfinch read for me). Boyle is too smart to let it boil over. If so, I'll be back to make amends ;-)

I have a sneaking suspicion Boyle agrees with my take on the environment-it's too late. Sure we can reduce our carbon footprints, sure we can save some species, but overall we've passed the tipping point and need to prepare for an unpleasant future. He shows us what that future could look like. It doesn't take much to imagine that his monster storms and searing heatwaves are distinct possibilities for later this century. Boyle just got the dates early. 2026 is too early, right?Ty Tierwater doesn't do things half-way. No compromise, no prisoners, and when he's riled he has a habit of following a real bad idea to its real bad outcome. Tough guy to live with. But probably ok as a cell mate. Finally, regarding the environment, he's come around to my view. So now at 76 or whatever his young-old age is he can lay back and enjoy life. At last.

I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't get into it and never finished it. That is very rare for me. The main issue I had with the story before abandoning it at 3/4 of the way through is I kept wondering what is the point. Where is this going.The author is definitely a top notch word smith, hence I did try really hard to finish the book but the characters while intriguing lacked a certain depth to me and the plot was plodding at best.Edited to add:Okay...I finally got in a space where I could focus on this book and slogged my way through it from the beginning. On second take I fell in love with this book. It is poignant in a way that when you get to the arc of the story you stop and read a sentence again just to let it resonate through you. Its not an easy read with the shifting time line, but when you give it your full attention it has a profound tale to tell.

the shifting chronology, from end-of-century environmentalism and monkeywrenching do-goodism, to a bleak future, a quarter of century later where the widening ozone hole and el nino have wreaked their vengeance on the earth and its inhabitants, has the effect of bracketing a spate of touchy eco-subjects. tc boyle is too gifted as a novelist and satirist to fall prey to didactic posturing. this book is a heartfelt homage--told from the perpective of the elderly narrator whose job is taking care of a menagerie of endangered species for a mega rock star-- to an abused earth, and the people self-chosen to protect its natural treasures. the spirit of edward abbey, david brower and julia butterfly hill reside at the epicenter of this book that also questions the so called altruistic intentions of these anti-logging green activists.

Und wieder nimmt T.C. Boyle eine "gute" Gattung Mensch aufs Korn: diesmal sind es die Umweltschützer, deren ständiges Ringen zwischen berechtigtem Protest und kriminellen Sabotageaktionen den Kern der Story liefert.Das Buch ist auf einer postapokalyptischen Erde im Jahr 2025 angesiedelt, die Erderwärmung hat die ganze Welt in Wüste verwandelt, als der Protagonist, der militante Umweltschützer Ty Tierwater, von seiner Ex-Frau, ihres Zeichens ebenfalls militante Umweltschützerin, aufgesucht wird. Durch Rückblenden wird nach und nach sein Leben aufgerollt, wobei die Umwelt selbst in den Hintergrund tritt: Ty Tierwater wird als komplexe Figur, stets mit einem Hang zu tragischen (Fehl-)Entscheidungen, dargestellt, dessen persönliches Leben eng mit seinen Umweltschutz-Aktionen in Verbindung steht.Das Buch glänzt durch die spannend aufgerollte Geschichte und den schwarzen Humor, ohne ins Lächerliche abzudriften. Die Rückblenden in Tierwaters Vergangenheit bieten dabei Erholung vom depressiven Weltuntergangsszenario in der nahen Zukunft, werden aber durch den bereits angesprochenen Hang von Tierwater zu unüberlegten und irrsinnigen Aktionen zu einem beinahe unwirklichen Trip. Denn letztlich hatte Tierwater, so daneben er manchmal in der Wahl seiner Mittel lag, immer Recht: Die Erde ist dem Untergang geweiht. Doch daran konnte auch er nichts ändern.

Not his best but a good book by a great writer.