Book No. 98 of 2020
This super-short read (I read it cover to cover in under an hour) packs a lot of interconnectedness into its pages—ostensibly it’s a chronicle of an art student’s attempt to build a functioning toaster entirely from scratch (“scratch” meaning mining and smelting the metals himself), but it’s also a manifesto about the environment, economics/capitalism, and human nature.
The whole thing is very amusing (the humor feels very British) and is written in the style of one of those popular personal blogs from the 2010s. I cringe-laughed at Thwaites’ attempts to refine iron in a microwave after reading a 16th century metallurgy guide, his scooping up mine wastewater in water jugs to get copper, and his travelogue of wandering around Scotland looking for mica. I also really dug how he effortlessly cites Adam Smith and Karl Marx, explains chemical processes in layman’s terms, touches on the complexity of environmentalism vs. industrialization (arguing that it’s not a good vs. evil thing), and offers a primer on recent legislative attempts to regulate recycling and waste. The last chapter is a veritable manifesto on consumption and progress, reflecting on the real hidden costs of technology and our daily lives.
Similar Reads
The general theme of awareness combined with local bioregions/resources reminded me of Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing.
There were somewhat meditative/observational aspects to this book that reminded me of David Masumoto’s Epitaph for a Peach.
For more critiques of modern capitalism and consumerism, I recommend Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror.