Walking on Lava: Selected Works for Uncivilised Times

Dark Mountain Project cofounders Dougald Hine and Paul Kingsnorth pull together more than 40 pieces of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, interviews, and artwork from the journal Dark Mountain in this diverse but uneven collection. Feeling “the force of a storm blowing through history, upending expectations as it passed through,” the group took stock of the progress it had made in confronting human civilization’s impact on the Earth over its eight-year existence. The collection is divided into eight sections, with each based on a principle from the group’s original manifesto, “The Eight Principles of Uncivilisation.” In “A Present That Can Exist,” for example, Akshay Ahuja and Dmitry Orlov engage in an enlightening discussion about potential transitions to a deindustrialized society. David Schuman’s short piece “Squirrel,” about an encounter with the animal, proves to be witty and entertaining. However, other pieces in the volume are less captivating. John Michael Greer’s “The Falling Years: An Inhumanist Vision” looks to poet Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962) for perspective on the anthropocentrism that suffuses environmentalism, yet fails to offer much workable substance. Carla Stang’s “Rampant Rainbows and the Blackened Sun” poses a challenge to anthropologists working with indigenous peoples, but is too narrow and theoretical for nonspecialists. The Dark Mountain Project set itself an ambitious goal of altering anthroecological relations through writing, but the work on display here is underwhelming. B&w photos. (Aug.)