The Harrows of Spring: A World Made by Hand Novel (World Made by Hand Novels)

It has been awhile since I read the earlier installments of the World Made By Hand series. Initially, a fan of JHK’s non fiction, I was pleasantly surprised by his emergence as a competent writer of fiction. As each book has appeared, the writer has increasingly matured. The Harrows of Spring, in spite of a couple of instances of less than realistic characters, such as the troupe calling themselves The Berkshire People’s Republic, a loosely knit progressively liberal claque, ostensibly led by a more than elderly socialist ideologue who has in fact expired before realizing his dream of a new powerful centralized government of the socialistic persuasion. The group carries the mummified remains about with them as they attempt to recruit members at the same time they use strong armed tactics to extort funds from capable, level-headed survivors of the late, great collapsed empire of the USA. As if they had not imagined they would be strongly resisted.In my mind, the mummified leader bears a strong resemblance to a current aging socialist politician, and I suspect that impression was conveyed intentionally by the writer, who in addition to having fine writing skills is not lacking an equally fine sense of humor.Any weaknesses in this category of the believability of the actions of characters is more than offset by a passionate, gripping tale of a very believable future that apparently will be soon transformed into vivid reality.

I am smitten by Kunstler's "A World Made by Hand" series (World Made by Hand: A Novel, The Witch of Hebron: A World Made by Hand Novel, A History of the Future: A World Made By Hand Novel, _The Harrows of Spring_ being the fourth in the series. If you have not read the previous books, I strongly recommend you do lest characters and plot points be lost on you. (THe books are tremendous - you are in for a treat.)Picking up where A History of the Future_ left off, the _The Harrows of Spring_ focus on a new group who arrives in Union Grove with tales of an emerging republic centered in western Vermont and eastern New York, and the development of Daniel Earle, recently returned from his adventures on the Great Lakes and in what once was Tennessee. It is equally dark as the others in the series - there is no shortage of tragedy and heartache for the small community, although Kunstler does a remarkable job of balancing this with hope and moments of levity.As with every good "science fiction" novel, Kunstler points to contemporary problems, shedding light on the silliness and meaninglessness of modern life (with its conveniences, soft living and pointless consumerism); in _The Harrows of Spring_, he is a bit more honest in pointing out the issues and inequities of the society he imagines, often alluding to the collapse of modern society with the implosion of the Roman empire. It is more than a little unsettling.Kunstler is a fantastic writer with a careful eye for detail - not only of society and politics, but also of ecosystems and human nature. _The Harrows of Spring_ is entertaining, and I am anxiously awaiting another installment in the series.

Enjoyed the whole series. Through it all, mankind continues. Caring for others always trumps greed. It would be nice to return to a simpler world but the cruelty in these books was often too much. Not sure it was worth four books, but when you're sitting home during Covid, it makes you hopeful (and sad) that no matter what changes outside, human nature stays the same.

I love Kunstler's commentary on current events, as well as Geography of Nowhere, but I never thought to read one of this series. I guess one reason is that in picturing a post Peak Oil world the question I tend to wonder the most is by what mechanism does the human population drastically shrink, as I believe it inevitably will. This book does not cover any of that. However, I always figured there would likely be a rebirth of human society, just with a far smaller human population. The world as Kunstler describes it in this book is highly plausible, however it gets there.As far as content, for some reason I expected that a lot of what was in the books of this series would be boring narratives about stuff like people figuring out how to make cloth and grow corn. Wow did I ever get that wrong. This book is full of action and drama.Sitting around during the coronavirus lockdown, I have lots of free time, and I think occasionally about whether this is the apocalypse. That spurred me to read one of this series. Some reviews suggested that this might be the best of the lot. I don't know about the others (yet, I certainly now intend to read them all), but this one is a mindblower. Brilliant weaving together of a number of gripping stories that produce a beautiful tapestry.I found the story line of the threatening neighboring socialist state intriguing. The story as it appeared to be playing out would have been very plausible- a remnant of idealistic progressives producing an authoritarian government and seeking to expand their territory by force, while viewing their mission as virtuous. That they turned out to be a band of self-aware robbers masquerading as an idealistic socialist government was a interesting twist. For one thing it somewhat softened the extent to which it constituted a critique of socialist progressivism. (Although the book would still no doubt be viewed with horror on college campuses). From a practical standpoint, it seems strategically questionable to attempt to take over communities of rugged individualists by posing as socialists. However, I see this as food for thought rather than a plot hole. As pervasive as progressive wokesterism is in our society today, it could be that in the time Kunstler is describing that it would still have some influence in parts of New England, just not in Union Grove.The one other thing that could be viewed as a plot hole is how unwary the community was about hostile outside forces. That they were so isolated to have been spared major prior hostile action I would say is hard to swallow. But if it's a flaw, it's a small one.One thing I loved is Kunstler's frequent references to what particular individuals did prior to the apocalypse, often shedding light on the role they came to serve in the new world.Overall, what makes this book is the composition. In my opinion this book is of as high a caliber as those widely regarded as the great works of fiction. I can't wait to read the other three.

I enjoyed the whole series! A must read for those intersted in the collapse theory.

Here he's back at it with some new goodies for the eyes and brain. Haven't finished it yet but, so far, right up there with Books 1 & 2. Writing wise, Book 2, The Witch of Hebron, is fantastic writing. Book 3 not quite up to par, but still fun reading. The concept is always great, mind you. When I finish Harrows maybe I'll add to this review. Harrows starts a pinch slow and if you're reading them in sequence you'll wonder why he sometimes seems to be writing for someone who hasn't read the previous three. But it's very good.Great for a guy like me living on an organic farm somewhat in the middle of nowhere on a slow lane island. Entertaining with some good survivor information laced in with the sweet smoothie of story. Also great for these times when some of the not so great leaders of our countries seem hellbent on driving a good thing into the toilet.OK! Finished Harrows and it is as good as The ding dang 'Witch Of Hebron' and possibly better. Really good stuff. This man knows his bidness. That's Brother Jobe speak for those of you who haven't read any of this terrific quartet of Dystopian Wonder. My advice, start now. It's fun and entertaining and a bit of a shot across the bow of our lame status quo.

Good fiction book.

JHK has done a wonderful job with transporting the reader into a possible future. I just hope it remains a work of fiction.

Returning us once more to his "World Made By Hand", Kunstler does not disappoint. I am, however, a little disappointed that this is to be the last book in the series, but maybe it's best to quit when you are ahead. The world would probably have been a better place if George Lucas had quit after the fourth "Star Wars" movie.What I like about these books is that there is something here for everyone. Superficially, it's an adventure story about virtue (mostly) triumphing over adversity in a difficult, violent world set in the America of the near future. However, if you want to delve deeper you can read between the lines and see Kunstler's social commentary on the insane cult of political correctness which is currently strangling our universities, and the equally insane global fiat money system which has existed since Nixon closed the gold window in 1971. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it and it really is just a tale of adventure. Whatever, it's a great story, and should be compulsory reading for all politicians and economists. I will be interested to see what Kunstler comes up with next.