ECOTOPIA -- Ernest Callenbach

Bantam Books -- pb
Toronto -- ©1975 -- 213pp
ISBN: 0-553-23471-4

In the future, after the Pacific Northwest of the United States has seceded from the US, a reporter from Washington imbeds himself with the Ecotopians to learn what life is really like in the new country.

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I first learned of this book through something I had read by Kim Stanley Robinson, who refered to this as science fiction with a "green" theme. It piqued my interest and I was delighted when I could find this.

The book is written in two sections -- first, the reporter's actual reports that he has submitted to his newspaper, and then his private journals. At first, I really enjoyed the book. The ways and means of carrying out an eco-friendly lifestyle seemed very well thought-out and I often found myself nodding and grinning at the ideas.

Some aspects of the Ecotopian lifestyle seemed to be hold-overs from the 1960's lifestyle. Specifically, the free-love aspects. That the citizens of Ecotopia would often leave gatherings to have sex and then return, or that they had multiple partners, and that many places were clothing optional, seems a look back to the past rather than a view of the future. That this was written before the pestilence of AIDS is obvious. Even a nurse in an Ecotopian hospital adds sex to her healing methods.

By the end of the book I no longer felt as if this was a great look at how we could possibly live in an environmentally friendly way, but rather a 60's manifesto disguised as a sci-fi book. It becomes obvious, early on, that the plot is so thin that the only thing going for it is it's cleverness and uniqueness, but this becomes too flimsy to enjoy.

Of interest, from a plot stand-point were the hints of a war with the U.S. that destroyed thousands of U.S. helicopters and took many soldiers' lives, but which the U.S. never acknowledged. The imbedded reporter considers this, believes it's true (the reporter was a personal associate of the U.S. President), but lets the matter rest until another time. This doesn't sound like any reporter that I know. And it takes us right away from what could possibly have been the most interesting part of the book.

Unfortunately I don't recommend the book, as a book, but would suggest reading the first half of it for some thought-provoking suggestions on an environmentally friendly way of life.