The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet

Viral meningitis—an inflammation of the meninges that line the brain and spinal cord—caused Green indescribably painful headaches. Pain is very personal and hard to communicate, leaving the victim with a feeling of separation from others. Green’s meningitis took days to resolve, and the pain felt endless. Months later, the headache flared up briefly, like an aftershock.

The illness didn’t have a meaning; it was simply viruses replicating inside him. People nonetheless tried to reassure him that things would work out, which had the effect of distancing them from him. Nothing about viral meningitis is worthwhile, so it gets one star.

When the plague struck Europe in the 1300s, it was so infectious that no one would approach a dead or dying person for fear of becoming infected and then infecting others. Many people died in agonized isolation. During the 2020 pandemic of the much milder COVID virus, modern precautions also forced some ill people to die in isolation, with at best a Zoom call to say goodbye. As a chaplain, Green often held the hand of someone who was dying. He feels haunted by the idea that a loved one might die alone before he can get there and hold their hand.