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jwinchell's review against another edition
5.0
This was a slow and deliberate read in part because these are indeed very dark times and because I am often grasping for hope. At one point my boys asked me, "Mama, why do you read with a pencil?" And though I wanted to say "because Mama is full of political rage and despair for our democracy and environment and all civil rights," I chose to say: "because these ideas are very important and are giving me ideas for how to speak up for what I believe." Both are true.
With this book I will do one of my creative journal entries and will also host a discussion with OP Progressive Women. Both will build further strength in me.
I'm gonna give up a treasure from the very ending that is not, in my humble opinion, a spoiler--instead, it should be every reason to dig into this important, prescient, pithy, illuminating book and then get back to your work:
"How do we get back to the struggle over the future? I think you have to hope, and hope in this sense is not a prize or a gift, but something you earn through study, through resisting the ease of despair, and through digging tunnels, cutting windows, opening doors, or finding the people who do these things. They exist."
and then:
"I believe that you can talk about both the terrible things we should engage with and the losses behind us, as well as the wins and achievements that give us the confidence to endeavor to keep pursuing the possibilities. I write to give aid and comfort to people who feel overwhelmed by the defeatist perspective, to encourage people to stand up and participate, to look forward at what we can do and back at what we have done."
With this book I will do one of my creative journal entries and will also host a discussion with OP Progressive Women. Both will build further strength in me.
I'm gonna give up a treasure from the very ending that is not, in my humble opinion, a spoiler--instead, it should be every reason to dig into this important, prescient, pithy, illuminating book and then get back to your work:
"How do we get back to the struggle over the future? I think you have to hope, and hope in this sense is not a prize or a gift, but something you earn through study, through resisting the ease of despair, and through digging tunnels, cutting windows, opening doors, or finding the people who do these things. They exist."
and then:
"I believe that you can talk about both the terrible things we should engage with and the losses behind us, as well as the wins and achievements that give us the confidence to endeavor to keep pursuing the possibilities. I write to give aid and comfort to people who feel overwhelmed by the defeatist perspective, to encourage people to stand up and participate, to look forward at what we can do and back at what we have done."
kamilaczyta's review against another edition
4.0
Gdy czułam się przebodźcowana to mościłam się na łóżku z gorącą herbatą i sięgałam po "Nadzieję w mroku". Ta lektura była jak miód na mój skołatany nerwami i stresem umysł. Zaznaczyłam masę cytatów (a jeszcze więcej podkreśliłam ołówkiem).
gijs's review against another edition
3.0
Some worthwhile musings on the potential power of narrative and what it means to be a human;
“How do people recognize that they have the power to be storytellers, not just listeners? Hope is the story of uncertainty, of coming to terms with the risk involved in not knowing what comes next, which is more demanding than despair and, in a way, more frightening. And immeasurably more rewarding.”
“For paradise does not require of us courage, selflessness, creativity, passion: paradise in all accounts is passive, is sedative, and if you read carefully, soulless. That’s why John Keats called the world with all its suffering “this vale of soul-making,” why crisis often brings out the best in us. Some imaginative Christian heretics worshipped Eve for having liberated us from paradise—the myth of the fortunate fall. The heretics recognized that before the fall we were not yet fully human—in Paradise, Adam and Eve need not wrestle with morality, with creation, with society, with mortality; they only realize their own humanity in the struggle an imperfect world invites.”
“How do people recognize that they have the power to be storytellers, not just listeners? Hope is the story of uncertainty, of coming to terms with the risk involved in not knowing what comes next, which is more demanding than despair and, in a way, more frightening. And immeasurably more rewarding.”
“For paradise does not require of us courage, selflessness, creativity, passion: paradise in all accounts is passive, is sedative, and if you read carefully, soulless. That’s why John Keats called the world with all its suffering “this vale of soul-making,” why crisis often brings out the best in us. Some imaginative Christian heretics worshipped Eve for having liberated us from paradise—the myth of the fortunate fall. The heretics recognized that before the fall we were not yet fully human—in Paradise, Adam and Eve need not wrestle with morality, with creation, with society, with mortality; they only realize their own humanity in the struggle an imperfect world invites.”
niknakpattywhack's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very hard book for me to review because the writing is good, it seems well researched, and poignant points are made! BUT I'm just not sure I can get on board with the thesis of the book. The idea that there are wins in this modern world don't make me think that those wins aren't overshadowed by significant and heartbreaking losses. Often where terrible regimes and leaders are overthrown the same monster with a different face pops up. Maybe it's the 2020 (and 2021 so far) that is getting to me, but I'm not sure there is hope in the dark. I think there is hope in the small and that's about all we can count on at the moment. Anyway, this book definitely made me think critically about what it means to hope for a better world and how important the concept of hope is, I'm not sure I'm there at the moment. Very curious to see if Solnit will do a 2020 update to the book as there are 2009 and 2014 updates. It's a whole new world and I'd love to see Solnit's thoughts on hope in the current era.
anaisrvlr's review against another edition
3.0
Essay collections aren't my thing and this applies to this book as well. I adhere to the thesis of this book but I just found it very repetitive.