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katbethell's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Very informative and I learnt a lot. Gave me some hope for the future and inspired me to imagine what could be possible for the British countryside!
anticonstitutionnellement's review against another edition
4.0
simply delicious! i’m so glad i savoured this one for as long as i did. the way monbiot writes about nature is so beautiful, he truly has a gift for boiling down complicated evidence and debunking bullshit in a no-nonsense way that makes his books enormously readable and packed with digestible evidence that gives a layman like myself the ability to better understand our fucked up world. my only critiques are harmless and presumably unintentional. it feels at times frustratingly anglo/eurocentric and despite its publishing date being less than 10 years ago many of the EU laws on nature are now out of date for the UK. this book is an essential call to action. i eagerly await a sequel.
_punksnail_'s review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
phryne_marple's review against another edition
Gosh darn it when does the stuff about actual rewilding research and projects start?!?! I have dragged myself through chapter 3 AND HE IS STILL SHARING PERSONAL ANNECDOTES ABOUT ALL THE TIMES HE WENT FISHING!!! I usually love nature writing and don't mind a slow pace but this man is driving me up the wall waiting for him to get to the point. I guess I was just expecting something different? Going by the title/description I was looking forward to an exploration of rewilding as a practice and a research topic - current projects, possibilities, theories, etcetera and instead I am stuck listening to a man complain about how boring his current life is (in the audiobook narrated by the author no less, so I can't even skip or skim pages) I really want this to be good! I would really like to get to the cool projects he presumably (hopefully? surely he must??) talk about later but I'm not sure I'll ever make it there... My advice would be: get a paper version so you can skip the first 3-however many chapters.... (if you do let me know what you find)
georgiesutton's review against another edition
5.0
This was I think one of the most accessible books like this that I have read. I found the balance was right between providing discussion, opinion and evidence. The first half felt a bit more disjointed and took me a while to get into and to get on side with Monbiot who I came into reading his book being skeptic all about him.
It was fascinating and interesting to read 10 years after publication as the re-wilding topic and actions have progressed (yay) but also we have seen walruses making their own way to the UK too! I already knew many of the principles from studying so I like the personal nature writing spin and musings which help ground the science and policy in reality for me.
I will note this is very UK-centric which, as someone who lives and works with this environment, I liked but it does limit the audience somewhat. Even then due to where I live and visit not being touched on much I would have liked more on the lowlands, marshes and coast (although appreciated the ocean chapter so often left out).
Is it too far to say this should be required reading? The overgrazing and economics of sheep is bonkers but also loved learning about theories that geoncide in North America may have caused the little ice age, or that the North Sea could have once been clear… mind blowing. We still don’t have many trees in the UK and yet the policy is still “plant trees” not consider how we can let the trees grow.
It was fascinating and interesting to read 10 years after publication as the re-wilding topic and actions have progressed (yay) but also we have seen walruses making their own way to the UK too! I already knew many of the principles from studying so I like the personal nature writing spin and musings which help ground the science and policy in reality for me.
I will note this is very UK-centric which, as someone who lives and works with this environment, I liked but it does limit the audience somewhat. Even then due to where I live and visit not being touched on much I would have liked more on the lowlands, marshes and coast (although appreciated the ocean chapter so often left out).
Is it too far to say this should be required reading? The overgrazing and economics of sheep is bonkers but also loved learning about theories that geoncide in North America may have caused the little ice age, or that the North Sea could have once been clear… mind blowing. We still don’t have many trees in the UK and yet the policy is still “plant trees” not consider how we can let the trees grow.
shutupem's review against another edition
5.0
Overall I really liked this. I liked that he is honest that although many of his arguments are economic, he is really driven by passion for nature so not exactly neutral. I like that he suggests actual policy changes instead of just gesturing vaguely to the problems.
I do think some of the stories from his own experience are kind of unrelatable. I guess things don't need to be relatable necessarily, but because these stories are used to get you to ‘’buy in” emotionally it does feel a little strange. Even if we rewild everything most people will not be able to spend even a fraction of the time Monbiot does in nature or see even a small amount of what he has. Especially not without other changes to society, our attitudes towards leisure time and time we are “allowed” to spend enjoying nature. He doesn't address this at all despite saying several times that he wants wilderness to be accessible by everyone. It just feels a little bit glossed over/incomplete, idk.
His writing also goes a little bit too far with the flowery descriptions sometimes. Favourite example: “We stepped over crimson plush cushions of sphagnum moss, like the upholstery in an Indian restaurant.” What does this MEAN, GEORGE???
In the end though this doesn't spoil the book at all and I enjoyed his perspective and the perspectives of people he features throughout.
I do think some of the stories from his own experience are kind of unrelatable. I guess things don't need to be relatable necessarily, but because these stories are used to get you to ‘’buy in” emotionally it does feel a little strange. Even if we rewild everything most people will not be able to spend even a fraction of the time Monbiot does in nature or see even a small amount of what he has. Especially not without other changes to society, our attitudes towards leisure time and time we are “allowed” to spend enjoying nature. He doesn't address this at all despite saying several times that he wants wilderness to be accessible by everyone. It just feels a little bit glossed over/incomplete, idk.
His writing also goes a little bit too far with the flowery descriptions sometimes. Favourite example: “We stepped over crimson plush cushions of sphagnum moss, like the upholstery in an Indian restaurant.” What does this MEAN, GEORGE???
In the end though this doesn't spoil the book at all and I enjoyed his perspective and the perspectives of people he features throughout.