Scan barcode
hannawilloch's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
3.5
ennakkoon's review against another edition
4.5
The book is a refreshing counterbalance to the general atmosphere of despair and hopelessness at large in the internet sphere of leftist politics. Remembering and using little wins to keep yourself going, seeing opportunity in the unknowability of future, engaging in actual action. Solnit stays practical and useful even when writing about immaterial things and champions a flexible variety of tactics and new revolutionary ways of seeing the world, not only pointing out that there's hope to be found but also creating some herself. It's easier to believe that there is a future worth fighting for after reading this.
One thought that kept coming up as I was reading was that the book will soon the 20 years old. How much of its hope is still applicable, realistic, especially concerning the climate? A depressing thought. These days the book requires adaptation, as the some of the grounds for hope Solnit brings forward in this book have lost some of their potency through changes in culture and time. The reader then has the responsibility of finding their own grounds for hope, some more recent wins, moments of collective power and change. That is not necessarily a negative.
Edit: looking back, the relevance of this text keeps proving itself. The practicality of its politics and focus on longevity is hugely helpful as a frame of thinking when hope is running low.
One thought that kept coming up as I was reading was that the book will soon the 20 years old. How much of its hope is still applicable, realistic, especially concerning the climate? A depressing thought. These days the book requires adaptation, as the some of the grounds for hope Solnit brings forward in this book have lost some of their potency through changes in culture and time. The reader then has the responsibility of finding their own grounds for hope, some more recent wins, moments of collective power and change. That is not necessarily a negative.
Edit: looking back, the relevance of this text keeps proving itself. The practicality of its politics and focus on longevity is hugely helpful as a frame of thinking when hope is running low.
banandrew's review against another edition
5.0
Rebecca Solnit's "Hope in the Dark" is inspirational. She retells stories of tragedy, stories of community, and stories of activism that encourage you to see the world for what it can be, what we should fight for it to be.
matildaeg's review against another edition
5.0
insightful and prescient examination of the role of hope in activism and how to balance celebrating victories whilst appreciating that the work is never done. really enjoyed Solnit's look at a handful of the progressive successes of the last century as well as her ideas for going forward. I feel galvanized
callitus's review against another edition
3.0
This book indeed gave me some hope.
But knowing how this book described events in early 00's, and was taking hope from times of Obama's presidency, we can only think about certain naiveté in this way of thinking.
Nevertheless, I deliberately choose being naive over being in constant state of despair
But knowing how this book described events in early 00's, and was taking hope from times of Obama's presidency, we can only think about certain naiveté in this way of thinking.
Nevertheless, I deliberately choose being naive over being in constant state of despair
keight's review against another edition
4.0
Necessary post-election reading. Rebecca Solnit wrote this book at the start of the Iraq War in 2003 so "hope" has a pre-Obama context here. While the context has evolved, much of what she says about activism and the long road of change still applies. There is some territory here that Solnit has trod at other times in her writing, as when she expands on a sentence from Virginia Woolf's journal: "The future is dark, which is the best thing the future can be, I think" — a moment she also explored in Men Explain Things to Me, which was in turn adapted for a New Yorker essay, "Woolf’s Darkness: Embracing the Inexplicable"... Read more on my booklog
reed333's review against another edition
5.0
In this year of despair (2017- no kidding- it has been tough!), this book was helpful in altering my perspective & staying evidence based- which I very much appreciated. Ther3 are many good & relevant points made.