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Reviews
A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit
kokomoloko's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
sousa29's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
fiveredhens's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
love the premise but kinda got repetitive at the end
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Gun violence
amydeppe's review against another edition
3.0
I was very excited and interested in the topic of this book, people coming together in times of calamity to help one another, however this book was so dense in sections that I ended up stopping after only about a quarter of the book.
drillvoice's review against another edition
4.0
I've read so many authors who reference this book, so it was finally time to read it myself. I'm a big fan of Solnit's writing, which maintains such a clarity of expression over so many thematic areas. I was looking forward to what this book would offer.
Basically, Solnit argues that — contrary to dominant media narratives — in disaster situations, people generally become their best selves and behave altruistically. People come to the aid of their neighbours but also strangers, living in the moment and meeting their immediate collective needs through shared resources. Not only this, they are often *better* at this than top-down, centralised authorities, which are slow to react and ungainly. This positive reality belies the myth of ordinary people behaving as wolves in a disaster situation, looting etc.
In contrast, Solnit explores the idea of "elite panic", that often the harm wrought in a disaster comes from institutions and elites (eg the military) who assume that everyone is being dangerous, and become a danger in turn. This can range from arbitrary imposition of authority, like preventing people from fighting fires or evacuating, to downright violence and brutality, like shooting people who are requisitioning basic supplies.
Ultimately, Solnit argues that these 'disasters' disrupt the rules and conventions of normality that leave so many of us alienated and disconnected from each other. While not desiring disaster, Solnit points out that they reveal what is possible, and that the experience of disaster for people is often transformative and life-changing in a positive way.
Basically, Solnit argues that — contrary to dominant media narratives — in disaster situations, people generally become their best selves and behave altruistically. People come to the aid of their neighbours but also strangers, living in the moment and meeting their immediate collective needs through shared resources. Not only this, they are often *better* at this than top-down, centralised authorities, which are slow to react and ungainly. This positive reality belies the myth of ordinary people behaving as wolves in a disaster situation, looting etc.
In contrast, Solnit explores the idea of "elite panic", that often the harm wrought in a disaster comes from institutions and elites (eg the military) who assume that everyone is being dangerous, and become a danger in turn. This can range from arbitrary imposition of authority, like preventing people from fighting fires or evacuating, to downright violence and brutality, like shooting people who are requisitioning basic supplies.
Ultimately, Solnit argues that these 'disasters' disrupt the rules and conventions of normality that leave so many of us alienated and disconnected from each other. While not desiring disaster, Solnit points out that they reveal what is possible, and that the experience of disaster for people is often transformative and life-changing in a positive way.
thehokx's review against another edition
5.0
One never feels so alive as facing down death with a community. Solnit shines light on triumphs and horrors, but leaves a reason to hope.
caitlinmchugh24's review against another edition
3.0
This topic is something I have not read about before. I picked this book up because I had read the author before. From my own perspective, I found the chapters of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina the most interesting and informative as I could remember them from the news and as major events.
bluestarfish's review against another edition
4.0
This book is an investigation into a feeling, something almost intangible but real that also shows up in disasters - namely joy. Our depiction of disasters have very little to say about the communities and the joy it also brings, sometimes this might be suppressed by elite panic and a media focus on the dramatic horror stories, but it does seem to be a real feature too. The Hurricane Katrina bits were the most eye-opening and scary, and William James' essay on the moral equivalence of war still seems to be worth pondering.
paintchips1003's review against another edition
5.0
Pure coincidence I was reading this as we watched the coronavirus spread from China to Italy and Spain and then to the U.S. Everything she wrote about came true. The government botched and bumbled and delayed. While the people made their own communities, created their own pathways to deliver aid, helped strangers. This book is full of hope, not that the gov't. will do better next time. It will always fail us. But we will not and do not fail each other.