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rozydozy's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.0
I thought this made some interesting points about the relationship between poor mental health in the West and a loss of access to nature. However, I had two major issues with it:
1) The call-to-action offered no real solutions. It would be great to have more biophilic urban design and greater rights for nature. How are we going to build public support and credible policies for that? It just felt a bit limp in the end.
2) This author is based in the UK, but cherry picked examples from all over the world to support their points. I think it’s very difficult to write something that is truly relevant across countries and cultures (the best I’ve read is This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein). This book ended up feeling a bit shallow as a result.
1) The call-to-action offered no real solutions. It would be great to have more biophilic urban design and greater rights for nature. How are we going to build public support and credible policies for that? It just felt a bit limp in the end.
2) This author is based in the UK, but cherry picked examples from all over the world to support their points. I think it’s very difficult to write something that is truly relevant across countries and cultures (the best I’ve read is This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein). This book ended up feeling a bit shallow as a result.
ilikebooks_okay's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
jadekelly90's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
botanigal's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
ghempel's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Dense writing makes it a challenge
lucylikesreading's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
fjette's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
I wanted to like this book more than I did. Some parts were exceptionally well-written, especially Jones’ prose about nature.
On the other hand, she wrote about systemic barriers to accessing nature in a way that felt cursory. The solutions she described were very small scale and rooted in people with money and access offering the outdoors to “deprived” people and places as if it were something that had to be taught to POC/low-income folks.
The book gained strength and authority throughout, but the initial few chapters about the science felt underresearched and overreaching. I preferred the tone later - we should preserve the natural world because it’s the right thing to do and our global heritage, not because a random professor did an fMRI that showed movement of neurotransmitters we don’t fully understand.
Finally, when Jones discussed people who dont like nature or feel a connection to the natural world, her tone was pretty judgmental. She didn’t address issues of access rooted in disability, and the way she talked about mental illness was limited at best. I’m glad I read and finished it, but I would recommend Braiding Sweetgrass over this book.
On the other hand, she wrote about systemic barriers to accessing nature in a way that felt cursory. The solutions she described were very small scale and rooted in people with money and access offering the outdoors to “deprived” people and places as if it were something that had to be taught to POC/low-income folks.
The book gained strength and authority throughout, but the initial few chapters about the science felt underresearched and overreaching. I preferred the tone later - we should preserve the natural world because it’s the right thing to do and our global heritage, not because a random professor did an fMRI that showed movement of neurotransmitters we don’t fully understand.
Finally, when Jones discussed people who dont like nature or feel a connection to the natural world, her tone was pretty judgmental. She didn’t address issues of access rooted in disability, and the way she talked about mental illness was limited at best. I’m glad I read and finished it, but I would recommend Braiding Sweetgrass over this book.