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A review by eileen_critchley
The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature by David George Haskell
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
***1/2
I found this book to be a bit on the slower-paced side, but that's perfectly fine; by its nature, it's more of a meditative read and the concept is interesting and beautiful. It's also a good one to pick up and put aside. Reading it over the course of a year would be a nice experience. It was fun to see several dates of personal significance to me happened to be days he wrote about in the 'mandela' (my birthday, my anniversary). The author also documents the forest in an area very similar to my own, with many of the same animals, insects, and plants that we see when hiking here. I like the cover image too, and have taken some similar photos of the forest floor myself. I have an interest in biology and there are lots of little fun tidbits of information here, without going too deep.
I did find this book a little metaphor-heavy, and some of it was a bit dry (again, slower-paced). The writing gets a bit overly descriptive/flowery in parts as well.
This book is about appreciating small things in nature, how interconnected the world is, and our place in it. It's also a reminder to slow down. And I very much appreciate those sentiments.
<I>These journeys will weave in and out of other lives, knitting together the multidimensional cloth of life. My blood may join the snail's shell in a young bird that eats or is bitten by a passing mosquito, or we may meet later, in millennia, at the bottom of the ocean in a crab's claw or the gut of a worm.
To love nature and to hate humanity is illogical. Humanity is part of the whole. To truly love the world is also to love human ingenuity and playfulness. Nature does not need to be cleansed of human artifacts to be beautiful or coherent. Yes, we should be less greedy, untidy, wasteful, and shortsighted. But let us not turn responsibility into self-hatred. Our biggest failing is, after all, luck of compassion for the world. Including ourselves.
Keeping the woods trash-free is a symbol of our desire to be more careful members of life's community. But there is also value in the discipline of participating in a world as it is, discarded golf balls and all.
The interior quality of our minds is itself a great teacher of natural history. It is here that we learn that "nature" is not a separate place. We too are animals. .. Each on of us inhabits a storied mandala with as much complexity and depth as an old-growth forest. Even better, watching ourselves and watching the world are not in opposition; by observing the forest, I have come to know myself more clearly. Part of what we discover by observing ourselves is an affinity for the world around us. The desire to name, understand, and enjoy the rest of the community of life is part of our humanity. Quiet observation of living mandalas offer one way to rediscover and develop this inheritance. </i>
{library, hardcover}
I found this book to be a bit on the slower-paced side, but that's perfectly fine; by its nature, it's more of a meditative read and the concept is interesting and beautiful. It's also a good one to pick up and put aside. Reading it over the course of a year would be a nice experience. It was fun to see several dates of personal significance to me happened to be days he wrote about in the 'mandela' (my birthday, my anniversary). The author also documents the forest in an area very similar to my own, with many of the same animals, insects, and plants that we see when hiking here. I like the cover image too, and have taken some similar photos of the forest floor myself. I have an interest in biology and there are lots of little fun tidbits of information here, without going too deep.
I did find this book a little metaphor-heavy, and some of it was a bit dry (again, slower-paced). The writing gets a bit overly descriptive/flowery in parts as well.
This book is about appreciating small things in nature, how interconnected the world is, and our place in it. It's also a reminder to slow down. And I very much appreciate those sentiments.
<I>These journeys will weave in and out of other lives, knitting together the multidimensional cloth of life. My blood may join the snail's shell in a young bird that eats or is bitten by a passing mosquito, or we may meet later, in millennia, at the bottom of the ocean in a crab's claw or the gut of a worm.
To love nature and to hate humanity is illogical. Humanity is part of the whole. To truly love the world is also to love human ingenuity and playfulness. Nature does not need to be cleansed of human artifacts to be beautiful or coherent. Yes, we should be less greedy, untidy, wasteful, and shortsighted. But let us not turn responsibility into self-hatred. Our biggest failing is, after all, luck of compassion for the world. Including ourselves.
Keeping the woods trash-free is a symbol of our desire to be more careful members of life's community. But there is also value in the discipline of participating in a world as it is, discarded golf balls and all.
The interior quality of our minds is itself a great teacher of natural history. It is here that we learn that "nature" is not a separate place. We too are animals. .. Each on of us inhabits a storied mandala with as much complexity and depth as an old-growth forest. Even better, watching ourselves and watching the world are not in opposition; by observing the forest, I have come to know myself more clearly. Part of what we discover by observing ourselves is an affinity for the world around us. The desire to name, understand, and enjoy the rest of the community of life is part of our humanity. Quiet observation of living mandalas offer one way to rediscover and develop this inheritance. </i>
{library, hardcover}