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A review by booksforjake
Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction by Michelle Nijhuis
3.0
Fundamentally, I should have loved a book about the history of the conservation movement. And I really wanted to.
Unfortunately, this book seemed to throw out too many names and dates, without allowing for any of them to hang out long enough to enjoy the spotlight.
We bounced too quickly from this conservationist to this other environmentalist, from Huxley this or Ehrlich that. From the IUCN to the WWF and from the yadda ya committee to the blah blah society.
All these details seemed to bog down the experience. But when the small moments were allowed to peak through, they were beautiful. The efforts to reintroduce northern white rhinos to Central Africa or the successful story of protecting the bald eagle from DDT poisoning were clear highlights.
And I did like the closing line and know it would make Neil smile:
“We are not as gods but frogs, and we had better get good at it”.
Unfortunately, this book seemed to throw out too many names and dates, without allowing for any of them to hang out long enough to enjoy the spotlight.
We bounced too quickly from this conservationist to this other environmentalist, from Huxley this or Ehrlich that. From the IUCN to the WWF and from the yadda ya committee to the blah blah society.
All these details seemed to bog down the experience. But when the small moments were allowed to peak through, they were beautiful. The efforts to reintroduce northern white rhinos to Central Africa or the successful story of protecting the bald eagle from DDT poisoning were clear highlights.
And I did like the closing line and know it would make Neil smile:
“We are not as gods but frogs, and we had better get good at it”.