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ihlonial 's review for:
The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times
by Jane Goodall
I was 19 years old when I realized that our planet was suffering. I was sitting in a classroom at my community college trying to find a non-profit organization that I could complete a project on. I learned about Conservation International where celebrities like Lee Pace (if you know me, you know the pull this man has on me), Harrison Ford and Lupita Nyong'o were sharing their messages of saving the planet. I learned that, "Nature doesn't need people. People need nature." The phrase captivated me, sank into my bones and resonated with me. However, it's only really been going downhill for me since then as I learned and uncovered the reality that the planet was not only suffering...but dying.
It can be overwhelming, devastating and all-consuming to sit with the state of our world. Not just on a nature level, but on a humanity level. Pandemics, genocides, poverty, and global boiling summers with fascism on the rise only begins to scratch the surface of what can occupy a mind today.
Enter Jane Goodall's, "The Book of Hope" which lays out the reality that our window of time to turn things around is getting smaller, but things are not irreversible. She defines hope as an action, not a flimsy desire lacking substance. This 90 year old unflinchingly believes that the future is full of promise, and not in some fantastical, toxically positive way. Told through various stories throughout her life, Goodall gives her reasons for why hope is not a futile belief.
Her gentility, poise and insight really shine through in this novel and I think I would love to share a cup of tea with her sometime. At 90 years old, she has lived through multiple wars, multiple genocides and been involved in science and naturalism evolving to what it is today. I think she of anyone can take a broad look at what has happened and hold out hope for what will happen without placing the responsibility on the 'next generation' which so often other adult activists pass the rod to when they feel their time has concluded.
Nature has a way of defying expectations, and perhaps humans can do the same as we better unite ourselves for a better future. I certainly hope so.
It can be overwhelming, devastating and all-consuming to sit with the state of our world. Not just on a nature level, but on a humanity level. Pandemics, genocides, poverty, and global boiling summers with fascism on the rise only begins to scratch the surface of what can occupy a mind today.
Enter Jane Goodall's, "The Book of Hope" which lays out the reality that our window of time to turn things around is getting smaller, but things are not irreversible. She defines hope as an action, not a flimsy desire lacking substance. This 90 year old unflinchingly believes that the future is full of promise, and not in some fantastical, toxically positive way. Told through various stories throughout her life, Goodall gives her reasons for why hope is not a futile belief.
Her gentility, poise and insight really shine through in this novel and I think I would love to share a cup of tea with her sometime. At 90 years old, she has lived through multiple wars, multiple genocides and been involved in science and naturalism evolving to what it is today. I think she of anyone can take a broad look at what has happened and hold out hope for what will happen without placing the responsibility on the 'next generation' which so often other adult activists pass the rod to when they feel their time has concluded.
Nature has a way of defying expectations, and perhaps humans can do the same as we better unite ourselves for a better future. I certainly hope so.