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Hope, Human and Wild: True Stories of Living Lightly on the Earth
In lyrical, penetrating essays, Bill McKibben offers an optimistic response to his best-selling The End of Nature. He journeys from the Adirondack Mountains to Brazil and India to profile the efforts of caring communities to preserve wilderness and reverse environmental devastation. These inspiring accomplishments offer hope for our planet's future.
Paperback, 232 pages
Published
January 12th 2007
by Milkweed Editions
(first published 1995)
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Read for a class. McKibben wrote this as a response to his earlier book, The End of Nature. From reading this, especially the last chapter, I feel as though McKibben is very disconnected from the reality of what will work in combating the environmental crisis. Assisted suicide before incurring too many medical costs and a return to patriarchal small towns modeled after 1700's New England isn't going to cut it. (For a real life example, in the years since - I'm adding this to goodreads in 2010 - ...more
A great book for anyone who knows how bleak the environmental picture looks right now. Though the material is somewhat dated (Having been published in 1997) there is an update on the major events that still provides hope that people can live far happier with less and that communities can solve seemingly insurmountable problems with dedication, and a willingness to act on good simple ideas. Every city planner should take a look at the section on the city of Curitiba's transit system most any city...more
More than ever, we need examples of hope to provide a restorative way forward. This is not a collection of stories about granola-crunching Birkenstock-wearing recyclers (not that there’s anything wrong with that). McKibben takes a wider view. He examines communities that have found a way to function and respect the people and the ecosystem to which they belong. These communities are not utopia, rather communities...Continued at http://www.examiner.com/x-4002-Green-Liv...
Carol
rated it
Recommends it for:
people concerned about environment, city planning, politicians
Recommended to Carol by:
CLSC book club at Chautauqua Institution
Shelves:
social-issues
Although this book was written in 1995, it seems very current and pertinent as the global warming discussion heats up. There are four sections to the book. The author begins the book by giving some positive environmental changes made in our country and then discusses the challenges we have yet to conquer.
The second section examines the city of Curitiba, Brazil where the author lives for a month. Curitiba's visionary mayor made some hard but worthy decisions. One program he implement...more
The second section examines the city of Curitiba, Brazil where the author lives for a month. Curitiba's visionary mayor made some hard but worthy decisions. One program he implement...more
This book is about hope, but McKibben does not shy away from the hard truth of the environmental disaster we have wreaked on the planet. Further, he calls for broad cultural and economic shifts to address the changes that will be necessary for our survival. McKibben offers a very potent combination: sharp analysis that places the responsibility for environmental destruction squarely on the shoulders of global capital, and specific models of real world success stories.
Jillian
added it
Excellent book. I read this for a summer program about Environmental Science; it's informative but told in an interesting way, like a story.
This made me want to go to Curitiba, Brazil, bizarrely.
McKibben lit me up with his exploration of issues close to my heart and frequently on my brain: sense of place, sustainability, humanist economics and sane environmental policies, intriguing urban redevelopment, alternatives paths towards a happier healthier world. Central messages: Use less stuff. Treat more kindly all your neighbors, human and otherwise. Foster inter-connectedness. Hope, but work to realize it.
A more optimistic followup to END OF NATURE, where McKibben explores places that live sustainably, or close to it, and then prayerfully hopes for cultural/political change in the Northeast U.S. where he lives. Curitiba and Kerala are places I would visit, but probably not in McKibben's company - he is earnest, literal and without quirk or humor. Still an important book.
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Aimee
marked it as books-i-couldn-t-finish
I'm sort of bored by this book. I tried to love it. I'm not going to finish it if anyone else wants to have it. The writing is fine--good. But I just can't get into it. (It actually is a hopeful book, as it promises to be, though you do have to dig a bit for it.)
This was one of the best books I was required to read in college....it follows a few different case studies about communities who have adopted radical and innovative strategies to live more eco-friendly and responsibly. Really fascinating stuff.
at first, i thought it was too uplifting and too full of monolithic characters that raised communities into greatness...but i've been working on toning down the sarcasm. shocking, i know. read it. maybe there is some hope for humans...
Great Look at our planet and communities around the world and alternative ways to look at economics and our place on earth. Really shows you don't have to own the world to enjoy it.
Kathie
added it
One of my favorite environmental authors. This book provides a positive outlook to what can be done to reverse negative human impacts and promote environmental sustainability.
Shows how communities who don't have that much money can live sustainably, ie a city in Brazil.
Bill McKibben is a good writer, he came to talk at UC Davis not too long ago...
Bill McKibben is a good writer, he came to talk at UC Davis not too long ago...
Great analysis of some inspiring places and people who have found solutions to a few challenging environmental and social problems.
Not quite as cohesive as some of his other works... but the part about Curitiba (sp?) is fascinating!
I'm sure it's a great book, but it didn't grab me.
WAAYYYY too sanctimonious in places.
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Bill McKibben is an American environmentalist and writer who frequently writes about global warming, alternative energy, and the need for more localized economies.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
More about Bill McKibben...
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
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