Civilization is killing us. And life without civilization is nasty, brutish, and short. Seems like we're at an impasse. Christopher Ryan disagrees. HeCivilization is killing us. And life without civilization is nasty, brutish, and short. Seems like we're at an impasse. Christopher Ryan disagrees. He does not accept the assumption that early humans lived in a state of constant threat and pain. Life before the neolithic revolution was not as awful as we generally assume. In fact, it is the life to which our bodies naturally adapted and 95% of the existence of homo sapiens sapiens happened before the neolithic revolution. Civilization is a zoo to keep us contained; the paleolithic era was where humans lived in their proper home.
Ryan does not propose that we all strive to become Captain Caveman. His point is that we all have lessons to learn from what we know about paleolithic life and from surviving hunter/gatherer societies: a less hierarchical, more egalitarian society; a world outlook that reveres life and lives entirely in the present; a diet that is not completely at odds with our evolution. In other words, he proposes we reform not by innovation but by returning to older ways.
This book's strength is its thorough survey of many ideas and its gathering them together into one persuasive argument.
Written in an engaging and conversational tone....more
What could I possibly say? It's a classic. I'm pretty sure it is not advisable to tame a peregrine falcon the way he does in this book, but it sure isWhat could I possibly say? It's a classic. I'm pretty sure it is not advisable to tame a peregrine falcon the way he does in this book, but it sure is fun to imagine having one for a companion....more
Thoroughly enjoyable, written and researched with the thoroughness and discipline of the very best investigative journalism. I greatly value having acThoroughly enjoyable, written and researched with the thoroughness and discipline of the very best investigative journalism. I greatly value having access to the thoughts, motivations and experiences of Christopher Knight, the last true "hermit." Finkel does not provide a bibliography, per se, but he does write a final chapter about his research methods and his key texts about hermits and solitude....more
This book must seem quite dated to specialists in Canadian Lit studies, but to an outsider like me it was great. I really appreciated that it was writThis book must seem quite dated to specialists in Canadian Lit studies, but to an outsider like me it was great. I really appreciated that it was written by a poet and not an academic.
At times, it did feel a little bit more like a survey of the authors' work rather than a cohesive argument, but there are enough points made and connected to remind you that there is a reason why Canadian Literature is fascinated with harsh and lovely land.
The strongest metaphor Marshall makes is near the beginning. Canadian poets have a tendency to fall into one of two camps, those taking an objective, god-like view of nature, and those who focus on the subjective responses to nature. He calls them "mountain climbers" and "swimmers" respectively. ...more
This was a fun read. I'm planning to read all of Sigurd F. Olson's prose. I didn't realize I was starting with his last book when I picked up Of Time This was a fun read. I'm planning to read all of Sigurd F. Olson's prose. I didn't realize I was starting with his last book when I picked up Of Time and Place. It will be interesting to read backwards.
In many ways, his writing is quite dated, especially with regards to the indigenous people of this continent. He constantly refers to them all as "Indians" and does not make any effort to distinguish between the different nations or linguistic groups. Published in 1982, I am prepared to forgive him for this, but, of course, I would not extend the same generosity to anyone writing today.
I also felt some misgivings over his romanticization of the voyageurs, though I think this is a knee-jerk response on my part. Maybe I'm just jealous that I don't get to roam like the voyageurs did (and Olson did).
Overall, his attitude towards ecology is correct and still holds true. Most important is his implicit idea that we will preserve the land if we learn to value it. And the best way to do that, according to him, is to experience it directly, love it, and create memories and intimate connections to it. He writes "of time and place" because that is how we experience the world -- memories amount to time as a value (rather than as a basic measure), and places amount to space as a value (again, rather than as something to be measured and sold as real estate). Some might call this approach homocentric. It places too much emphasis on human consciousness in the face of nature. To this I can only say -- yes it is true that the world is indifferent to our joys and our pains, but, since I am a human, I am necessarily interested in how human consciousness works in nature (and I would bet the same holds true for you too)....more
Ball has produced a very valuable contribution to the study and appreciation of the poetry of Archibald Lampman.
The memory poems explore the past as Ball has produced a very valuable contribution to the study and appreciation of the poetry of Archibald Lampman.
The memory poems explore the past as it exists in consciousness. Lampman values memory, says Ball, because it distills experience "from a remote point of view." This point of view is not remote in the same way as Cartesian objectivity. Lampman's poems do not offer a scientific method for memory. This detachment enables the poet to appreciate experience without the noise of society, without the debris of self-consciousness, without the oblivion of our typical quotidian consciousness. Memories become more pure than the experiences themselves. In this way, Lampman believes that memory can redeem human experience. It is one way to make the ephemeral transcendent.
Another way to accomplish this is to lose oneself in the contemplation of nature. Contact with nature restores us by keeping us involved and engaged with the transcendent. Crucial to this engagement is our acceptance of the permanence of change and nature's absolute commitment to cyclical and repetitive time. Ball offers a corrective to earlier critics when he says that Lampman's use of menacing, severe and extreme natural conditions in his poems are yet other examples of the transcendent at work. If nature is to be valued for its "spiritual revealment" then we cannot pick and choose our revelations as they suit us. There is no tragedy in nature, no tears over pathetic fallacy, just beauty, including the beauty of death, cold, extreme heat, and all the other destructive and indifferent forces of nature.
The final arena of Ball's analysis is the role of social progress in Lampman's poetry and how it connects to the other ideas of memory and nature. By taking up ideas about the future of society, Lampman reveals his commitment to belonging in something larger than himself. He is not just a lyric poet, but one with a very strong didactic and social bent.
Be it in memory, nature or progress, Lampman believes that human life, consciousness and experience are miracles to be celebrated and he used his poetry to demonstrate this.
Ball offers a very informed analysis of the themes in Lampman's poetry, one that engages in the existing critical literature in a stimulating manner. Likewise, he dives deeply into the poems, their imagery and language, even scanning the metrics of relevant lines and stanzas. In all, Ball has succeeded in breathing new life into one of Canada's most important poets....more
I've been reading so much about the Eeyouch in Quebec I thought I'd do a little reading about a completely different Nation, the Koyukon. As traditionI've been reading so much about the Eeyouch in Quebec I thought I'd do a little reading about a completely different Nation, the Koyukon. As traditional hunter-gatherer societies there were interesting similarities (though obviously important distinctions too).
The Koyukon are a nation of Athabascan/Dené living up in the Alaskan wilderness. Nelson's study is both an ethnography of the Koyukon people and a natural history of the boreal forest as the Koyukon have come to appreciate it culturally, ideologically and practically (the three are basically the same thing in this context).
I really enjoyed learning about a perspective on nature that does not seem alienated at all. Living in subsistence as the Koyukon have for so long, they naturally have an intimate and respectful connection to the land.
Nelson's presentation is informed by his time living among the Koyukon when he was embraced by teachers who helped him understand their ways. Nelson is always humble and cautious, constantly reminding us of his limitations as a settler. He wants to give the reader a realistic impression of Koyukon life and ideology, but he concedes that it is an incomplete one, tainted somewhat by the perceptions of an outsider.
I did find Nelson to be repetitive. For example, there seems to be several sections about the Koyukon ethical belief that the world is "watchful." Despite rehashing some of the same ideas over and over again, I did find Nelson's book very informative and I appreciated the humility with which he approached his subject matter. ...more
This is a very technical and old book. Probably only really of use to specialists in Anthropology. I read it selectively and found it very interestingThis is a very technical and old book. Probably only really of use to specialists in Anthropology. I read it selectively and found it very interesting for its comments on economics and hunters and gatherers, mostly for what it reveals about us.
Basically our entire economic system (in capitalism) is based on the idea of scarcity and how that influences behaviour, wants, needs, and prices. The entire classic course on economics is centred around this premise -- limited resources to satisfy unlimited wants and needs.
Scarcity is entirely meaningless to hunter/gatherer societies, according to Sahlins. Before the need for agriculture after the neolithic revolution, all homo sapiens were "uneconomic." Abundant leisure, more sleep, self-confidence and faith in mother earth all characterized our existence during this phase. Yes, we had to keep on the move for food and water, but those were are only needs and thus our only wants too.
There is so much more going on in here than a bunch of descriptions of nature in Cape Cod. These intimate essays are very subtle, but they glean univeThere is so much more going on in here than a bunch of descriptions of nature in Cape Cod. These intimate essays are very subtle, but they glean universals out of rich details. Most of these details come from nature, but, along the way, Finch indexes the ephemera of the social, the historical, and, perhaps most of all, the psychological.
Along the way a series of hypotheses about the meaning of wilderness are offered:
"wilderness is where you find it, or perhaps where you lose yourself" (19)
"wildness and wilderness are not to be evaluated by size or remoteness, but by the nature and play of forces within a place" (28)
wilderness is surprise: "a managed game preserve may produce the largest and healthiest flocks and herds, but if it is managed to the point where it lacks surprise, then it is nothing more than a spacious zoo or duck farm." (46)
What all these propositions share is an emphasis on wilderness as a subjective human experience. The objective, concrete reality of nature is less important than its place in our hearts, minds, and marrow. His aim, I think, is to remind us of how central wilderness ought to be to our daily lives, and that it is something nearby, ultimately to be experienced with our bodies and in our minds.
Though the human experience is central for Finch, he does not take an entirely homocentric view. Rather, it is our ability to play in the world, to observe the world, to contemplate the world. Wilderness, ultimately, is a place of relationships. And these relationships are bigger than any one of us and all of us put together.
But we don't need to fear this cosmological sublime. All we need to do is find our connection.
If we are to follow the Delphic Oracle's injunction to know thyself, then in Finch's world that would mean knowing your place in the web of relationships -- hurricanes, shifting sand dunes, loons' migrations, the sight-lines of snowy owls....more
This book is quite old now, and in many ways it is outdated. The End of Nature is still relevant, however, because McKibben talks about the end of an This book is quite old now, and in many ways it is outdated. The End of Nature is still relevant, however, because McKibben talks about the end of an idea, of an attitude, in addition to talking about the end of a set of physical circumstances and possibilities.
Nature is ending because it no longer functions independently of human influence. Nature is no longer natural. McKibben's main interest is global warming. Our climate is no longer itself; the burning of fossil fuels has altered its course irrevocably.
Solutions to this problem vary and McKibben considers several, but his main thrust is to compare solutions depend on our reflex of "defiance" to solutions that find their source in "humility." Defiance is here understood as the homocentric view that humans can use science to solve any problem. Yes, science led to our current problem, but we can harness its power and solve anything. Humility is here understood as the view that human life is but one form of many on a planet of abundance. We need to stop seeing ourselves as the highest achievement of evolution and cease using science to sustain the idea of progress that has harmed our environment: we need to want less, long for less, expend less, strive less.
Defiance is a dead end in McKibben's view. Perhaps science can solve global warming, but that won't resurrect nature. Taking this path will mean that wilderness will gradually cease to exist. Nature "management" will be all that remains.
McKibben strongly urges for humility and biocentrism, but he acknowledges (as he must) that it is not in human nature to limit itself. He does not fall into despair. His proposals are idealistic, but he retains a sense of sobriety....more
A good backgrounder on other people's discussions about the Anthropocene. A good backgrounder on other people's discussions about the Anthropocene. ...more
A great book that hopes to connect ends to their processes, to bring imagination and reality together, and in so doing to help the world heal, to erasA great book that hopes to connect ends to their processes, to bring imagination and reality together, and in so doing to help the world heal, to erase the conflict between "us" and "them."
That does not mean erasing all difference. This is not a treatise on conformity or assimilation. Even if our particular stories and beliefs divide us, Chamberlain argues that we can all agree that stories are important. Maybe we will never be able to agree on what to believe, but, with work and empathy, we can learn to agree on what it is to believe and to respect that essential truth in and for one another (240).
I don't think I've ever read anything quite like this before. It is very circuitous. But that seems to be its point. I would like to read it again one day soon, when I feel a little less under the gun....more
Merchant's Radical Ecology gives an overview of the various ecology philosophies and movements that emerged in the latter half of the 20th century. ItMerchant's Radical Ecology gives an overview of the various ecology philosophies and movements that emerged in the latter half of the 20th century. It introduces readers to Deep Ecology, Spiritual Ecology, the Sustainable Development movement, Ecofeminism, and Marxist/Socialist Ecology (etc). The further reading section at the close of each chapter is this book's primary asset. Another benefit is that Merchant summarizes and cites many works that are difficult to come by because they have been published by non-mainstream sources. Perhaps they are on the fringe for good reason, but at least we can have some access to those ideas via this book....more
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