Reviews tagging 'Cancer'
Finding the Mother Tree: Finding the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard
20 reviews
camoo3032's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
This book is an autobiography interdispersed with science. Although both were interesting, the way they were spread throughout the book disrupted the flow of it. You never knew what the next page would contain (personal life or method of an experiment)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content and Cancer
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Misogyny, War, Car accident, Child abuse, Pregnancy, and Grief
redheadorganist's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
2.0
I did not enjoy the book, but I think it is still an important read. If you are interested in ecology or forestry, this will be more up your alley.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Grief
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Pregnancy
carlyoc's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
A sweeping epic that covers decades of research intertwined with a memoir of personal discovery just the way the roots of the trees Simard studies mix with the mycelium of fungi.
It is a slow burn, and definitely took me a while to get hooked. A little dense, frontloaded with facts about biology and history, it is not as approachable as Braiding Sweetgrass, which it otherwise has a lot of similarities with.
We begin way back with Simard's ancestors engaging in small-scale logging, than Simard's early career in large-scale industrial logging. We follow her through grad school, marriage, early presentations of her work that met with great skepticism. Then raising kids, divorce, surviving breast cancer, finding new love, gaining renown and respect in the scientific world.
We start with the idea that maybe clear cutting trees indiscriminantly is bad, then learn that trees of different species share nutrients with each other rather than existing in a state of pure competition. Then we learn that reaource sharing can go two ways, that mother trees can recognize their kin, that trees can transmit information about dangers and how to survive them, and that even the livelihood of yhe salmon in the rivers affects the surrounding trees. Within the decades encapsulated in this book, our entire understanding of trees has completely transformed. And now we get to see the woman behind many of those discoveries and learn how they transformed her own life too.
It is a slow burn, and definitely took me a while to get hooked. A little dense, frontloaded with facts about biology and history, it is not as approachable as Braiding Sweetgrass, which it otherwise has a lot of similarities with.
We begin way back with Simard's ancestors engaging in small-scale logging, than Simard's early career in large-scale industrial logging. We follow her through grad school, marriage, early presentations of her work that met with great skepticism. Then raising kids, divorce, surviving breast cancer, finding new love, gaining renown and respect in the scientific world.
We start with the idea that maybe clear cutting trees indiscriminantly is bad, then learn that trees of different species share nutrients with each other rather than existing in a state of pure competition. Then we learn that reaource sharing can go two ways, that mother trees can recognize their kin, that trees can transmit information about dangers and how to survive them, and that even the livelihood of yhe salmon in the rivers affects the surrounding trees. Within the decades encapsulated in this book, our entire understanding of trees has completely transformed. And now we get to see the woman behind many of those discoveries and learn how they transformed her own life too.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer
sramac's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Vomit, Pregnancy, Death, and Sexism
officialgrittynhl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
2.5
The general consensus seems to be Simard is not an effective writer. I really wanted to like this book, but I found it quite boring. It needed to be more explicitly marketed as an autobiography. I didn't know the personal cost to Simard for her discovery and I believe her life story does deserve to be held in books and by readers. I really wish she would have written more about indigenous concepts before the last chapter. I do love the allegory of Simard herself as a mother tree - although that was never explicitly mentioned and I believe she would have benefited from a straightforward comparison to herself as a mother tree at least once in the book. She has a powerful and moving story. Most people seem to find her description of her experiments boring, but I found it more interesting and approachable on audiobook. It was something I liked best about it, despite not enjoying the narration or writing much.
Much respect to Simard, her work, her life, and her story.
Much respect to Simard, her work, her life, and her story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer
bibliomania_express's review
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Death
aisabel's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Cancer, Pregnancy, and Death
jesselopod's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
This book should have been the perfect book for me, but the science communication was just a bit off for me and that made it hard to get through. I switched from the physical book to the audiobook which helped. It’s a great story it’s not told in a compelling way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer
Moderate: Death
chiaralzr's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
I initially gave this book 4 stars, but, a year after reading it, I just can't stop thinking about it. This book has definitely reshaped the way I look at trees and nature as a whole. So this is now a 5 stars. I also really appreciated reading about Suzanne Simard's experience in academia, especially as a woman.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Medical content, and Sexism
caelysium's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Grief, and Pregnancy