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blundershelf's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
5.0
Gran thought that despite how interesting this book is, it's overall depressing. I have to disagree with her as I found it to be a hopeful (and super compelling) look at how nature survives and rebounds without humanity/intervention. Flyn pulls from sociology, history, ecology, anthropology and personal anecdote to create narratives of abandoned landscapes irrevocably altered by humans. Her interviews especially are so excellent because she meets people where they're at and withholds knee-jerk judgements. I think the world would be a better place if this book were widely read.
janey's review against another edition
5.0
Wow, this was great! The subject matter alone is fascinating, and the color she added made it really terrific. Flyn writes with the feeling of a poet and transports the reader to places that by all rights should not be magical but, in her hands, they are.
ivylovesbirds's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
katiescho741's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars.
I enjoyed this book. I liked how each chapter was about a certain place, but she also discussed other abandoned sites with similar circumstances. It was a strangely positive book in that Cal Flyn shows us that nature reclaims these areas where humans have fucked things up too much.
There's a lot of variety in the areas, and I liked some more than others. I wasn't too interested in the botanical garden chapter, but the idea of being careful with "alien" plants and animals was interesting in itself. I think sometimes she goes way off on a tangent, and before you know it, you're reading about something you didn't expect. Sometimes this works, but sometimes I found myself bored. She visited each site, and sometimes her personal experiences were the weakest parts of the sections. I personally preferred the history.
The chapter on the Battle of Verdun was my favourite.
Overall, a really good book about how humans screw up and nature bounces back.
I enjoyed this book. I liked how each chapter was about a certain place, but she also discussed other abandoned sites with similar circumstances. It was a strangely positive book in that Cal Flyn shows us that nature reclaims these areas where humans have fucked things up too much.
There's a lot of variety in the areas, and I liked some more than others. I wasn't too interested in the botanical garden chapter, but the idea of being careful with "alien" plants and animals was interesting in itself. I think sometimes she goes way off on a tangent, and before you know it, you're reading about something you didn't expect. Sometimes this works, but sometimes I found myself bored. She visited each site, and sometimes her personal experiences were the weakest parts of the sections. I personally preferred the history.
The chapter on the Battle of Verdun was my favourite.
Overall, a really good book about how humans screw up and nature bounces back.