A review by nothingforpomegranted
On the Backs of Tortoises: Darwin, the Galapagos, and the Fate of an Evolutionary Eden by Elizabeth Hennessy
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
This well-researched book opens with a parable that claims that the world stands on “turtles all the way down,” a conception of the ever-increasing depth and complexity of our understanding of how the world works that finds a parallel in Hennessy’s exploration of conversation in the Galapagos. Indeed, Hennessy emphasizes the countless contradictions and overlapping impulses of those drawn to the Galapagos and, specifically, to the tortoises that live there. Hennessy’s narration begins not with Darwin’s evolution epiphany, but with earlier tortoise hunters and explorers in the 1530s.
I was expecting this to be a bit more historical and certainly more about Darwin’s experience in the Galapagos. Rather, the storytelling was a bit spiraled and repetitive, reviewing the ways that conversation approaches have shifted and the reality that conservation has never been (and still is not) the only motivation for people who live in and love the Galapagos.
My favorite chapter included Hennessy’s interactions with and descriptions of Galapagos residents and the modern-day tensions between fishers and laboratory conservationists. In contrast to the repeated claims about different approaches to conversation (as natural laboratory, evolutionary Eden, or restorative project), which felt a bit esoteric to me, this tension felt distinct and meaningful, and I resonated with the challenge of determining the relative values of human and non-human residents of the Galapagos.
I look forward to discussing with dad and adding some book club notes to my review:
I was expecting this to be a bit more historical and certainly more about Darwin’s experience in the Galapagos. Rather, the storytelling was a bit spiraled and repetitive, reviewing the ways that conversation approaches have shifted and the reality that conservation has never been (and still is not) the only motivation for people who live in and love the Galapagos.
My favorite chapter included Hennessy’s interactions with and descriptions of Galapagos residents and the modern-day tensions between fishers and laboratory conservationists. In contrast to the repeated claims about different approaches to conversation (as natural laboratory, evolutionary Eden, or restorative project), which felt a bit esoteric to me, this tension felt distinct and meaningful, and I resonated with the challenge of determining the relative values of human and non-human residents of the Galapagos.
I look forward to discussing with dad and adding some book club notes to my review: