A provocative critique of modern society.
Griffiths (Wild: An Elemental Journey, 2006, etc.) focuses on the lives of children in her continued exploration of the role of nature in giving meaning to our lives.
“Why are so many children in Euro-American cultures unhappy?” asks the author. “Why is it that children in many traditional cultures seem happier, fluent in their child-nature?” Griffiths goes beyond the current debates on child-rearing practices—e.g., overstructured play, too much time online and too little quality family time—and examines what she considers a more fundamental flaw: the separation of children from a natural environment. After all, “human nature is nested in nature which co-creates the child.” These days, writes the author, children “are enclosed in school and home, enclosed in the cars to shuttle between them, enclosed by fear, by surveillance and poverty and…rigid schedules of time.” They are prevented from testing their environments by a risk-averse, overprotective society. Griffiths compares the stultified lives of modern children to her own exuberant Welsh childhood, when she and her brothers engaged in all the mischievous joys of being young and nearly carefree. Still, she also finds her own childhood to have been flawed. Although she experienced greater freedom, she lacked contact with the wilderness. In contrast to the relative constraints on her life then, she points to what she considers to be the greater freedom of young people growing up in traditional cultures—e.g. the !Kung children of the Kalahari or the Ye’kuana of Venezuela. According to the author, these children receive more maternal nurturing and close attention in the first years of their lives but then are encouraged to learn self-reliance at an earlier age. She contrasts the consumerism and “the protocol of ownership” that children learn today to the wisdom that children living in traditional cultures absorb by knowing “the words for varieties of trees or birds.”
A provocative critique of modern society.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-1619024298
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Counterpoint
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pleasantly diverting, this description of his daughter's first two years by a senior editor at Parents magazine just barely avoids becoming cloying. While some might contest his assertion that ``fatherhood is...the express lane to the greatest happiness a man can possess in life,'' McCoy's joy is evident. He resists going into the details of Amanda's birth (``the pushing and all that'') but confesses that he immediately adored his ``purplish-red, slime- covered beauty queen'' and remains a doting father, telling friends about his ``miracle child.'' He's less Pollyanna-like, though, when writing of his and wife Sharon's ``postpartum struggles,'' a period of adjustment after the baby's arrival during which their sex life changed and they discovered new aspects of each other's personality—some that they didn't like. McCoy sheepishly offers an apology to Tipper Gore for criticizing her campaign to label rock records: Fatherhood has given him a new perspective on the dangers of rock and roll, TV, and movies; he's become a ``cultural conservative.'' His long list of ``fatherhood vows'' includes his hopes that Amanda won't grow up thinking she has to be perfect or be frustrated by small failures, that he'll always laugh at her jokes, that she'll love garlic, believe in her own worth, know that `` `God-fearing' refers to respect, not terror,'' and love to travel. There are some delightful moments here, such as the baby's 2 a.m. discovery of Tito Puente's music and the naptime when she offered Dad her bottle. McCoy's plea for paternity leave deserves attention, as does his contention that men are as nurturing as women. But his rationale for selecting Ozzie Nelson as the perfect father figure will make some readers wince. Veers too often from silly to pretentious to touching; it's like reading the journal of a thirtysomething character. (First serial to Parents magazine; author tour)
Pub Date: June 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-8129-2405-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Times/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
Psychotherapist and research psychologist Osherson (Wrestling with Love, 1992, etc.) offers a manual for men living with children at the end of the 20th century. It's not easy being a father, writes Osherson, and it's even harder to be a good father. Osherson illustrates this point with many examples but mostly by using his own life as a case study, exploring his conflicts and epiphanies, failures and triumphs as the father of two young children. This honesty comes perilously close to the triteness of talk-show confessionals, but it also gives the book its strength. In clearly written and often moving accounts, Osherson recognizes his imperfections as a father and explores the causes of his anger or impatience or the mistakes he has made with his children. In the end, he allows himself to be imperfect and extends the same grace to his readers. It is understandable that modern fathers have such a rough time, writes Osherson. Life used to be much simpler: Fathers would go out and earn a living or fight a war and leave the women in charge of home and family. Today, he writes, men feel caught between wanting ``to go out and slay the dragon'' and being sensitive and caring co- parents; between envying their own fathers' freedom and resenting their physical and psychological distance. It is unfortunate that Osherson fails to deal at length with fathers whose experiences are significantly different from those of white, middle-class, heterosexual professionals like himself, and he doesn't talk at all about being the father of children who are disabled, troubled, or ill. Still, many fathers will find deep resonance with their own feelings of frustration and reward. A passionate book written for men passionate about fatherhood, shedding much light on the relationship between men and their children. (author tour)
Pub Date: June 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-449-90778-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
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