Repeatedly, in this scholarly survey of cultural history, Roszak (History/California State Univ.; Flicker, 1991, etc.) evokes a back-to-nature philosophy, contrasting the rational philosophy of the Enlightenment with the romanticism of the noble savage; prehistoric animism and earth-mother religion with the rise of patriarchy and male-dominated, nature-dominating religion. All this by way of elaborating what he sees as the only salvation of the ecological crisis: a new ``ecopsychology.'' The new school celebrates the individual, seen in harmonious interrelationships with the family, society, Mother Earth, and, ultimately, the cosmos. Ecopsychology is informed by various post- Freudian schools: some Jung (collective unconscious), and something of Reich, Maslow, Gestalt psychology, and various California-style movements—in general, those schools that look upon the unconscious as the well-spring of creativity. ``The core of the mind is the ecological unconscious,'' Roszak says, containing ``the living record of cosmic evolution, tracing back to distant initial conditions in the history of time.'' Yes, time's arrow and the evolution of the cosmos figure large in Roszak's philosophy. Taking the Big Bang as a given, and borrowing arguments from systems theory, the Gaia hypothesis, and the anthropic principle, he sees the emergence of humanity as inevitable in the grand scheme of things. It follows, then, that we must get back on track with Mother Earth. How to do this finds Roszak lamenting urban- industrial society. Cities are bad. Deep ecology is good. The restorative work must begin in childhood, and must involve a breaking away from macho ideas and the invoking of some concepts of ecofeminism. Roszak turns a fine sentence and knows his history (if not his science), but his idealism pays no mind to the population problem, poverty, disease, or rising racial-ethnic conflicts; and it dismisses the cultural largesse of cities and pays scant homage to what science and technology might do. In short, there seems to be more wish than reality here.
Pub Date: June 30, 1992
ISBN: 0-671-72968-3
Page Count: 420
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Celebrations of exceptional places from a host of writers whose prose generally is as lovely as the lands they praise. Editors Barbato and Weinerman are on the staff of the Nature Conservancy, a group that protects special territory by simply going out and buying it for their organization. They managed to corral 30 talented writers to sing the glories of 30 ``last great places'' designated by the conservancy. A sampling of the plums includes David James Duncan on Nevada's Pyramid Lake (``Lake of the Stone Mother''); as well as exploring the lake's reputation as a particularly good fishery for Lahontan cutthroat trout, Duncan happily immerses himself in the intricacies and mysteries of native place names and chronicles the restoration of critical wetlands. Jim Harrison rambles and tumbles through New Mexico's colossal Gray Ranch in ``The Beginner's Mind,'' his thoughts on chaos and fungoid tribalism, hip pain and tendinitis, tortillas and a glass of Bordeaux round the campfire, wolves and midday naps blending together to form a delicious stew. Louise Erdrich's ``Big Grass'' savors the eternal pleasures of bluestem and other original prairie grasses, finding in them her sanctuary and inspiration; even her daughters' hair has ``a scent as undefinable as grass—made up of mood and weather, of curiosity and water.'' Not all of the essays are this good: Rick Bass persists with his artful rube pose in ``On Willow Creek,'' where everyone plays dominoes and drinks iced tea, and little fish listen to the tilt of the planet. But why quibble over a few duds when there are top-notch efforts from Paul Theroux, Peter Matthiessen, and Barbara Kingsolver to choose from? The collection's tone reflects Gary Snyder's take on place: ``If you know what is taught by plants and weather, you are in on the gossip and can truly feel at home.''
Pub Date: Feb. 21, 1995
ISBN: 0-679-43508-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
A long, detailed look at the elusive orangutan of Borneo's rainforest, by the third of Louis Leakey's protÇgÇes (the others being Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey). Galdikas (Anthropology/Simon Fraser Univ., Canada) went to Indonesia in 1971 to study the orangutan—the sole great ape of Asia and the last arboreal great ape. At that time Kalimantan, the Indonesian piece of the island known as Borneo, was even more a land of endless rainforest, abundant wildlife, and isolated villages than it is today. The terrain was mean, the subject unwilling, the hours punishing. And Galdikas loved it. Her self- appointed task was to rescue captured orangutans—destined for zoos, circuses, petdom, or the laboratory cutting board—and return them to the wild. Her base of operations was the Tanjung Puting National Park, although Galdikas had to spend much of her time chasing poachers and loggers. Her story starts pretty much with day one and runs up to the present: setting up her camp, life with her then-husband, meeting and getting to know the apes, the fruits of her years of intense behavioral study. If nothing else, you have got to admire the sheer tonnage of raw data she amassed. She splices odd snippets of history, Darwinian theory, and behavioral science into her narrative, including smart little blasts of descriptive writing. Then there are the extraordinary recollections of her years as cross-species mother, nurturing, protecting, loving her young charges, tender moments remembered with great warmth: ``I gloried in being a mother.'' As much as Galdikas became attached to the apes, she was set on giving them their freedom and encouraging their independence, thereby forming the deepest and most lasting of bonds. An important contribution to orangutan research, certainly in a league with Goodall's chimps and Fossey's gorillas. (b&w photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Jan. 18, 1995
ISBN: 0-316-30181-7
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1994
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