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Fascinating analysis of Adaptation and Redemption
Flyn, C. (2021). Islands of abandonment: Nature rebounding in the post-human landscape. Viking.Cal Flyn is an investigative journalist from the Highlands of Scotland. This book offers stories of 12 locations around the world, each of which "embodies a different aspect of the process of abandonment and natural reclamation.. . . . they show us how every site, not matter how devastated can come to recover in its own way, but also how human impacts can leave a long shadow for many years - decades - centuries - after these sites have fallen into disuse. "Part 1 describes sites where the absence of humans allows wildlife to rebound (West Lothian, Scotland, Cyprus, Harju Estonia, and Chernobyl Ukraine).Part 2 highlights a form of voyeurism or "ruin porn" in Detroit, Michigan and Paterson, NJ.Part 3 explores the "long shadow" that humans leave on the earth (Staten Island; Verdun, France; Amani Tanzania; and Swona, Scotland).Part 4 highlights "abandoned sites that seem to transcend their present and offer us a glimpse into a future in which climate change and other human legacies come to create a very different world (Plymouth, Montserrat and Salton Sea, CA).Blight was described a phenomenon that is not wholly physical but instead a pattern, the ways in which "abandonment affects the psyche of the humans left behind, as an insidious force that pushes from their homes - a psychological current that they must struggle against, else lose their grip." Instead of hopelessness, Flyn concludes: "These are stories of redemption, not restoration. These sites never again will return to the way they were. But what they do offer us is insight into the processes of reparation and adaptation and - more valuable still - they offer us hope."This would be a good read for those interested in eco-ethics, eco-criticism, or climate change, and overcoming anthrocentrism. She paraphrases John Muir, "When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it hitched to the rest of the world. Tug hard enough, and we risk the whole beautiful tapestry coming undone." So many questions arise from reading the case studies presented.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2024
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Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2022
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2024
Cal Flyn is an investigative journalist from the Highlands of Scotland. This book offers stories of 12 locations around the world, each of which "embodies a different aspect of the process of abandonment and natural reclamation.. . . . they show us how every site, not matter how devastated can come to recover in its own way, but also how human impacts can leave a long shadow for many years - decades - centuries - after these sites have fallen into disuse. "
Part 1 describes sites where the absence of humans allows wildlife to rebound (West Lothian, Scotland, Cyprus, Harju Estonia, and Chernobyl Ukraine).
Part 2 highlights a form of voyeurism or "ruin porn" in Detroit, Michigan and Paterson, NJ.
Part 3 explores the "long shadow" that humans leave on the earth (Staten Island; Verdun, France; Amani Tanzania; and Swona, Scotland).
Part 4 highlights "abandoned sites that seem to transcend their present and offer us a glimpse into a future in which climate change and other human legacies come to create a very different world (Plymouth, Montserrat and Salton Sea, CA).
Blight was described a phenomenon that is not wholly physical but instead a pattern, the ways in which "abandonment affects the psyche of the humans left behind, as an insidious force that pushes from their homes - a psychological current that they must struggle against, else lose their grip." Instead of hopelessness, Flyn concludes: "These are stories of redemption, not restoration. These sites never again will return to the way they were. But what they do offer us is insight into the processes of reparation and adaptation and - more valuable still - they offer us hope."
This would be a good read for those interested in eco-ethics, eco-criticism, or climate change, and overcoming anthrocentrism. She paraphrases John Muir, "When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it hitched to the rest of the world. Tug hard enough, and we risk the whole beautiful tapestry coming undone." So many questions arise from reading the case studies presented.
Fascinating analysis of Adaptation and Redemption
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2024
Flyn, C. (2021). Islands of abandonment: Nature rebounding in the post-human landscape. Viking.Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2024
Cal Flyn is an investigative journalist from the Highlands of Scotland. This book offers stories of 12 locations around the world, each of which "embodies a different aspect of the process of abandonment and natural reclamation.. . . . they show us how every site, not matter how devastated can come to recover in its own way, but also how human impacts can leave a long shadow for many years - decades - centuries - after these sites have fallen into disuse. "
Part 1 describes sites where the absence of humans allows wildlife to rebound (West Lothian, Scotland, Cyprus, Harju Estonia, and Chernobyl Ukraine).
Part 2 highlights a form of voyeurism or "ruin porn" in Detroit, Michigan and Paterson, NJ.
Part 3 explores the "long shadow" that humans leave on the earth (Staten Island; Verdun, France; Amani Tanzania; and Swona, Scotland).
Part 4 highlights "abandoned sites that seem to transcend their present and offer us a glimpse into a future in which climate change and other human legacies come to create a very different world (Plymouth, Montserrat and Salton Sea, CA).
Blight was described a phenomenon that is not wholly physical but instead a pattern, the ways in which "abandonment affects the psyche of the humans left behind, as an insidious force that pushes from their homes - a psychological current that they must struggle against, else lose their grip." Instead of hopelessness, Flyn concludes: "These are stories of redemption, not restoration. These sites never again will return to the way they were. But what they do offer us is insight into the processes of reparation and adaptation and - more valuable still - they offer us hope."
This would be a good read for those interested in eco-ethics, eco-criticism, or climate change, and overcoming anthrocentrism. She paraphrases John Muir, "When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it hitched to the rest of the world. Tug hard enough, and we risk the whole beautiful tapestry coming undone." So many questions arise from reading the case studies presented.
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Top reviews from other countries
BVFL
The concept is great but little and poor quality illustrations
Reviewed in Germany on March 4, 2022banjoboy
Fascinating read and thought provoking.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 25, 2022