Listening to the Land

Rating:
Summary: Everyone should be listening to Derrick Jensen!
Review: If there were any justice in the world, Derrick Jensen's book, "Listening to the Land, " would be a best seller, the hot book being read and talked about by just about everyone. In such a world, what would - just for example - President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and other "drill, cut and burn" true believers think of this book? One guess? They'd probably arrest Jensen under the USA Patriot Act and have the book burned on a pile of old-growth firewood! How about all these big-shot CEOs now on their way to jail (hopefully) for corporate wrongdoing? They'd probably try to figure out how to coopt Jensen into their corporate advertising about how "green" they are! Don't forget the Catholic Church bishops, who shuffled pedophile priests around and protected them from any reprimand over the years; they'd probably say that Jensen and his friends are all just a bunch of nature-worshipping atheist witches! And let's not let good ol' average "middle Americans" off the hook either, since it's their consumption and waste (which apparently knows no bounds), their actions, and their apathy, which allow a few powerful people, companies, and governments to trash the planet, the poor, and the vulnerable (both human and non-human) for their own power and profit.

Unfortunately, in this far-from-just world of ours, most people -certainly not our political or corporate leaders -- have never even HEARD of Derrick Jensen, let alone read "Listening to the Land." And, also unfortunately, most of these people would probably just dismiss Derrick Jensen and friends as a bunch of "tree-hugging, left-wing, anti-establishment nutcases." Well, given the level of violence, destruction, and mass extinction humans are currently wreaking on our planet, I'll take the "tree-hugging anti-establishment nutcases" over Bush, the corporate CEOs, the Catholic bishops, and the SUV-driving American suburbanites -- any day of the week!

What Derrick Jensen has courageously done here is to bring together around 30 leading theologians, environmentalists, Native American philosophers, psychologists, techno-skeptics and others in a fascinating series of interviews ("conversations" really) which provide a much-needed fresh perspective while bringing to bear tremendous energy, passion and focus on some of our biggest and most urgent problems. These people may care passionately about things, but they're definitely not a bunch of wackos. In fact, the more you read, the more you realize it's OUR SOCIETY that's wacko, not the "tree huggers."

Jensen is excellent at asking penetrating question and getting his subjects to speak their minds, although at times I wish I could have heard more of his voice as well (have to read his other books, I guess). By the end of "Listening to the Land," the level of thoughtfulness, eloquence, compassion, and wisdom found here fills us with understanding, sadness, righteous anger, and a sense that the world as it is currently constituted is just not right. Specifically, Jensen shows us how a lack of connection and harmony within the human soul itself - a result in large part of organized religion's teachings regarding man's "specialness," separation from all other works of creation (i.e., nature), and hence "dominion over the Earth" -- has bred a potentially fatal disease for both humans and non-humans. Jensen's conversations also make clear that something must be done about this situation immediately, and it ain't drilling in the Arctic or blowing the tops off of mountains in West Virginia (as the Bushies would have us believe), I'll tell you that!

If, after reading "Listening to the Land," you don't feel at all angry, disturbed, or upset, perhaps you're a corporate CEO or the White House Press Spokesman or something. For the rest of us, though, many of whom care about both our own lives as well as the world around us, this book is indispensable and deeply moving. I couldn't recommend "Listening to the Land" more strongly to anyone who cares about the world they live in. I admire and commend Derrick Jensen for his honest and powerful work; and I greatly look forward to reading his other books!

Rating:
Summary: Everyone should be listening to Derrick Jensen!
Review: If there were any justice in the world, Derrick Jensen's book, "Listening to the Land, " would be a best seller, the hot book being read and talked about by just about everyone. In such a world, what would - just for example - President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and other "drill, cut and burn" true believers think of this book? One guess? They'd probably arrest Jensen under the USA Patriot Act and have the book burned on a pile of old-growth firewood! How about all these big-shot CEOs now on their way to jail (hopefully) for corporate wrongdoing? They'd probably try to figure out how to coopt Jensen into their corporate advertising about how "green" they are! Don't forget the Catholic Church bishops, who shuffled pedophile priests around and protected them from any reprimand over the years; they'd probably say that Jensen and his friends are all just a bunch of nature-worshipping atheist witches! And let's not let good ol' average "middle Americans" off the hook either, since it's their consumption and waste (which apparently knows no bounds), their actions, and their apathy, which allow a few powerful people, companies, and governments to trash the planet, the poor, and the vulnerable (both human and non-human) for their own power and profit.

Unfortunately, in this far-from-just world of ours, most people -certainly not our political or corporate leaders -- have never even HEARD of Derrick Jensen, let alone read "Listening to the Land." And, also unfortunately, most of these people would probably just dismiss Derrick Jensen and friends as a bunch of "tree-hugging, left-wing, anti-establishment nutcases." Well, given the level of violence, destruction, and mass extinction humans are currently wreaking on our planet, I'll take the "tree-hugging anti-establishment nutcases" over Bush, the corporate CEOs, the Catholic bishops, and the SUV-driving American suburbanites -- any day of the week!

What Derrick Jensen has courageously done here is to bring together around 30 leading theologians, environmentalists, Native American philosophers, psychologists, techno-skeptics and others in a fascinating series of interviews ("conversations" really) which provide a much-needed fresh perspective while bringing to bear tremendous energy, passion and focus on some of our biggest and most urgent problems. These people may care passionately about things, but they're definitely not a bunch of wackos. In fact, the more you read, the more you realize it's OUR SOCIETY that's wacko, not the "tree huggers."

Jensen is excellent at asking penetrating question and getting his subjects to speak their minds, although at times I wish I could have heard more of his voice as well (have to read his other books, I guess). By the end of "Listening to the Land," the level of thoughtfulness, eloquence, compassion, and wisdom found here fills us with understanding, sadness, righteous anger, and a sense that the world as it is currently constituted is just not right. Specifically, Jensen shows us how a lack of connection and harmony within the human soul itself - a result in large part of organized religion's teachings regarding man's "specialness," separation from all other works of creation (i.e., nature), and hence "dominion over the Earth" -- has bred a potentially fatal disease for both humans and non-humans. Jensen's conversations also make clear that something must be done about this situation immediately, and it ain't drilling in the Arctic or blowing the tops off of mountains in West Virginia (as the Bushies would have us believe), I'll tell you that!

If, after reading "Listening to the Land," you don't feel at all angry, disturbed, or upset, perhaps you're a corporate CEO or the White House Press Spokesman or something. For the rest of us, though, many of whom care about both our own lives as well as the world around us, this book is indispensable and deeply moving. I couldn't recommend "Listening to the Land" more strongly to anyone who cares about the world they live in. I admire and commend Derrick Jensen for his honest and powerful work; and I greatly look forward to reading his other books!

Rating:
Summary: Valuable and Diverse Compendium of Earth Philosophies
Review: Kudos to Derrick Jensen for coming up with the idea for this unique book. This is a very insightful and diverse collection of conversations with a variety of environmentally minded thinkers. These are structured as loose dialogues in which each thinker's ideas come to the fore. Not all of these discussions are strictly environmentalist (in the basic definition of the term), but all explore humanity's important connection with the Earth in myriad fashions. The discussions are very loosely arranged by discipline; with ecology, science, politics, economics, sociology, anthropology, and finally art and philosophy appearing as the book progresses.

This ordering of different disciplines leads to a few problems in flow. The book gets off to a rocky start with essays in hard ecology from activists, especially Christopher Manes, who can't accept the fact that humans are (at least temporarily) stuck in a non-ecological society. In the book's later stages things really slow down with poorly developed philosophies and quaint PC-isms. A low point is the scatterbrained mysticism/communitarianism of Dolores LaChapelle and Julien Puzey, while the environmental bookbinding art of Sandra Lopez is rather neat but too esoteric to be of much use.

But the day is more than saved overall by the powerful remainder of the book, in which the really articulate thinkers make their mark. Good examples are the musings on technology by Jerry Mander, the population economics of William R. Catton Jr., and the cultural analysis of Frederick Turner. A good side effect of this book is the attention it brings to the many under-appreciated and valuable books by these thinkers. And in every interview, Jensen does a marvelous job of acting less like an interviewer and more like a facilitator. He provides sharp comments and leading questions in an efficient manner, allowing each thinker to give their philosophy in ways that provide maximum insight to the Earth-connected reader.

Rating:
Summary: Jensen's Early Influences
Review: LISTENING TO THE LAND is a wonderful collection of interviews by the outstanding author of A LANGUAGE OLDER THAN WORDS and THE CULTURE OF MAKE BELIEVE - quite possibly the two most important books I have ever read. Written before those books, LISTENING reads like a bibliography of Jensen's founding influences. The interviewees include: Arno Gruen, Thomas Berry, Matthew Fox, Jerry Mander, David Ehrenfeld, Charlene Spretnak, John Livingston, William Catton Jr., Robert Jay Lifton, Frederick Turner, Reed Noss, John Osborn, Paul Shepard, Sandra Lopez, Starhawk, Julien Puzey, John Keeble, Linda Hogan, Catherine Keller, Max Oelschlaeger, Terry Tempest Williams, Christopher Manes, Jeanette Armstrong, Dolores Lachapelle, Ward Churchill, Neil Evernden, Dave Foreman, Susan Griffan, David Orr and Peter Berg. Had this book included interviews with Wendell Berry, Sandra Steingrabber and Chellis Glendinning, it would have been perfect (in my opinion). But then nothing is perfect. As with everything this author touches, LISTENING is a must read.