The Book of Hope ⭑⭑⭑⭑
Genre: Nonfiction
US Publication: October 19, 2021
Print: 272 pages
Audio: 6 hours 49 minutes
Confetti Rating: 4 stars
REVIEW:
If you’re not moved by the words and wisdom of Jane Goodall, do you even have a heart?
In The Book of Hope, the saintly naturalist sits down with author Douglas Abrams to discuss - you guessed it - hope. This is somewhat of a follow up to Abrams’s 2016 The Book of Joy, which chronicled a conversation between the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Hope and Joy? Yes please, I’ll take as many tips as possible to live a life embracing these emotions.
Through stories from her youth during WWII to her older years in the jungles of the animal kingdom, the book focuses on four reasons for hope: The Amazing Human Intellect, The Resilience of Nature, The Power of Young People, and The Indomitable Human Spirit.
I love what Abrams is trying to achieve, but as with The Book of Joy, the format wasn’t entirely successful for me. Reading a book of what’s essentially a conversation felt choppy at times, and it was hard for me to suss out the ultimate thesis let alone the evidence to support it. Lengthy discussions on climate change, deforestation and extinction also were downright depressing! Still, I’m glad to have spent time in the company of Ms. Goodall and applaud the effort to help others look on the sunny side of life. If she’s speaking, I’m listening.
PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:
In a world that seems so troubled, how do we hold on to hope?
Looking at the headlines - a global pandemic, the worsening climate crisis, political upheaval - it can be hard to feel optimistic. And yet hope has never been more desperately needed.
In this urgent book, Jane Goodall, the world's most famous living naturalist and Doug Abrams, internationally-bestselling author, explore - through intimate and thought-provoking dialogue - one of the most sought after and least understood elements of human nature: hope. In The Book of Hope, Jane focuses on her “Four Reasons for Hope”: The Amazing Human Intellect, The Resilience of Nature, The Power of Young People, and The Indomitable Human Spirit.
Told through stories from a remarkable career and fascinating research, The Book of Hope touches on vital questions including: How do we stay hopeful when everything seems hopeless? How do we cultivate hope in our children? Filled with engaging dialogue and pictures from Jane’s storied career, The Book of Hope is a deeply personal conversation with one of the most beloved figures in today’s world.
And for the first time, Jane tells the story of how she became a messenger of hope: from living through World War II, to her years in Gombe, to realizing she had to leave the forest to travel the world in her role as an advocate for environmental justice. She details the forces that shaped her hopeful worldview, her thoughts on her past, and her revelations about her next - and perhaps final - adventure.
There is still hope, and this book will help guide us to it.