Last Chance to See...random thoughts

Last Chance To See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine.

Let me just say this to start with: There is no way on Earth that I am going to be able to put into words how amazing this book is.

I'm not even sure how to describe this book. Non-fiction--well yes, that's easy. Natural science--yep. Travelogue--yeah, sort of. Humorous--most definitely. Serious--again, most definitely.

 Briefly, Douglas Adams (yes, the Douglas Adams) and Mark Carwardine, a zoologist, head out on a mission to find and document some of the world's rarest animal species. They travel to Indonesia to see Komodo dragons...China to see blind river dolphins...Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) to see mountain gorillas and white rhinos...New Zealand to see kakapos...the islands of Mauritius to see Rodrigues fruit bats (though they learn of the even worse outlook of the some of the islands rare birds, thus changing the focus of that visit). They encounter spectacular environments and meet some very interesting folks who have dedicated their lives to trying to save these species.

(Note: This book was published in 1990, so the status of some of these incredible animals has changed. In fact, here is a website with updates. However, the fact that this book is twenty years old, in my opinion, does not for a second take away from its awesomeness. It is still a powerful, important look at the subject of biodiversity loss.)

I have to admit something--I was just a tad wary of reading this book. Because I knew that the book was supposedly quite humorous. My brain just screamed out at this idea..."Why the hell would anyone want to write a humorous book about such an incredibly sad subject?!!!" Well, you know what, I'm not sure anyone else could have written this book, and managed to convey with such respect and honesty and reverence, the seriousness of the potential loss of these beautiful species. And yes, he did it in the most hilarious way imaginable. My brain told me this approach could not possibly work...but reading is believing.

It's sort of strange. I know many people go positively ga-ga over dolphins. But I'm not one of them. Don't get me wrong--I have nothing at all against them. I have a deep love and respect for all animals. (Okay, it's a bit harder to love mosquitoes than it is most other animals, but I'm sure you know what I mean.) But dolphins don't capture my imagine the way some other animals do. Anyway, that is why it surprised me somewhat that it was the story of the Baiji, the Yangtze river dolphin, that hit me the hardest, that twisted my insides, that made the tears flow most freely. These beautiful creatures, which now are functionally extinct, were nearly blind...they had no need of sight because the Yangtze is such a muddy river that sight was of no benefit. They relied on their other senses, especially their sonar for navigation and feeding. And this served them just fine until too many people with too many "advanced" vessels began crowding the river. The fact that they have essentially disappeared is heart-breaking. But so is the picture of how these last generations had to live their lives:

As I watched the wind ruffling over the bilious surface of the Yangtze, I realised with the vividness of shock that somewhere beneath or around me there were intelligent animals whose perceptive universe we could scarcely begin to imagine, living in a seething, poisoned, deafening world, and that their lives were probably passed in continual bewilderment, hunger, pain, and fear.

 It's hard to believe that this book contains humor after reading that, huh? But it does. In massive doses. For me, some of this humor hit close to home, being married to a biologist. For example:

One of the characteristics that laymen find most odd about zoologists is their insatiable enthusiasm for animal droppings. I can understand, of course, that the droppings yield a great deal of information about the habits and diets of the animals concerned, but nothing quite explains the sheer glee that the actual objects seem to inspire.

 You might think he's exaggerating there. He ain't. Proof:

Yep, that's what you think it is. Biologist husband actually collects poop (though he, of course, uses the term "scat" to keep it all on the scientific up-and-up), shellacs it, and then stores it in jars. (And don't worry, I promise you, most of Adams's humor is directed at subjects a little less unseemly. :P)

Well, as predicted, I didn't even come close to doing this book justice. And that's a darn shame.

*****
Many thanks to Ana--it was her incredible review that made me pick up this book to start with, and for that I am quite grateful.

over the last few days

So, I'm getting a little lazy here...been a few days since I updated. And silly, silly, silly me (which is my polite way of saying "stupid me") has started numerous books in those few days. What can I say--when I made my blame game post on my other blog, I realized I had all these library books to get read. So yeah, I'm sort of reading them all at once. :P

I did finish The Stand: American Nightmares. Graphic. Enough even to catch Rich's attention while he was driving and I was sitting in the passenger's seat reading. But then, the novel has some ugly shit going on, so I guess that's understandable. As I said last time, I'm not really sure how to "judge" it, because I know the novel so well and I think I'm automatically filling in details when they aren't there without even thinking about it. Anyway, I enjoyed it...and will definitely pick up the next installment when it comes out.

I read a couple articles (9 pages) in Urban Farm. A couple of really great articles. One about this incredible lady (the lemon lady :D) who pretty much single-handedly has taken thousands of pounds of fresh fruit to her local food pantries. Fruit that would otherwise have gone to waste on people's fruit trees. Definitely one inspiring woman! And I also read an article about raising chickens in your backyard. I was already determined to do it when we have the ability to move, but damn if this article didn't just make me horribly impatient!

Twelve more pages down in The Biodiversity Crisis. A very short little case study about the decline of coral reefs, the introduction to the third section of the collection (the third section being about strategies and solutions for saving biodiversity), and a very prescient essay taken from Fairfield Osborn's 1948 book, Our Plundered Planet.

And now on to all the library books I was talking about--first up, Get Crafty. I've only read the first 8 pages (the introduction), but I'm already in love. In fact, I may end up having to buy this book. ;)  Jean Railla is just so fun. In the intro, she tells the story of how, being a strong feminist, right down to being a woman's studies major at UCLA, she came to view all things domestic as "bad." She says, "I spent most of my twenties defining myself as a feminist not by what I did, but what I didn't do. I didn't keep house. I didn't get married. I didn't cook very often. I didn't knit or sew." And you know, while I hope that attitude is less prevalent today, it certainly hasn't disappeared. Things happened in her life, and her eyes opened. She no longer viewed domestic activities as "bad." Being forced by a society or culture to stay home and wash dirty diapers and cook meals is wrong, choosing to do so of one's own free will is not. She says, "Don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting that every woman should enjoy knitting and cooking and embroidery. But I am suggesting the we give women's work its props as something valuable, interesting, and important, just as knowing how to build a house, keeping accounting records, or playing basketball is." (Though I do have a problem with her calling it "women's work"! If we could just stop labelling activities as in the realm of "women" or in the realm of "men," we'd be a lot further along towards equality.) Anyway, I haven't even gotten to any of the craft projects, and I'm already thoroughly enjoying this book.

I also started Recycle This Book: 100 Top Children's Book Authors Tell You How to Go Green. Haven't gotten far, just the first twelve pages. I do hope that I can get the boys to read it...though I'm not optimistic that it will be any time soon, as they're both sucked into their current reading obsessions. There was a line in the introduction that totally made me smile. "The next time your mother tells you to clean your room, tell her you will when she helps clean up the atmosphere." That is sooooo something I can hear popping out of Gray's mouth. :)  Anyway, I've only read the contributions of the first few authors, and they've had nothing to offer that we don't already do, but they're fun to read nonetheless. Thus far, they've been written in a very humorous manner.

Also begun is The Storm in the Barn. Read the first 63 pages. I have to say that I'm really, really enjoying it so far. I know both Chris and Staci liked it, but didn't love it...but while it may be too early to judge, I think I might be falling closer to the love category. I didn't realize it was set during the Dust Bowl--a definitely plus for me.

And finally from the library stack, I started Junk Beautiful (21 pages). If I remember correctly, they feature seven room makeovers in this book. I've read the first. And I adore this book! While the room featured in the first chapter is definitely not my style (too flowery formal), I absolutely loved some of the projects they showcased. And I'm eager to get to the next chapter, a room that seems much more fitting my style overall.

Okay, and this may be the dumbest reason ever for starting a book...I was moving some books around on my fiction shelves to put away some new acquisitions. Well, let's just say it appears that I really need to stop with the new acquisitions, because there is just no room! Anyway, I ended up not being able to fit this book, Never Tell Him You're Alone, back where it goes. I figured it was a book I was unlikely to want to keep after I'd read it, so I might as well just read it so I can hand it off to the library book sale or something. Besides, it's been a long time since I've indulged in a thriller, and it sounded like a good idea. ;)  After the first 24 pages, I'm not even sure if I'll end up finishing it (as far as thrillers go, I'm not finding it all that "thrilling" so far)...I'll give it a couple more chapters before deciding for sure.

And finally, I read 4 pages in Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm. "Rapunzel" to be exact. I can't be faulted for starting this though...I'm beginning to prepare for the next school year. But I do have to admit that I'm thrilled to be reading fairy tales again. I don't know why I don't make time for reading them more often, because I just so very much enjoy them!

*****
And in the dangerous world of blog reading, these have been added to my wish list:

*Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (thanks to Campaign for the American Reader)
*The Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters (thanks to the lovely Ms. Ana's review)
*Disrupting Grace by Kristen Richburg (thanks to Staci's poignant and very personal review)

Father's Day edition

Don't think I'll set any goals this morning. And not because I never meet them anyway. But because it's Father's Day, and Rich gets to pick what we do today--I see much eating and hiking in store. :)  I've no idea how much time there will be for reading. Though I must get through the 35 pages in The Encyclopedia of the Human Body that I was supposed to read yesterday. Beyond that, who knows.

Okay, I think it was just yesterday that I said I sucked. I stick by that assessment. :(  Afraid my "must" reading just didn't get done. Only read the first 14 pages I needed to in the human body book. I'm afraid my brain has gotten rebellious on me here. The closer we get to the end of the school year, the harder it is to make myself do what I need to do. I'm serious, I may just give up and wrap things up. Let her finish up her big assignments, get her final tests made so she can take them, and call it good. I know damn well she's had a fantastic year of learning as is. 

On the non-suck side, I finished up the last 74 pages of Field Notes from a Catastrophe. OMG. What a freakin' incredible book. While I'm obviously not a climate science expert, I'm not really new to the subject either. I've been enamored with Al Gore for decades because of his concern for the environment and his efforts at educating the world about global climate change. I was beside myself giddy when Bill Clinton chose him as his running mate all those many years ago. And still with all I've read and watched on the subject, I found this to be well worth my time! Seriously, I wish EVERYONE would read it. Elizabeth Kolbert simply did a wonderful job at laying it out there...both the science and the politics. Now, if only people would listen...

And finally, I managed to stay awake for another 24 pages of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. And I really wanted to stay awake even longer but my eyes just wouldn't cooperate. Seriously, could these books be any more fun?!! I'm almost glad I haven't read them before...so I get that thrill now. :)