4.5

Absolutely the most brilliant, hopeful, and spiritual book I have ever read. Makes the world a better place to be in.

First of all I love Jane Goodall. In this book she is real yet uplifting about all things (the environment, human condition, and spirituality). Her sense of balance in this book is clear--there is a yin and yang to both her outlook and content, she brings you to reality and then gives you an anecdote full of goodness and hope. Goodall's voice is so true to how she speaks: eloquent, non-presumptuous, cogent, and succinct. The organization of the book often felt "jumpy," and needed a pattern that either kept its chronology/themes (perhaps creating multiple "Parts" to the book would have helped).

Jane Goodall is an absolute inspiration. There is always a reason for hope.

This book was totally inspiring to me.

The book was okay. The parts about her time in Africa and the work she did afterwards were interesting but the spiritual aspects were not my cup of tea.

The name Jane Goodall often brings to mind sentimental visions of Africa and an unimposing, tree-hugging scientist turned activist. Indeed, Jane Goodall spent much of her life in the African wilderness, alone but for the company of flora and fauna (including her famed chimpanzees) and continues, now well into her 80′s, to travel the world spreading awareness about a wide range of environmental issues. The stereotype of calm, collected, and relentlessly hopeful is grounded in truth. I’m apparently not the only one curious about her ability to maintain such graceful positivity and endless energy to change the world; she wrote this book in response to that question.

I’m ashamed to say I can be a bit of a defeatist at times. Particularly of late, burned out in my work with people and increasingly cynical, it’s hard for me to imagine winning this fight. Humans clearly don’t care about animals. They don’t care about the environment. They don’t care about anyone outside of themselves and their direct community (and, at times, not even that much). Our government and political systems are corrupt and utterly out of control and the citizens of this supposed democracy don’t seem inclined to get off the damn couch, let alone vote, inform themselves, or work to restore a healthier world. We’re greedy and fat and simultaneously self-centered and self-destructive. We’re killing ourselves and everything around us with our ignorance and apathy.

Goodall’s sense of hope in the face of such hopelessness is, to say the least, impressive. And despite my initial inclination to call it naive, I can’t help but wonder if it is better to live in cynical misery or (possibly false) hope. Which will do the world more good? Which will save me from my own self-destruction?

Although I don’t share Goodall’s belief in a traditional God, I do have a more vague sense of spirituality. I believe that we’re all connected to each other and to the Earth, and that doing good in the world ultimately means doing good for yourself. My Greater Power can be found in the inherent interconnectedness of all that exists. Which, according to Goodall, can be enough to propel oneself into optimism and advocacy.

Maybe that’s the truth. There’s a fluffy, cliche-loving piece of me that desperately wants to follow suit. I want to be hopeful and to work toward a better life, but it’s all so overwhelming. Despite her explanations, I honestly don’t know how she does it. How she finds her smile, keeps her temper, and patiently tries to inform a closed-off species of their own idiocy. It must be exhausting.

In the end, it seems that her spirituality, the possibilities associated with the next generation, and the genuinely good people in this world are enough to feed her and keep her moving forward; on to the next city, the next country, the next speaking engagement, environmental event, or award ceremony.

Moral of this story? I hope that one day I can hope like Jane Goodall.

Jane is my hero, and this book really did give me a lot of hope and inspiration.

I really wish I had this book! It was so amazing and inspirational which I think Jane Goodall is.

I wish there was a half-star rating, because I'd rate this one a solid 3.5. It was an enjoyable read for a long plane ride, nothing intensely deep. The writing was good, not incredible, but I did find her work with the chimps particularly fascinating. If only my soul was so adventurous...