Gathering Moss

Victor Villas reviewed Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Definitely something

3 stars

I wanted to love this book but unfortunately the way I read and think is completely dissonant from it. Probably one of those books that I should not have picked up as an Audiobook, because I also did not particularly enjoy the narration style.

It's hard to put into words something so subjective, but I think I grew weary of the fairy-tale tone - which I'm sure comes naturally to the author. My skeptic and perhaps unfortunately cynic world view made it hard to go through a whole chapter without discomfort whenever the author speaks of "plants come when they're necessary" and other traditional ways of thinking about the ecosystem. I appreciate very much getting more contact with the thought process of different cultures, but I was incapable of enjoying this particular opportunity. Maybe I was just too eager to learn the science on mosses and subconsciously grew impatient any …

I wanted to love this book but unfortunately the way I read and think is completely dissonant from it. Probably one of those books that I should not have picked up as an Audiobook, because I also did not particularly enjoy the narration style.

It's hard to put into words something so subjective, but I think I grew weary of the fairy-tale tone - which I'm sure comes naturally to the author. My skeptic and perhaps unfortunately cynic world view made it hard to go through a whole chapter without discomfort whenever the author speaks of "plants come when they're necessary" and other traditional ways of thinking about the ecosystem. I appreciate very much getting more contact with the thought process of different cultures, but I was incapable of enjoying this particular opportunity. Maybe I was just too eager to learn the science on mosses and subconsciously grew impatient any time I got anything different; I had the wrong expectations about what this read was going to be.

I'm deliberately speaking of me in this review because I don't think these are problems that lie in the book. We are simply not meant for each other, at least not as I am today. Maybe books are like mosses and this one will show up again whey it's necessary and I'm ready for it.

loppear reviewed Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Some of these are still finding her way, but the range is worth it

5 stars

Essays of humor and humility and care, a sense of observation that stretches from the microscope to scientific inquiry to social obligation, and in a dozen different ways asks us to consider perspectives of place, belonging, and generosity from other being's vast or tiny differences. It's been a while since I read Braiding Sweetgrass, but I think this collection is no lesser for nominally having more of a narrow entryway through her world of moss.

ruth_mottram reviewed Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Where is my microscope?

4 stars

A book I enjoyed so much I bought a second copy to lend to a friend as I didn't want to lose my own copy. Really inspiring but also somewhat depressing when it comes to the state of the world's biodiversity. Could have been a five star - but I think I enjoyed braiding sweet grass more.

& reviewed Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Review of 'Gathering Moss' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

i am gonna think about moss more often <3

Eduardo Santiago reviewed Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Review of 'Gathering Moss' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Exquisite. Sublime. My initial reaction ("Moss? A book about moss?") was mercifully brief: I sensed that this was a work of love -- so I dove into it that same day, and indeed it is. A work of love and beauty and grace. Kimmerer lovingly and knowledgeably writes not just about mosses but about so much in life that's in plain sight yet we never see. She writes of balances, ecosystems, interweavings; and, necessarily, of destruction we're not even aware of. Her language is delicate yet captivating. This is a rare jewel of a book.

markm reviewed Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Review of 'Gathering Moss' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I've always been fascinated with micro-environments, perhaps as far back as when Brainiac shrank the city of Kandor on Krypton and Superman put it in a bottle. I see a lot of Moss when I hike, but I only know a few basic things about it. This book is a fine simple introduction to bryology. The author is a bryologist, a Native American and a great writer. The chapters discuss some aspect of moss ecology, physiology or reproduction and tie this to a story about the author's family, neighbors or tribe. A thread of respect for the environment runs through it all. The book won the John Burroughs Medal for Natural History Writing and I recommend it to any natural historian.
(Of some interest, I noted in my review of "The Life of a Leaf" that the author stated that the velocity of a viscous fluid is 0 at the …

I've always been fascinated with micro-environments, perhaps as far back as when Brainiac shrank the city of Kandor on Krypton and Superman put it in a bottle. I see a lot of Moss when I hike, but I only know a few basic things about it. This book is a fine simple introduction to bryology. The author is a bryologist, a Native American and a great writer. The chapters discuss some aspect of moss ecology, physiology or reproduction and tie this to a story about the author's family, neighbors or tribe. A thread of respect for the environment runs through it all. The book won the John Burroughs Medal for Natural History Writing and I recommend it to any natural historian.
(Of some interest, I noted in my review of "The Life of a Leaf" that the author stated that the velocity of a viscous fluid is 0 at the luminal surface and that's why you can't just rinse off dirty dishes; Dr. Kimmerer essentially discusses the same thing in chapter 3 about the "boundary layer" - the place where mosses live.)