Sydney Hughes- Outside Reading: "Odds Against Tomorrow"

 In my English 393 course with Dr. Rose, we read a book known as "Odds Against Tomorrow" by Nathaniel Rich. This novel was essentially about Mitchell Zukor (the main character) who suffered from future anxiety disorder but was consumed by the unknown (particularly natural disasters and other environmental concerns). This known reminded me of our course for it emphasized the importance of establishing a relationship with nature. Although this specific novel did not touch on religion, I do believe it relates to the course with the interconnection of human and non-human. Mitchell was so consumed by worrying about these storms and attempted to emphasize (to his peers) the importance of establishing a relationship with nature/ your environment. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Forest Bathing

  Homosapians had evolved in nature but had subsequently simultaneously diverged away from nature as modernization took place. Although the effects of evolution and urbanization have driven the species from its origin, natural spaces are still where humans are most comfortable. It has been scientifically proven that when humans spend time in nature, the brain behaves differently. It affects emotions and thoughts, which has a direct impact on immunity and healing powers. These inherent healing qualities natural systems provide are directly correlated to our neurological development and human biological ties to primates due to evolution. In the past several decades there have been many scientific studies that demonstrate the mechanisms behind the healing effects of nature immersion. Countries such as South Korea and Japan have funded extensive research for comprehending the beneficial contributions forest environments have on human mental, spiritual, and physical health. In order ...
Read more

Sabrina Ho--cities

     Many chapters in The Ecology of Eden  focused on this interplay between Mountain and Tower, and finding Arcadia in the middle of it all. A common theme in our class discussed the multiple ways we attempt to imitate true nature and wilderness in our cities' parks and backyards, but these attempts can never truly capture the boundless wilderness we may be seeking. A large part of our discussion is if it were ever possible to recreate true nature in city bounds, and--most interestingly--if that is the true intention for these parks and gardens.      Spending most of my life close to a fairly large city, as well as spending many school breaks visiting even larger cities, I found this to be really interesting. Especially in our capitalist society, it is not uncommon for someone to equate the increase in industrialization and urbanization of our land as an indication of progress and improved economy. But when city-roamers decide to take a break from the...
Read more

Danielle Hawkins- Mnt. of Spices

 After reading Hinds Feet, I picked up the sequel to read. The second book is also an allegory in that Much-Afraid who becomes Grace and Glory sees the gloom and disappear that her family is stuck in. She takes refuge with the shepherd and gets his help to show her family the fruit of the spirit which tenders their hearts to the shepherds care and they come into his service.  Before each chapter the shepherd takes Grace and Glory to 8 different mountains where the landscape was different and so beautiful on each one. As a reminder of this book and the impact it made on me, I recently got a tattoo of a lily to help remind me of the important things I learned. This book was interesting in how it had a more personal account with each individual character. It showed how each fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, forgiveness, self-control, gentleness, faithfulness, and goodness plays out and how it impacts each individual. This book would fit beautifully within the realm...
Read more