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witchywilds's review
4.0
Fantastic read! Growing up in SC, this book was like reading about my own childhood at times, sharing much of the same flora and fauna as well as the same Southern ways. I highly recommend giving this a read if you grew up in the Southeastern US, particularly around '50-'80, or are eager to read a passionate recollection of growing up in that period.
Living here all my life, I can truly feel the love Ray has for this land and just how well she has learned it over the years. So many observations she made hit home and I couldn't agree more with her views on this flat, predictable, vulnerable landscape. I share many of her loves and worries, and truly hope that we can find a way to preserve our unique ecosystems for future generations.
Living here all my life, I can truly feel the love Ray has for this land and just how well she has learned it over the years. So many observations she made hit home and I couldn't agree more with her views on this flat, predictable, vulnerable landscape. I share many of her loves and worries, and truly hope that we can find a way to preserve our unique ecosystems for future generations.
allisongiovanetti's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
Ecology of a Cracker Childhood was an amazing story about a family and childhood, growing up and losing that youth, as well as how the environment around you affects not only you but everything connected to them.
If you enjoyed reading The Glass Castle or Educated, then you'll enjoy Ecology of a Cracker Childhood. It's a bit more digestible as well.
We are all connected.
If you enjoyed reading The Glass Castle or Educated, then you'll enjoy Ecology of a Cracker Childhood. It's a bit more digestible as well.
We are all connected.
adele_b's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
The content itself is beautiful and memorable, but I struggled with the writing style and lack of structure, especially in the nature-focused chapters. I do not feel that this is a cohesive nature memoir, but it is a very effective and moving family/childhood memoir.
eawunder's review against another edition
4.0
Janisse Ray came to class and gave a very moving talk. It was a great book with beautiful imagery nestled between nuggets of factual information. End felt a bit rushed
aoosterwyk's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting and informative history of a family and a place. The ecology of the long leaf pine forest is the backdrop for the author’s childhood.
abbygiordano12's review against another edition
5.0
Quite possibly the best memoir I have ever read. Absolutely stunning use of language.
eastofthesol's review against another edition
5.0
"Of what use to humanity, I ask myself, is a man who cannot see beyond his own hurt?"
The best writing makes the personal universal. Ray does so in her memoir 100x over. She writes of her childhood in a place overlooked by all, except for those who live there. Even then, she explores more than her memory, but the land itself, weaving an intimate, refreshing tale of child and pine.
I grew up not far from where she did, and this book allowed me to see the place with kinder eyes. The land is fraught because its history is fraught. Not even the pine trees had the luxury to age before they were over-lumbered, slashed, raised, killed, and forced to be reborn again and again and again. When history destroys the land, everything suffers, from the animals to the people. I know why I resent where I'm from, but now I have the language, through Ray, to appreciate what it once was and could, hopefully, one day be.
askmashka's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced