Islands of Abandonment

Nature Rebounding in the Post-Human Landscape

De: Cal Flyn

Narrado por: Cal Flyn

A beautiful, lyrical exploration of the places where nature is flourishing in our absence

"[Flyn] captures the dread, sadness, and wonder of beholding the results of humanity's destructive impulse, and she arrives at a new appreciation of life, 'all the stranger and more valuable for its resilence.'" --The New Yorker

Some of the only truly feral cattle in the world wander a long-abandoned island off the northernmost tip of Scotland. A variety of wildlife not seen in many lifetimes has rebounded on the irradiated grounds of Chernobyl. A lush forest supports thousands of species that are extinct or endangered everywhere else on earth in the Korean peninsula's narrow DMZ.

Cal Flyn, an investigative journalist, exceptional nature writer, and promising new literary voice visits the eeriest and most desolate places on Earth that due to war, disaster, disease, or economic decay, have been abandoned by humans. What she finds every time is an "island" of teeming new life: nature has rushed in to fill the void faster and more thoroughly than even the most hopeful projections of scientists.

Islands of Abandonment is a tour through these new ecosystems, in all their glory, as sites of unexpected environmental significance, where the natural world has reasserted its wild power and promise. And while it doesn't let us off the hook for addressing environmental degradation and climate change, it is a case that hope is far from lost, and it is ultimately a story of redemption: the most polluted spots on Earth can be rehabilitated through ecological processes and, in fact, they already are.

Amazing

One of the best books I have read. So descriptive…close your eyes and you are transported to each site. I have been fortunate enough to have visited many of these locations. Outstanding work.

Amazing Review of destruction finding some hope

I hope Miss Flyn's other writings are as descriptive. I cannot go to these places, yet feel as though I have. At times, I wanted to weep for the scars we cause, but yet revel in the amazing resilience of this beautiful planet that hosts us. Thank you, Miss Flyn, I will definitely be looking into your other works.

We need more like this

Eloquently written, informative (the chapter on Verdun in particular was fascinating), and offers a hopeful but realistic perspective on nature's resilience. Read by the author is a nice plus.

Stunningly Breathtaking!

If there is a thing as ruin porn, this is ruin love letters! Thanks so much! Just finished and going straight back for another round and bought a hard copy! Really well written can't wait for more from this author!

Story line, writing.

Especially liked it as literature and the beauty of its language, It’s point of view,was uniquely factual and hopeful with an integration of information and the author’s observer’s voice.

Beautifully Written Story

Flynn is knowledgeable about her subjects. She is well educated and travels deeply further researching what she writes about. The writing is lyrical as well as factual. I learned a lot from listening to this book. I may listen to it again someday. I found mispronunciations of Greek names distracting. It’s not that difficult to get the accent correct in Greek names! Overall though, it was a really good journey of science, poetry and art.

Thought provoking

A serious review of the resilience of life and a thought provoking discussion of both natural and human caused destructive events and their magnitudes of disruption to life on earth.

Personal Up Close Research

The author conducted her own personal and up close research in some remote and dangerous locations around the world. She documented flora and fauna regeneration in a variety of unlikely locations that are damaged because of war, natural destruction or just plain human disregard for the planet. I listened to the audiobook and she does an excellent reading both enlightening and enjoyable.

I Loved this Book

Islands of Abandonment was so good that as soon as I finished it I started over and listened to the entire book again. Cal Flyn's perfect narration and voice added to the enchantment of these stories of nature after human impact. The state of nature describe in this book is sometimes alarming, sometimes beautiful, sometimes dreamlike, and always enthralling. I am grateful to Cal Flyn for the courage and risk it took to research and write such a book so that readers/listeners could experience her discoveries alongside her. I learned so much, and I hope there will be more to come. I am so glad I found this on Audible and highly recommend it.

Awesome Information, Iffy narration

The book is excellent and very interesting. It is a cool glimpse inside the extensive history of why these places are abandoned, and what they’re like now. I learned more details about some “urban wastelands” I was already aware of, and found out about many locations I had not heard about before. My only beef is with the narration of this audiobook. The narrator has an accent that I can’t quite place to a certain region, but there are certain words she pronounces so wrong, regardless of accent, that is it distracting, like soot and foot both rhyming with boot. While occasionally adjusting her tone for inflection or emphasis, she also mostly kind of drones on in the same exact level of monotone to the point that it becomes hard to listen to. Otherwise, excellent book!