Bryan's WRIT 340 Blog

 “They sat for a while together, listening to the drone of the bees, watching the darts and the droops of the swifts, eating strawberries, smelling the honeysuckle.” In contrast to the prologue of the book, Lucy Jones ends Losing Eden with a different tone. The prologue paints a grim view of the future, where nature is something only experienced on screens. But in the epilogue, nature is in full bloom, aided by humanity’s desire to protect the natural world. In Losing Eden, Jones dives into the power of nature, not only to heal people but to provide solace in a world focused on individualism. The drive of capitalism is in direct opposition to the conservation of nature. While people learn to take, nature itself has nothing left to give. She argues the importance of nature through both scientific research and personal anecdotes, including her own experience of healing from her addiction through nature. One interesting thing that Jones mentioned was how she felt better after swimming...

  “Why did nature end, Granny?” Granny sighed. “We didn’t love it enough,” she said. “And we forgot that it could give us peace.” For my second book, I picked Losing Eden by Lucy Jones. The prologue of the book ends with a very poignant note, referencing the continued destruction of nature not only physically, but psychologically. Lucy writes about the powers of nature–how it helped her combat her addiction and how it can help others as well. The novel is easy to read, and Lucy masterfully weaves in anecdotes and research to explain her message: Humans need nature. From nature providing healthy bacteria that lessens depression to nature helping children become more social, the natural world plays more of a role in our lives than you might think. Lucy argues that humans are forgetting about nature, as they stick to the ever-changing technological landscape. With this shift in attitudes, comes the denial of the basic human need to feel connected to the world.  I chose this book...