Hope in the Dark Audiobook By Rebecca Solnit cover art

Hope in the Dark

Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities

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Hope in the Dark

By: Rebecca Solnit
Narrated by: Tanya Eby
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With Hope in the Dark, Rebecca Solnit makes a radical case for hope as a commitment to act in a world whose future remains uncertain and unknowable. Drawing on her decades of activism and a wide knowledge of environmental, cultural, and political history, Solnit argues that radicals have a long, neglected history of transformative victories, that the positive consequences of our acts are not always immediately seen, directly knowable, or even measurable, and that pessimism and despair rest on an unwarranted confidence about what is going to happen next. Originally published in 2004, now with a new foreword and afterword, Solnit's influential book shines a light into the darkness of our time in an unforgettable new edition.

©2016 Rebecca Solnit (P)2017 Tantor Freedom & Security Gender Studies History & Theory Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences Sociology Inspiring Socialism

Critic reviews

"An inspired observer and passionate historian, Solnit, whose River of Shadows (2003) won a National Book Critics Circle Award, is one of the most creative, penetrating, and eloquent cultural critics writing today." ( Booklist)
Inspiring Examples • Balanced Perspective • Valuable Insights • Thought-provoking Content • Engaging Storytelling
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The book is informative and engaging. I have purchased it in print to finish. The narration is absolutely terrible- like turning on an automated text reader on your computer. Really really bad.

Truly awful narrator

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If I could force everyone in America right now to sit down and listen so something for a few hours, this would be it. While is it written a decade ago, it feels urgent in this moment of deep despair over the falling apart of everything. We should be glad this was written when it was because it would hardly seem possible to muster these days and it’s exactly what we need to hear. I’m guessing a lot of other moments would seem exactly as hopeless which is why this is bound to be an enduring classic, hopefully read by many generations to come. I wish it would go viral right now. At least among certain progressive activists or potential resisters. I know it’s exactly what I needed to read/listen to right now.

If I could

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Rebecca Solnit shares the balanced perspective of celebrating wins while continuing to work for a better world. Lots of examples of human grit, resilience, cooperation, and ingenuity. If you are worried about the state of the world, this book may offer ways forward, or at least buoy your spirit.

Beacon of Hope for our Time

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This book is a little behind after tfg, but the points are valid & worthwhile. So many of us in middle-class suburbia just aren't sure where to start resisting the oligarchy Republicans are working hard to impose.

Trump Notwithstanding

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Rebecca Solnit is one of my favorite thinkers. This book shows why. While not my favorite Solnit book, there were some gems from this one that I really loved. It wasn't as tight cohesively as some of her other works, and some of what she shared here she has shared elsewhere, so it can feel repetitive at parts.

However, I love Rebecca Solnit, and I still enjoyed this one.

3.75.

Enjoyable

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As a climate activist for more than 6 years this is one of the best books about untold history and how to communicate courage, hope and joy. Rebecca looked at crises from a longer view of time and wider perspective of movements. I will come back to it again and again.

Fierce, fearless and empowering

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I spent years assuming I knew roughly what was in this book, but finally reading it has changed my life. Solnit helped me make sense of activism, hope and despair. It’s also a wryly funny book. Five stars for Solnit’s amazing book, zero stars for the publishers who chose a narrator who makes it all sound like an uplifting tampon commercial and can’t pronounce key terms like “transnational.”

Galvanizing

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The book focuses on maintaining a hopeful disposition while engaging in activism. The book uses specific examples to help reframe the purpose of activism from impossible end goals to achievable progress through dedication and celebration of the process.

Hope in a difficult age

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In a time that often feels hopeless to me, Rebecca’s work helped me see other options.

Helpful

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This a thoughtful and inspiring read I plan to share with others. The author observes that, "Critical thinking without hope is cynicism. Hope without critical thinking is naivity."  Every conflict is in part a struggle over the story being told. Too often the story being told is one of despair even when examples of success and possibilities exist all around us and throughout history. She wrote this book to share many inspiring examples of change and progress since, "Memory produces hope, (while) amnesia produces despair." She also wrote it to encourage action. Afterall, hope can serve as a basis for action, but it can't be a substitute for it. She summed her thoughts up succinctly, "You can't begin without hope but without action it dissipates."

"Perfection is a stick used to beat the possible."

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