Customer Reviews

The Great Work: Our Way into the Future

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This may be the great summary work of Thomas Berry. It is historically up to date, as befits a great historian of religion, science and the Earth. The assessment of the present is realistic to any who appreciate what we have lost. He projects into the future from the past as far as can be seen and hoped. That is a very long distance indeed on both ends. The next stage is dependent on human choice to a large extent. The assessment of where we are and what we have done/accomplished is rather grim and realistic from a geophysical standpoint but is hopefull in its projections for Earth going forward, according to Thomas. Thank you, Thomas Berry, for this perhaps last published summary work.

Most people who love the Earth and fear its demise will relate to and devour this book. You may labor at times, but the fruit is abundant. You'll understand more clearly the deep causes in our cultural evolution that have put the Earth at risk. The solution is an immense undertaking, but Berry reminds us there's hope, and that we aren't alone. The human community, and more importantly, the larger life/Earth/Universe community, is available and at work, in us. How can it not be, when it was those communities from which we came? The developing universe, as Berry writes. When you adequately understand the causes of the problems, when you can identify them both outside and within, you move in a better direction. Berry provides an un-numbered, un-listed direction, one that is heard with more than the rational mind. Yet, he articulates better than I could have imagined. He gives an immense hope and guides toward that most important of all energies at this time, the psychic energy necessary for confronting and walking forward, for preparing oneself for real action, real work. That is a big thing. If you have wrung your hands at the seeming impossibility of correcting the wrongs done to the Earth, read this book. Berry doesn't give you concrete things to do, his words work into your creative area, your reflective mind, your spirit.
The folks who reacted negatively in review of this book missed the point or had other expectations. They almost kept me from purchasing The Great Work. I'm glad I bought it. It's one of the two or three most important works I've read.

With the wealth of works statistically portraying the growing threats of climate change, it's almost refreshing to encounter someone seeking a "soft" approach. Berry recognises the obstructions in transforming a polluting and morally corrupting economy to a less harmful path. He points to a change in attitude we must all make to prevent catastrophe. Yet, it's not difficult, he argues, to reassert a more direct tie with Nature such as we enjoyed in our ancient past. What was once there, but lost, can be recovered. It merely takes some will.

In Berry's view, the Cenozoic Era, used by geologists to encompass modern times, is coming to a close. Technology and the spread of humanity into nearly every environmental niche have changed conditions too drastically for the older appellation to continue. The burning of fossil fuels, deforestation over vast areas, huge fishing nets scooping up masses of sea life, and blindly occupying or modifying habitats has led to the extinction of countless species. What aspects of life characterised the Cenozoic are no longer there to give it definition. And there's worse to follow if we fail to heed his advice. Learn to do better, he cautions.

Berry restrains his religious background and spiritual leanings to address the larger crisis of the Earth's survival. There are no lofty appeals to a "spiritual" aspect of the planet, but he's sharply critical of the materialist outlook that's destroying it. He insists we consider the Earth as an integrated system, which is a realistic view, given our current piecemeal exploitation practices. He urges a broader outlook from his readers. This requires entertaining some novel ideas and encounters with unexpected people. Indigenous peoples are a good source of wisdom in Berry's view. However, it's their knowledge he seeks, not the return to an aboriginal lifestyle.

The application of knowledge to solve problems in our society is generally conceded to the universities. From this, Berry concludes that appeals to government or business are essentially wasted effort, unless they understand the impact of their policies. He suggests that instead of radical environmental protest to save species and habitat, it is the universities who must be enlisted in the cause. For one thing, the academic arena provides the means of acting as a feedback loop with each cycle increasing the information dividend. The new findings make their way to the public to support changes in policies. Although this is obviously not a rapid means of change, Berry finds it the most self-sustaining one. Once the process begins to unfold, we will be entering the Ecozoic Era with a firmer grasp of our impact on the planet. "The Great Work" is thus learning how to move from a human-centred to an Earth-centred set of values. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

This review is long, and my apologies, but this book is potent and spells-out what is one of the most important subjects of the 21st century- our drifting from physical reality and responsibilities and the need to wake-up and realize this dilemma and how we can accomplish that possible , but daunting task. Thomas Berry does this with eloquence and wisdom here and this is truly, a "Great Work"! Thank you, Mr. Berry!

In his earlier book, "The Dream of the Earth", Thomas Berry so eloquently stated the need for humanity to realize what a beautiful foundational life-support gift we have in planet Earth and the need to treat it with the profound sense of respect and good stewardship it deserves and needs in to order to provide a healthy life-sustaining platform.

An understanding of the dynamics of Earth's resource cycles and regulatory systems can teach us how to live sustainably and regeneratively- most importantly, carrying that understanding into the formation and dissemination of religion, politics and economy.

We see God's handy-work, i.e., the blue prints and operating system for Earth through the dynamics of Nature's regenerative, life providing bounty and we then see what is required to maintain this perfect system. Indeed, we are entering the "Eco-zoic" faze of our existence- the realization and implementation of an ecologically sustainable reality.

So how could Berry top that beautiful piece of work? Almost ten years after "The Dream", he comes out with "The Great Work", a powerful and compelling continuation of the earlier theme of a beautiful Earth with attentive humans at the helm and with proper stewardship, only now with an exacting historical dialogue of how the Earth formed, settled and eventually became a biological life-support system and where we, as humans have lost our original awe and respect of God's creation through the many distractions of living in a human only, "civilized" and complex material world, forgetting our interconnectedness to all life.

This separation has culminated in an insane, parasitic and cancerous existence not only for us humans, but for all life on this planet. Isn't it curious that cancer of our bodies is one of our biggest worries and nemesis? Mass over-population, pollution, unsustainable resource use and habitat destruction have left us in a burn-out, dire mess. Our sense of economy is no "economy" at all, rather a predatory take all shark frenzy fully supported by governments through corporate purchase and manipulation and misguided `human only' pseudo-religious zealotry.

An un-Godly, reckless "Manifest Destiny" attitude of anthropocentric endeavors has been prevailing since the industrialization of our societies exploded on the human scene, blinding us with delusions of superiority, yet to the detriment of our shared and threatened environment.

Exactly in the middle of this fine book, is a chapter called
"Ethics and Ecology". Here, Berry relates our combined human sense of making like nothing is wrong on spaceship Earth (a closed-loop eco-system) with a parallel to the tragedy of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. A course was set and could not be deviated from, regardless of the warnings of known dangerous icebergs ahead. An attitude that the Titanic was a perfect, fool-proof and unsinkable human manifestation prevailed.

The Titanic parallel underscores our misguided human notions that we can control Nature and that we are on a safe course in our activities on Earth. We see our creation of the Titanic (the micro), but not the big picture (the macro), i.e., Nature along with it's icebergs, etc., but especially, the need for our attention to it's requirements for a safe, healthy existence.

As Berry states, our "extractive" (exploitive, parasitic) economies have become "terminal" economies (dead-end) and need to be reformulated to sustainable/regenerative economies for the continuation and enjoyment of life- only in a more sane and quality existence.

For those that don't think it can be done, it would be educational to look at the turn-around of attitudes and subsequent successes of corporations that have been able to wake-up to what sustainable/regenerative/eco-friendly formats offer in terms of long lasting, profitable returns, let alone peace of mind. A good outline of that can be seen in the book, "Natural Capitalism" by Hawken and Lovins.

Further, religions need to continue with their return to the inclusion of all Creation and away from the current deviation of anthropomorphism. Understanding the dynamics and importance of interconnectedness with all of God's Creation is a matter of survival now and should not be interpreted as "Nature Love" vs. "Biblical Dogma". It's all one reality. Berry gently opens our eyes to this!

The consideration of an all-inclusive creation- man and nature in harmony instead of man vs. nature- both created by God to coexist, is also touched upon in the 'great work' of Chet Raymo's books "Skeptics and True Believers", sequealed by his "Climbing Brandon"- in a sermon by Saint Columbanus, there is in part: [Those who wish to know God, he says, "must first review the natural world."]. Indeed, a good place to start!

There is a good bibliography in "The Great Work" that provides a multitude of resources for further research and education on sustainable awareness and consciousness.

Berry is a humanist, visionary, with much wisdom to impart. His writing is deep and well documented. But it is difficult to slog through each paragraph to get the meaning inherent in the words. Tried as I might I never got through more than the first quarter of the book, then donated it to the local library. Think he needs a co-writer or ghost writer that can translate his thoughts into plain English. It would help the world to have this.

this is not a conventional review. its really an attempt to counter some of the ill informed negativity about this book that is starting to appear. This is such a great book that is upset me to read that someone was almost put off by the few negative reviews.

Really I'm almost surprised there aren't more negative and aggressive reviews of this book considering it is so uncompromisingly critical of everything most people are (willingly or unwillingly) reliant upon right now - in western society at least. I can only assume its because the book has not yet reached the readership it deserves

The beauty of what has been written in the negative reviews on here, though, is that they perfectly illustrate the attitude Berry is concerned with. We have a christian who decries Berry's work as 'godless, biocentric, new age' highlighting berry's criticism of the orthodox Judeo-Christian tradition; of its role in the separation of 'spirit' and 'matter' resulting in a human mind isolated from its natural environment. And so, as proof, here we have someone is far more concerned about Berry's catholic credentials and adherence to an abstract theology than our continued adaption and survival on this planet.

western science is by no means exempt from playing a part in this disconnection and alienation. Whilst orthodox religion has taken 'spirit' as the rime reality and abandoned the physical world around us as evil fallen or illusory science has gone in the other direction and taken the 'material world' as the only reality whilst abandoning spirit. Both are in a mess because 'matter' and 'spirit' are different aspects of one thing. they need to be together- so berry argues convincingly. And hence you get on the other side 'pragmatic environmentalists' who only want to know about practical action plans and statistic- they do not want to hear about the grand vision- that's just pompous'!

Again Berry's point throughout is that the 'gazing at the stars in wonder' - the 'mythic' component is not a nice aesthetic luxury for us to have whilst we get on with the business of turning the wheels of the economy and being 'realistically hard headed'- or whilst we be 'practical environmentalists' and busy ourselves with installing passive solar heating panels. This 'wonderment' is a radically necessary adaptive behavior- a reconnection with reality in all its aspects - and Berry's warning is that if we do not manage to foster it amongst ourselves in a real and dynamic way then we have no future to speak of.

That is a stark and frightening proposition and in many ways, none of us want to hear it because it is going to involve eating some humble pie. ie we don't want to hear that we are in that much trouble that we are about to terminate a geological era and we don't want to hear that we have become alienated and disconnected from reality (especially some environmentalists don't)

So we have someone who argues that Berry's harsh and almost universal critique of modern industrial society means he must have 'psychological issues'. yes of course- that must be it! he can't cope with industrial society so he's trashing it! Even better is the assertion that Berry's position is 'anti human'. Which is to think that what makes us human is the achievements of industrial society rather than the quality of our lives and lived experience. That to criticize the industrial project of economic growth which has lasted for 200 years is to criticize the human which has been around for 100's of thousands of years. its a common and insidious tactic.

Elsewhere there is unease that we are being asked to step down from our position on top of the evoutionary pile by Berry- an astonishing interpretation. 'should dolphins and chimpanzees also step down?' the reviewer rhetorically asks. No because dolphins are not causing the mass-scale degradation of their own habitat by devotion to an abstract ideal and (as far as we know) do not go around telling themselves how they are the 'top of the evolutionary pile'!

Rather than filling up this concise work with facts and figures he gives extensive references to the direct sources (criticized in negative reviews as 'name dropping' and a 30 page bibliography of further reading (which includes works that are antagonistic towards his view). From there you will have enough facts and figures to last you a few decades. But no, some people want it all given to them and given to them in a book under 200 pages long where the focus is clearly stated as a summary of the general path of our way into the future- and inspiration for it.

Of course Berry is well aware that there will be incredible opposition to the birth of this earth/universe-centered paradigm. Many people are still far too financially and emotionally attached to the dream of technological domination of the earth; with the human mind isolated, alienated but privileged above everything else. iIn fact all of us are essentially attached to it right now whether we like it or not.

but the change is beginning to gather pace already. people are slowly beginning to re-connect everywhere in a multitude of ways. Depending on your level of thinking right now you will either see that as positive or as the threat of a new 'dangerous new ideology' because right now that will be the only way you can interpret what is happening.

This book starts off slow and builds. It starts out sounding like a sermon, preaching renewed intimacy with the natural world. Of course it is easier to describe that, than to actually suck the reader into that experience. Slowly, however, Berry passes beyond preaching. The book becomes a passionate documentary, exposing with careful accuracy the gaping holes in our ethics, our laws, and our cultures. He travels up and down planetary history and across civilizations, always sounding familiar with his vast element. The whole presentation is an example of what Berry preaches: life centered on the greater self of the living planet, with all things no longer revolving around humanity.

--author of The Gardens of Their Dreams: Desertification and Culture in World History

This book was recommended to me by a fellow Montessori teacher. Each one of us is created for greatness. This book is a great outline of how each one of us can work to truly contribute to the greater good of the whole. It is like a companion to "The Purpose Driven Life". I recommend all the 5 stars reviews listed here.

The 5-star reviews are not wrong in their content, only in their rating. The low reviews are incomplete, probably because the reviewers don't care to expound... I'm guessing there would be several more negative reviews if this book didn't generate such a "-bluh-" feeling in the reader.

I consider myself a pragmatic environmentalist... this book simply had no substance for me, nothing to grab onto. There are almost no anecdotes, just abstract talk about how people should remove themselves from the top rung of the evolutionary chain, and step down to the level of all other species (should dolphins and chimpanzees do the same?). Berry bemoans almost every aspect of organized human life (which implies some psychological issues in the author), but offers no suggested replacements or improvements. Even where he draws on the example of nature, his obvious selectivity makes no effort to find understanding in how humans may have diverged from our natural family. It's just one general, abstract gripe session after another.

And this just goes on and on and on. I'm not a speed-reader, but after the first half, I found myself able to read a page every 7-8 seconds. It just looks the same, reads the same... check this book out from the library first, and see if you agree.

If you want hope, if you want -tools-, if you want ideas, if you want a notion of how life could look, not just a summary of how it -shouldn't- look, I might recommend to you Dee Hock's "Birth of the Chaordic Age"... but definitely something other than "The Great Work". And I'm so sorry to have to say that... Thomas Berry seems like a nice, caring person... but he doesn't provide anything beyond (or even approaching) the great authors from the late 19th century.

I am a strong supporter of environmentalism which is why I strongly object to this book. This book only reinforces the impression that environmentalists are self-righteous and out of touch with other humans as well as reality. Instead of referencing current events, or any statistics to support his sermonizing,Berry spends his space name dropping. It is painfully apparant that he is more interested in sounding erudite than remaining coherent. His attempts to sound erudite are undermined by his tendency to reuse words with inappropriate frequency. The book would have been far more effective as a one or two page pamphlet but unfortuantely it was drawn out to be 102 pages of repetition. It is not even on recycled paper.