Rating: 
Summary: Five Stars Aren't Enough
Review: _A Language Older Than Words_ is one of the best books I have ever read. Derrick Jensen is without a doubt my favorite author of all time, and I highly recommend all of his books._A Language Older Than Words_ is written in a unique style which blends Derrick Jensen's personal experiences, conversations with other authors and activists, critical cultural analysis, as well as historical and contemporary events and facts to back up his analysis. If you are concerned with domestic violence, ecological destruction, how civilization is responsible for both, and where we should look for answers, then this is a book for you. No other author has contributed more to the way I view the natural world, civilization, and this culture in particular than Derrick Jensen. I recommend all his books, but I think _A Language Older Than Words_ is probably the best of his books to start with. _A Language Older Than Words_ is written in a very non-linear conversational style. What at first appears like unrelated tangents are masterfully woven into a complex vision of how the silencing of the natural world is related to the silencing of the oppressed and abused. Intertwined with those concepts are gut wrenching first hand accounts of both, as well as other attrocities in the culture at large. But while there is much that is dark, the book on a whole shows a hopeful path to reconnection with ourselves and the natural world. I first read _A Language Older Than Words_ a few years ago, and I have continually lent my copy to friends, and recommended it to everyone I know. If there is any hope for humanity, and any hope that the natural world won't be completely decimated, I think some of the wisdom in this book will help guide the way. The reason that I love this book the most is because it is intensely personal in the way that it is written, in the subjects that are discussed, and what the author reveals about himself. Derrick Jensen's cultural criticism and analysis is not some abstract intellectualized theory, but rather put together and put forth in a very down to earth and easy to grasp way. He pulls no punches, and is willing to go against cultural convention when necessary to speak what the pepetrators of abuse (domestic, ecological, economic, social, and political) would have us all remain silent about.
Rating:
Summary: "Don't look at my finger. Look at the moon."
Review: Deep-ecologist, Thomas Berry, says "the universe is composed of subjects to be communed with, not objects to be exploited. Everything has its own voice. Thunder and lightning and stars and planets, flowers, birds, animals, trees--all these have voices, and they constitute a community of existence that is profoundly related" (p. 361). In his engaging book, Derrick Jensen encourages us to listen to those voices. Jensen is a familiar name to readers of The Sun magazine, where his interviews appear frequently. I first heard this LANGUAGE a year ago, when Jensen read excerpts from it in Tempe, Arizona. "There is a language older by far and deeper than words," he writes. "It is the language of the earth and it is the language of our bodies. It is the language of dreams, and of actions. It is the language of meaning, and of metaphor. This language is not safe" (p. 311). It is the language of "wind on snow, rain on trees, wave on stone, gesture, symbol, memory" (p. 2). And it is the language of interspecies communication. Jensen's book belongs in the "life-changing books" section of the bookstore. It is as much a memoir as a "grenade rolled across the dance floor" (p. 108), encouraging us to wake up, pay attention, and listen (pp. 143; 248). This is not a "feel-good" bestseller. Rather, Jensen writes, it is "a cry of outrage, a lamentation, and at the same time a love story" (p. ix). As a victim of child abuse, Jensen digs deep into his personal experience to explore the silence and denial common to the world at large. "I wanted to write a memoir that moved beyond the microcosm of my personal experience," he explains, "to the macrocosm of the world in which we live" (p. ix). Why do we numb ourselves to our experiences, he wonders. Why do we deafen ourselves to other voices (p. viii)? Through exploitation or annihilation, Jensen observes, our conscience and conscious awareness of relationship have been silenced by religion, science, politics, education, and violence, and we live by the maxim, "Thou shalt pretend there is nothing wrong" (p. 188). This book is about walking away from the "make-believe world" in which we "pretend all is well as we dissipate our lives in quiet desparation" (p. 6), and remembering "how to listen" (p. 7). "If we celebrate life with all its contradictions, embrace it, experience it, and ultimately live with it, there is a chance for a spiritual life filled not only with pain and untidiness, but also with joy, community, and creativity" (p. 142). Jensen marches to the beat of his own drum, and the beat feels real. He shows that "wherever you put your foot, there is the path. You become the path" (pp. 150-51). We find the environmental activist in him wondering whether he "should write or blow up a dam" (p. 50), and pulling up surveyor's stakes (pp. 154-55). And we find him tending his chickens, dumpster diving for lettuce to feed them, conversing with coyotes, beekeeping, and shooing snakes off the road. He ponders, "what it does to each of us to spend the majority of our waking hours doing things we'd rather not do, wishing we were outside or simply elsewhere, wishing we were reading, thinking, making love, fishing, sleeping, or simply having time to figure out who . . . we are and what . . . we're doing" (p. 109). This is a wise, old LANGUAGE that will speak to your soul, and then stay with you, reminding you "about the potential for life and love and happiness we each carry inside, but are too afraid to explore" (p. ix). I hope Jensen is working on another book in between his interviews for The Sun. G. Merritt
Rating:
Summary: Transformational!
Review: Derrick Jensen is a master storyteller who skillfully weaves his own heartbreaking and heart-mending experiences together with a courageous and careful analysis of modern civilization and it's many causes and casualties. Jensen explores some of humankind's deepest and most personal questions and leads each of us to find our own answers by empowering and challenging us to simply turn to the natural world and ask. If you can put this book down, you will pick it up again (and again and again). You will be changed.
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Summary: A story our culture needs to here.
Review: If we are going to make the world a better place for humans and non-humans to live in we have listen to the wisdom of Derrick Jensen. I've read a Language Older Than Words three times now. It must have taken a lot of courage for Derrick Jensen to write this book. Not only is Derrick exploring the cause of the emotional, physical and sexual abuse that he and his family suffered at the hands and genitals of his father. He is also exploring how are cultures relationship with humans and non-humans is similar to the relationship he and his family had with his father. You will be amazed at the simlarities. A Language Older Than Words definately breaks your heart and mends it at the same time. Thank You Derrick for returning from the abyss and sharing your story and what you've learned with the rest of the community.
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Summary: The most disturbing, jarring, NECESSARY book I've ever read
Review: Derrick Jensen has written this book from his own, and the world's, soul. What starts as a "feel-good" book on interspecies communication becomes a searing examination of his own silencing as a child (his father viciously abused him, his mother, and his siblings), and his perspective widens to encompass the silencing of all life on earth through the murderous practices of industrial, religious, military, and political institutions through history. Jensen indisputably links individual suffering and violence with that of other life forms -- and of the Earth that we continue to ravage in our denial of pain. This book is a masterpiece; it is agonizing to read -- yet hopeful...though in a most cautious manner. To anyone daring to awaken to the signs in and around us, time is running out for us humans to change our suicidal and ecocidal behaviour. Jensen dares us to face our pain and transform it into loving action on behalf of Life. I consider him a prophet. He spares us nothing in his passion for healing. We must pass through raging agony in order to wake up and shake ourselves free of our denial and inertia -- but the pain we (and everything else that lives) will feel if we don't change our ways will be indescribably worse. I also recommend Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown's book, "Coming Back to Life," which gives us specific practices that individuals, groups, and communities can do to take loving action. WE CAN DO THIS -- and we need to do it together. Please -- read this book and act with it!
Rating: 
Summary: Pointless, yet avant garde diatribe
Review: Jensen has a slew of problems and decides that the entire world works the way his childhood did. As an abused child who doesn't actually become a sentient person until his later 20's, he explains his view on Western Civilization where everyone is abused or an abuser, and one's membership to either group vascillates. He also seems to put forth the notion that Western Civilization sprung up as an entity not influenced by history or affected by human nature. He quotes many different sources without providing citation or credit for most, and I have discovered that it is usually quoted out of context. As is becoming increasingly avant garde these days among the environmentalists searching for peer approval through platitudes, he ends the book with the statement that there are no solutions after quipping midway about all the trees the publication of this book has destroyed. While I would be equally as suspect of a book that wrapped up the problem in one tidy little solution, the notion that there are none is absolutely ridiculous and demeans everyone who has fought and suffered thus far. I found his arguments and support for them to be lacking and horribly suppressive to any contradictory evidence. He seems to start off in the right place with many different ideas, including the argument that all of nature communicates, but then contorts them with his notion that everything is black and white. It is unfortunate that he hopelessly anthropomorphises everything in nature in order to justify why it should continue to exist. It solidifies the idea that its importance is only that which we place on it. I have met Jensen in person, asked him about several problems I had with the book, and remain unimpressed.
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Summary: I jolt to the spirit!!
Review: I want to thank Derrick for writing this inspiring book. I give him a lot of credit for his honesty; for the ideas contained inside are connected with so many aspects of his life, what is going on in America and on Planet Earth. He brings attention to practices and thought patterns that many people have chosen to ignore. After reading this, I began to practice listening to the language of Nature even more, and all of the things that she is communicating to me. This is an excellent read!!!
Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking
Review: This book is bound to challenge some of your deepest assumptions in life. Derrick's ultimate advice -- "Listen. If you listen carefully enough you will in time know exactly what to do". Highly recommended reading (with an open mind).
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Summary: the truth about everything we dont want to know
Review: Excellent book. Anyone with an interest in social justice or environmental issues should read this book. Check the facts-- Jensen is right on. his research is clear, and although he has a distinct bias, the facts of what he reports support his view. Its an excellent read that will change the way you view the earth and your place within it.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a GREAT book
Review: This is definitely one of my all-time favorite books for its raw and uncensored examination of the world's problems. It is a great source for recognizing our collective problems. I just could not put this book down! This book deserves 4 to 5 stars based on problem recognition. It would be in our best interest to acknowledge these realities, instead of simply "silencing" them. Otherwise, everything wonderful that we've worked so hard for will just all go down the drain. Guaranteed, the world will go on, perhaps with another ice age. As for humans, we may or we may not. As evolution has demonstrated time and time again, life will survive. The question is, will many of us survive through it. What this book does not offer are solutions. Maybe that wasn't Jensen's purpose for this book. He basically says that there are no solutions and that we're all[in trouble]. It's possible that he was simply using a "double bind" or "reverse psychology" approach to get readers to take action. In looking at the big picture of getting things done, this book gets 2 stars and it is up to us to fulfill the other 3 stars. Earning 5 stars is a combined effort between Jensen and ourselves. It would be impossible for a single author to offer a manual for action in solving the problems we recognize. There are so many disciplines to cover. What is needed is a combined effort from all sectors of civilization. I do believe that it can be done. In fact, it's currently taking place, even though it is difficult to tell because we do not see any drastic results in our everyday lives. Only time will tell. The important thing is that we get as many people to join in the effort as we can. It would be impossible to get everybody to do it, which is fine. The crucial part is getting THE RIGHT PEOPLE to join the effort in sustaining everything we've worked for. I highly recommend this book. It does what it's suppose to do. I have faith that you will create possible solutions based on your own expertise and experiences.
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