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stinkyheronreads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
relaxing
medium-paced
3.0
I expected more on the “and mourning” part of the title. There were a lot more mushroom facts than there were explorations of the emotions of grief. The author’s passion comes through, and I learned some things about mushrooms!
holamrslola's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
madarzoe's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
2.5
Good information but I found it rather boring and didn’t feel that the tie-ins between the mushroom information and the musings on the author’s late husband and their grief really connected or meshed well.
rebeccaariss's review against another edition
4.0
I surprised myself with this one. The experience of reading The Way Through the Woods has convinced me that I need to read more non-fiction! What I'm finding is that non-fiction, particularly about nature and biology & in audio format, has a very meditative quality to it. I can get lost in the absolute specificity and details of the topic and become completely absorbed in something other than whatever is stressful in my life at the time. Even better if I can listen while on a walk.
I wouldn't say that this book is particularly grief-heavy, so if you're concerned about that you most likely don't need to worry. For me, if I was grieving, I think I would come back to books like these as a toolkit for coping. The author's methodology and approach to learning a new and highly complex skill as a way of focusing her grief stricken mind is something I believe would be useful for people who are on the anxious/intellectual side. The way she describes the "mushrooming" community from an anthropological perspective is fascinating!
Really enjoyed getting lost in the woods with Long Litt Woon.
I wouldn't say that this book is particularly grief-heavy, so if you're concerned about that you most likely don't need to worry. For me, if I was grieving, I think I would come back to books like these as a toolkit for coping. The author's methodology and approach to learning a new and highly complex skill as a way of focusing her grief stricken mind is something I believe would be useful for people who are on the anxious/intellectual side. The way she describes the "mushrooming" community from an anthropological perspective is fascinating!
Really enjoyed getting lost in the woods with Long Litt Woon.
rosepoints's review against another edition
4.0
“grief grinds slowly; it devours all the time it needs.” (4)
to me, “the way through the woods” feels like a story of parallel journeys: long’s journey through the realm of grief as well as her journey through the world of mushrooms. as she learns more about the fungi growing in the world around her, long writes about how the natural world transformed her grief and allowed her to re-engage with life after her husband’s sudden death.
i think one thing i really appreciated about this book that made it different than other grief narratives (ex: didion’s “the year of magical thinking” or in a more removed sense, kalanithi’s “when breath becomes air”), there’s something beyond the thread of grief that ties the story together. like, no offense to authors like didion, but those types of books tend to be very introspective with nothing outside of the interior of the writer’s life, which is fine if it’s an article-length piece but a little dreary if it’s a full-length book. but here, long is able to name “traces” of her husband, eiolf, everywhere she goes and then links it with her discovery of mushroom life.
i also found it interesting that the book was set in norway. long brings a unique perspective as an asian immigrant to an extremely homogenous region, and there are various cultural touchpoints that she alludes to that i found to be quite fascinating.
altogether, a solid read that i enjoyed.
“when you lose the witness to your life, you also lose a part of yourself.”
eneubig's review against another edition
4.0
A lot of talk about mushrooms, some talk about mourning.
honeygirly211's review against another edition
3.0
This book wasn't what I expected. While the author offers many of her own observations about her personal grief, there is little guidance "through the woods" of generalized grief. While I found this book unhelpful in navigating my own grief, I did learn a lot and it peaked my interest in mushrooms and foraging in general.