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Quick Review: Scenes from the Heart
I’m not sure how much was lost in the Romanian translation of this book, but it’d have also been translated if I’d have read it in English and the sensationalist English title, “Our House Is on Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis”, makes me have doubts about the rest of that translation anyway, even more so when the original title, “Scenes from the Heart”, preserved in the Romanian edition, fits so well. Because this book is so deeply personal, so incredibly open, so painfully honest, that every word must be from the heart, and this is what makes it worth reading.
True, it makes a great difference if the personal parts are particularly familiar, perhaps even more so if only the problems are, in which case the admission that having the social status, contacts and wealth required to access the solutions needed for such individuals and families to remain more or less functional is such a rare privilege can feel somewhat soothing. And I see that some are bothered by this mix of personal matters and activism, and of neurodivergence and the climate crisis. But, again, the truth is that it’s those personal parts that make this book truly remarkable.
Sure, some of the environmental parts, mainly those stressing the severity of the crisis and pointing out the problems, on every level, as well as how false and even dangerous the popular “solutions” are, can be well written and compelling, but others, mainly those presenting other solutions that are, at least in theory, readily available and expressing a belief that the tide may be turning, are less so. And, either way, a book focusing solely on those matters would have been preaching to the choir. Plus that a book that’s based on data quickly becomes outdated. And I must also mention how infuriating it is when Greta makes a point of arguing against those who dare to fight an even harder battle by raising the overpopulation problem, and doing so in a manner that’s so similar to that used by those who dismiss the climate crisis.
Rating: 4/5