The Kindness of Strangers

Product Information

Easy to read, McCullough sounds both realistic and upbeat about our chances of, as Peter Singer puts it, "expanding the moral circle." Indeed, McCullough tells a very progressivist story, with various "eras" moving us from the selfish ape of the title to people who more and more help those totally foreign to them. This book was torturous in moments, yet ultimately heartwarming. There is no question that this world is full of evil. We see it in the shootings that seem to be happening on an alarmingly regular basis. We see it in the face of pedophiles. We see it in the face of mothers who kill their children. However, there is also tremendous good. I've never been so taken with a character, than I had with Sarah. Her nurturing and kind spirit toward Jordan ignited my soul. When she comes to the aid of a friend's young son, she finds herself embroiled in the exposure of a child sex ring. Disbelief, horror,guilt are just some of the emotions she struggles to come to terms with as the legal case against her friend grows. A sweeping psychological history of human goodness -- from the foundations of evolution to the modern political and social challenges humanity is now facing. As stated, there are tons of books that deal with abuse, but I've had a difficult time finding ones that deal with the emotions & confusion & the "where the hell do I go from here?". A lot of these books showcase therapy sessions, trials, etc. Been there, done that. Kittle doesn't make this a priority which I so appreciate. The ending is satisfying & something I can smile at. This is really just a wonderful book all the way around, regardless of the subject matter. It's a difficult topic to swallow, but it's even harder for someone like Jordan trying to scrape their way out.

While her poetry has mainly centered around the traditional lyric themes of love, death, and nature, her novels have ranged from the Midwestern United States to the Goddess-worshiping cultures of Neolithic Europe. A screenwriter as well as a novelist, she has sold feature scripts to Warner Brothers as well as to various independent film companies.Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia) This is a book written by solo wanderlusters for solo wanderlusters, an assemblage of journals that showcase why kindness is a universal language that transcends countries, cultures, language and race; it is an ode to travelers who have had firsthand witness to unrequited kindness that challenges xenophobic sentiments and unfair stereotypes towards selected nations. At the same time, this book is also dedicated to people who doubt the excitement and adventure that solo traveling brings, making them intrigued to go out there and start exploring the world for themselves. It's a book that shows how there is still so much about the human heart that people don't fathom, and learning how to be humble in accepting just how little we know about people in foreign lands, and thereby restoring some faith in humanity. Jordan, aged beyond his mere eleven years, cannot understand why this is happening to him. He is a child, unwilling and unable to comprehend his situation. For him, there is no escape.

This book was really difficult for me to read. Being abused as a child and dealing with the questions of "why didn't you tell" have been subjects that I have had to deal with my whole life. I am still and will always be dealing. The love for a parent and the protection of "family" are the strongest bonds a child can have as well as the most desired bonds a person can long for. Travel opens our minds to the world; it helps us to embrace risk and uncertainty, overcome challenges and understand the people we meet and the places we visit. But what happens when we arrive home? How do our experiences shape us? Many of the stories take place in troubled parts of the world, like the middle east and Africa. Reading travel experiences in areas that you aren't likely to visit is, to me, the easiest way to deepen your understanding of the history and politics of the region. How did humans, a species of self-centered apes, come to care about others? Since Darwin, scientists have tried to answer this question using evolutionary theory. In The Kindness of Strangers, psychologist Michael McCullough shows why they have failed and offers a new explanation instead. From the moment nomadic humans first settled down until the aftermath of the Second World War, our species has confronted repeated crises that we could only survive by changing our behavior. As McCullough argues, these choices weren't enabled by an evolved moral sense, but with moral invention-driven not by evolution's dictates but by reason. Her enjoyment of her job is unwavering: 'But I loved Northern Ireland' or 'One of the curiosities of rioting is the extent to which it is fun...' She takes us on a dizzying globe-trot (you feel like something squashed at the bottom of her suitcase by the end) to Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Libya, Tiananmen Square, the Gulf - and is at her best in action.Didn't finish this mainly due to time constraints - it was from a library reading group set and needed to be returned. I absolutely loved this book. It is without a doubt one of the most heartbreaking books I've ever read, but also the most heartwarming, in an alternating pattern that varies throughout the book. Dealing with the aftermath of horrible child abuse in a way that is honest and real, there is no sugarcoating of facts to be found here. Obviously, things aren't blatantly described, but the author has no problem discussing the issue. But, at the same time, this is not a story about child abuse, but rather a story about triumph, survival, and the love and support of a family.

What started out as (I thought) a sappy story soon became an amazingly illuminating read that could easily serve as educational, were it actual nonfiction. In honesty, I could not put it down..even so much as taking it to lunch with my husband and reading it before the food arrived. Painful, poignant, promising....and, unfortunately, more than possible. Sarah Laden has her hands full raising her boys after the death of her husband. Two years later, she struggles to keep all her spinning plates in the air. Her oldest son Nate seems determined to make her life as difficult as possible. Being a teenager he chafes at the rules she sets down. And her younger son Danny, sweet and socially awkward, struggles daily with school and friendships.This is a collection of short stories/articles by various contributors, non-fiction. I guess we all have our own bias, so different chapters might appeal to different people. This book is an entertainingly written historical, evolutionary discussion, that complements many of the most pressing topics in today’s news and society. I see some ways this book is an optimistic view of some of the topics in the book “Sapiens”, where Harari points out the trade-offs we make by giving up individualism for society, McCullough shows the large leaps forward in the way we consider others has been beneficial for both. Von diesen Reisen erzählt Katie Adie nur wenig, aber das ist auch nicht nötig, denn das kann man sich in den Archiven der BBC immer wieder ansehen. sie erzählt von einem Mädchen, das schon früh die Dinge zu hinterfragen begann und sich gegen alles auflehnte, was ihre Freiheit einengte. Die als junge Frau fast durch Zufall zur BBC kam und sich dort erst behaupten musste. Adie's autobiography is an interesting though unsurprising walk through her career, but she keeps her life at arm's length. She leaves you with the impression of a talented, focused journalist (which we knew already) with a sharp mind and rigorous principles. I don't know if any of Katrina Kittle's story is true or if it is derived from a true story but it takes some serious courage to talk about the details of abuse that I don't have.

It’s very much a typical American style narrative - with the locals portrayed as quite some weirdos, or bizarre people. No offence to any Americans though. It’s just that I’ve observed Europeans to not be so self-centered and they don’t talk about locals like they’re those weird strangers. I honestly don't know how to rate this book because I loved it so much yet disturbed all at the same time. I found myself not being able to put the book down but probably because I wanted to know what was going to happen to each of them. Of course it broke my heart as we know this really does exist every day. I think it was a GREAT approach for the author to show- yes, good things can come out of horrible situations. The characters that are able to share their unique perspective really draws out the complex reactions to abuse experienced in the wider community but without the characters losing their individual identities. Their emotions and motivations come across as genuine. They are ordinary people who have to cope with a tragic set of circumstances while still living their lives. there's good stuff in here. if you don't know the things he goes through, then it's worth reading. but i'd suggest reading about price or dawkins or hamilton elsewhere. and i'd suggest reading singer's the life you can save or macaskill's book rather than this. i found a lot of the material in the middle of the book, dealing with the growth of government in dealing with poverty, not very interesting.It was obvious from the beginning of the story that the drivers were going to be bad guys. What was disturbing to me was how totally selfish and life-threateningly inconsiderate the narrator was if his critically ill, severely dehydrated girlfriend. Nate convinces Sarah to become Jordan's foster mother with both parents in jail, since she's always taught her boys to reach out to others in need. We just didn't have any idea how needy Jordan is. I literally groaned reading this, knowing it is fiction, but for some children this is their life. This was a tough book for me. Child abuse and animal abuse are subjects I avoid. Books such as these prey on my mind. I have difficulty processing how the innocents of our world are targets for such madness. The book was well done, giving many character's perspective on the crisis. And while the subject was so serious, there were moments of relief written in. The stories are as varies as the people who have written them; one writer tries to outrun a blizzard on her bicycle, an out of work forestry worker who would join Ed Stafford on the longest walk of his life and two men who wanted to do the Lands End to John O Groats route starting only in their underwear and who were utterly reliant on the generosity of strangers to clothe and feed them. Sarah Laden knows grief. She feels it everyday her husband doesn't come home. She feels it deep within her bones. If her husband was still living, perhaps he would never have come into their lives. There may never have been that gaping hole. That cavernous void.