May 27, 2023Pilgrim At Tinker CreekAn entirely self-indulgent conversation with a passionate believer in the wonder and the beauty of the natural world, full of excellent tidbits and charming vignettes, of life by the creek and Life by the Creek. I like the review that says "Just when you thought something interesting was going to happen she watches birds or something for hours." If you are looking for plot (and I do have a bit of a personal predilection/weakness in that direction) this is not where that will be found. It is instead a good book for telling you to go to the woods and front only the essential facts of life, for painting a golden aura around that which has the tendency to become mundane dirt, trees, sky. I find that some of the best books I read are those that inculcate a yearning for faith and belief in something greater, and this scratches that itch.
Jul 18, 2023A Sand County AlmanacI think this makes an excellent pairing with A Pilgrim at Tinker's Creek. The one, a bright-eyed celebration of the beauty and majesty of being alive and able to experience nature, the other (A Sand County Almanac), a reflection with an older voice but many of the same goals - and importantly, a moral imprecation, an explicit proposal not merely to look at things with new eyes but to act on what you see. The challenge to work towards a governance and guardianship that grants moral weight to the land and the ecosystem is of course more important than ever, is aptly and intelligently put, and demands to be read.
Mar 29, 2024How Forests ThinkBased on its snappy title, I was expecting this to be a study of a particular form of non-western ecological philosophy - but the first chapter claimed the book would be a provincialization of European thought! Not merely other ideas but new ways of having ideas! An ambitious goal! In the end, it was neither.