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Based on a number of trips to the far north, this is a open-minded book filled with wonderment at the often cruel beauty of the Arctic. There's no doubt the author has a deep connection and commitment to the land.
Descriptions of everything Arctic, from Alaska, across Northern Canada, and the huge islands in the Arctic Ocean, to Greenland, covering, so easily, the weather, seasons, animal, bird and fish life, with their migration and breeding, as well as human existence, and stories of Eurpean discovery and disaster, in times gone by. You will find that this is a book to read and re-read, and keep close to hand. This is a beautifully written book, which has become my favorite mid-night reader, when I can't sleep. There is also some very interesting comment in relation to the Global Warming debate, which might surprise - or not.
274).This is a wonderfully evocative set of observations about Arctic and its place in the "Weltanschauung" of Western Civilization. There are three themes at the center of his narrative: "the influence of the arctic landscape on the human imagination. He observes that "it is possible to live wisely on the land, and to live well. xxix). What does it mean to grow rich." (p. 13). And in behaving respectfully toward all that the land contains, it is possible to imagine a stifling ignorance falling away from us" (p. He find that the Arctic is "rich with metaphor, with adumbration" (p.
How a desire to put a landscape to use shapes our evaluation of it. In the end Lopez thinks that the land is like poetry, "it is inexplicably coherent, it is transcendent in its meaning, and it has the power to elevate a consideration of human life" (p. Barry Lopez's "Arctic Dreams" is a fascinating personal essay on the place of the North Pole in the human imagination. xxviii). And, confronted by an unknown landscape, what happens to our sense of wealth.
Barry has a poetic way to describing nature and all that I read amazed me. I will start checking out his other titles. I'm a Barry Lopez first time reader and never had I imagined I would enjoy so much reading about the arctic. Bravo.
Furthermore, the inexplicable and virtually complete neglect of Amundson - including his learning from Eskimos - leaves one wondering what other omissions may have tilted the balance of Lopez's otherwise thought-provoking writing. However, as a history of arctic exploration it is sadly flawed. This book is a lyrical reflection on the oneness of nature and mankind's troubled relationship with it. It is recommended for anyone contemplating a journey to the higher latitudes. The two chapters on early journeys of discovery and the quest for the northwest passage are chronologically jumbled.
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