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st_urmer's review against another edition
2.0
Clever, lyrical essays on the natural world. Thought I would really like it, but just not my thing I guess. Quitting at the halfway point.
nearisfresh's review against another edition
5.0
Consistently it seems that my favourite books are highly stylised non-fiction. This is a collection of essays and short stories, creative non-fiction. It covers a wide range of subjects but essentially is preoccupied with nature, exploring dozens of unique aspects of the natural world, and our relationships with them. Each story is filled with easily a half dozen meanings and metaphors and points of consideration. A favourite of mine is Love-in-a-mist, which I quoted in a speech I gave at my best friend's wedding. She was the one who gifted me the book.
I feel like there's too much to say about this book, to the point where I simply could never say it all. It took me a really long time to read because every time I read another section, it would stick with me for weeks. I felt it really valuable to let the book stay with me as long as it needed to, not to rush it in its journey through my life. I'm not someone who rereads books very often, but I can very easily imagine myself coming back to this one.
The afterword also really stuck with me, as the environmentalist leanings of the book as a whole became glaring. "Here's a list of some of the world's beauties," this book says, "and here is a post-natural world." I really think this is a must-read, if only to remind yourself of how much wonder exists in the universe and how important it is to protect. Leach's style of writing is beautiful in its own right, though, and I frequently found myself wishing I could be zapped into her brain and never leave.
Thank you Rachel for giving me this book, it's going to be very important to me for a long time I think.
I feel like there's too much to say about this book, to the point where I simply could never say it all. It took me a really long time to read because every time I read another section, it would stick with me for weeks. I felt it really valuable to let the book stay with me as long as it needed to, not to rush it in its journey through my life. I'm not someone who rereads books very often, but I can very easily imagine myself coming back to this one.
The afterword also really stuck with me, as the environmentalist leanings of the book as a whole became glaring. "Here's a list of some of the world's beauties," this book says, "and here is a post-natural world." I really think this is a must-read, if only to remind yourself of how much wonder exists in the universe and how important it is to protect. Leach's style of writing is beautiful in its own right, though, and I frequently found myself wishing I could be zapped into her brain and never leave.
Thank you Rachel for giving me this book, it's going to be very important to me for a long time I think.
smitchy's review against another edition
3.0
this book is not for everyone. I feel like I should recommend it to lovers of poetry. For whom the rythym, flow of thoughts and made up words would be familiar and allow an introduction to various environmental topics.
But the content might be of interest to those who like popular science.
The main reason I gave it three stars is because I'm not sure who would like this - people who would be interested in the content (many and varied facts about the earth / animals and the universe ) might be put off by the poetic and (at times) convoluted threads which hold each chapter together.
I personally found it hard to take seriously the points that the author is making about the incredible beauty of the world and interconnectedness of the environment and our impacts on it when there were so many nonsense words thrown in to the mix. I cant help but feel that she minimised her impact by putting nonsense words in when there are so many words she could have used. It felt lazy somehow.
I can see were she is coming from but the way it is done I can't help but feel will alienate the intended audience (who ever that might be?).
This is of course purely my own feeling and maybe I'm just not seeing a huge audience of poetry loving science fact geeks.
But the content might be of interest to those who like popular science.
The main reason I gave it three stars is because I'm not sure who would like this - people who would be interested in the content (many and varied facts about the earth / animals and the universe ) might be put off by the poetic and (at times) convoluted threads which hold each chapter together.
I personally found it hard to take seriously the points that the author is making about the incredible beauty of the world and interconnectedness of the environment and our impacts on it when there were so many nonsense words thrown in to the mix. I cant help but feel that she minimised her impact by putting nonsense words in when there are so many words she could have used. It felt lazy somehow.
I can see were she is coming from but the way it is done I can't help but feel will alienate the intended audience (who ever that might be?).
This is of course purely my own feeling and maybe I'm just not seeing a huge audience of poetry loving science fact geeks.
sber8121's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
2.0
I am not at all surprised that people either love or hate this book. Like many of the other low star rating reviews, I adored moments of this book. A few sentences or ideas struck me in the gut. But for the most part I was confused and a little annoyed. With a bit more focus it could have been truly brilliant. Needs an editor.
huncamuncamouse's review against another edition
1.0
I want to say that I was clearly not the right audience for this book, and I know that others will find much to admire about this book. Amy Leach is obviously a skilled writer. However, I found the book obnoxious, desperately twee, and overwrought. If I didn’t have a personal rule to finish every book I begin, I would have abandoned this. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn’t. I don’t enjoy giving poor reviews, either. I really love Milkweed, so I was surprised I had such a disappointing experience with Things That Are.
ikahime's review against another edition
5.0
If I find this girl, I'm going to marry her. Like a hopped-up, essay-writing Mary Oliver.
forkdogforkfruit's review against another edition
2.0
If Eddie Izzard imbibed a substantial amount of psilocybin and then tried to channel his inner David Attenborough and Mystic Meg this book stands a chance of being the final product.
The 26 essays in and of themselves are, in places, wonderfully poetic. The writing style is often very disjointed and seems to aim to confuse readers as a means to convince you of the author's arguments which in turn are nothing more than a ramble with nice sounding words interspersed. The subjects are inconsistently anthropomorphised and in doing so the author allows herself to bring in opinion and masquerade it as though it is a factually accurate representation of the topic that is being highlighted. Overall I found this book to be a chore to read even though I can appreciate the aim of positive poetry-like essays.
I picked this book up from the library and loaned it on the basis that Brian Eno had written a recommendation blurb on the front cover. I now know that Brian Eno and I shared different opinions on what is enjoyable literature.
The 26 essays in and of themselves are, in places, wonderfully poetic. The writing style is often very disjointed and seems to aim to confuse readers as a means to convince you of the author's arguments which in turn are nothing more than a ramble with nice sounding words interspersed. The subjects are inconsistently anthropomorphised and in doing so the author allows herself to bring in opinion and masquerade it as though it is a factually accurate representation of the topic that is being highlighted. Overall I found this book to be a chore to read even though I can appreciate the aim of positive poetry-like essays.
I picked this book up from the library and loaned it on the basis that Brian Eno had written a recommendation blurb on the front cover. I now know that Brian Eno and I shared different opinions on what is enjoyable literature.
binxthinx's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful, whimsical, mildly insane collection of nature essays. A fun, playful, enchanted style reminiscent of Brian Doyle. Sometimes I get a bit lost, but overall an inspiring, thoughtful book.
sawyerbell's review against another edition
4.0
Delicious and beautiful prose-poems about the natural world. Every page held a moment of wonder and delight.