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beautifulandfullofmonsters's review against another edition
A little dry for me. Get it?
steeperthandeep's review against another edition
5.0
The Land of Little Rain composed itself at the time the twentieth century was being born. The archaic poetry in its prose, and the benign prejudices betrayed by a phrase here and there, attest to the fact. But if you are accustomed to reading classic literature of any kind this will not throw you. And this is a classic, and it is indispensable to anyone with more than a passing interest in the American Southwest. I found the last chapter to be the most compelling: speaking of a manner of living simply and appreciatively on the land.
Mary Austin lived for a time in Carmel, California. And I am confident in saying that Carmel is the better for it.
Mary Austin lived for a time in Carmel, California. And I am confident in saying that Carmel is the better for it.
slolee's review against another edition
3.0
I responded much better to Mary’s writings than I did Susan Fenimore Cooper’s. It could be that I know a little more of the land Mary describes than I did of SFC’s descriptions. It could also be that Mary Austin writes of the land as a thing to work with, and observes and interacts with Native Americans as being a part of that land, with ownership, in a way that 50 years prior, SFC did not.
As I’ve read through the Writing Wild authors, the observations have trended more towards the kind of nature writing I like, with a bit more feeling. I like Mary’s for that reason.
As I’ve read through the Writing Wild authors, the observations have trended more towards the kind of nature writing I like, with a bit more feeling. I like Mary’s for that reason.
benjobuks's review against another edition
4.0
Dang! Mary Austin is an incredible nature writer out in the early 20th century. Beautiful writing decentering the human gaze and inhabiting desert creature’s lives.
mattbeatty's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed every word of Austin's. It's a short book, and I was slow-moving to get through it. But I don't regret that. I feel like part of her eyeopening awareness of the natural world speaks to being slow-moving. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm a desert tortoise.