147 reviews for:

The Sea is Not Made of Water: Life Between the Tides

Adam Nicolson

3.47 AVERAGE

twelch314's review

3.75

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

hellowormemoji's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

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i LOVED this. i  think this is the best nature book i’ve ever read. seamless integration of the writer into the piece. wonderful interdisciplinary approach. SUCH a wonderful reliance on myth and oral traditions as valid places of finding knowledge. i had no problem at all with the balance between science and other stuff. this felt like a wonderful merge between all the fields nicolson was working with. honestly, i’ll  read this again. 

katyboo52's review

5.0

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Nicolson explores the shoreline on the beach near his home on the West Coast of Scotland. Building his own rock pools, he examines the way life builds in such hostile environments with the ebbing and flowing of the tides and extremes of temperatures. From there he examines how the coast itself was formed and then deepens his research into folklore and human history along the shoreline and how we ourselves can weather uncertain times. From prawns to Heidegger this roams far and wide.

zeldapru's review

3.0

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

saturdayslaughter's review against another edition

informative reflective

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Read if you’re interested in biology and the philosophy of life, or the Scottish highlands 

andreastopit's review against another edition

3.75

informative slow-paced

nfoutty's review against another edition

2.5

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The first half ruled, the second half…didn’t. Not sure I can remember reading a book with such a dramatic drop-off in my interest. 

jazzab1971's review against another edition

2.25

informative reflective slow-paced

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This is a book of two halves, really.  One in which the author gives informative information about various sea life creatures, and one in which he wanders off in to discorses about philosophy and poetry. I found the former informative and interesting and the latter to be dense, unenjoyable ramblings. As a result, large portions of the book really drag and felt like a real chore to get through. 
Also, the book is full of illustrations that are so amateurish as to make you think they were done by a child.
Not for me, this book, which is a shame as it started quite well.

anxious_emmy's review against another edition

3.0

informative medium-paced

cjax1694's review against another edition

3.75

funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced