vivma 's review for:

Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane

4.75

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This book is fantastic--right in the middle between a 4.5 and 4.75, but I have a perpetual fear of rating things too highly, so I've put it on the 4.5 side. [EDIT: I change my mind almost immediately because wow simply the writing of this book is fabulous] Robert Macfarlane is perhaps the best nature writer I have read, and his prose seems to get better, more complex, and more whimsical with each piece of his I read. This book is fundamentally about connection, whether with nature or those who adore it as much as Robert. He is also, as I found out, an excellent speaker, and it's clear his ability to write otherworldly, fantastical descriptions is a natural one. Unlike many books I've read recently, I honestly think that almost anyone could read this book and not only enjoy it, but also come away with a shifted perspective and a sense of urgency about the state of the natural world, especially in these times.

"Fireflies wander the middle distance. The night is glass-clear. Sheet lightning snaps blue-white across the sky to the south. I see a shooting star, and then two more. Three scratches on the world's tin. The next morning we walk into the forest and it swallows us whole" (78).

See all of page 107

See page 153

See pages 183 & 185

See pages 256 & 261

See pages 289 & 300