I know, I know, this is a photography website. However, many of us are interested in the natural world enough that we've picked up reading or writing as another hobby. I know that for me, reading what others have written about nature has helped me become a better photographer, and I wanted to see if it had the same influence on others.
The purpose of this topic is simple- just state your favorite nature writer (or writers) and maybe provide some comments about them. I'll start with a couple of my favorites.
Edward Abbey- insight, beauty, humor, adventure, and philosophy. What more could you really want in nature writing? Desert Solitaire is pretty much in my bag 24/7. I suppose it's also important to include that I love the desert, which may result in a little bias
Aldo Leopold- a little more subtle than Abbey, but just as expressive. Since I'm currently living in the midwest, his writings have opened my eyes to the quieter beauty that characterizes this part of the U.S.
I'll bite! Some of my favorite nature writers include Barry Lopez and Nick Jans. Barry Lopez's descriptions are magnificent and detailed. Nick Jans has a way of writing I can't even describe, but right now, I'm reading everything I can find by him.
I've also enjoyed books by Rick Bass, Doug Peacock, Mike Lapinski, and William Least Heat Moon although Least Heat Moon also writes about things besides nature in his books. I also like Enos Mills' books about Rocky Mountain National Park when there were still grizzly bears there. Charlie Russell is also another author I enjoy reading.
I hope this thread helps me find some new authors!
I like Richard Nelson and Ed Abbey. Aldo Leopold is classic. A current writer that I really like is David Petersen.
For in depth thinking, no nature writer that I have encountered comes to the level of philosopher Paul Shepard, and although he will challenge your vocabulary it is worth the effort of reading slowly, with a dicitionary at your elbow. He is not recreational reading, but he will change your sense of who you are and how we belong to the world.
I'll second Ed Abbey (Desert Solitaire) and Barry Lopez (Arctic Dreams). I also really like the work of Annie Dillard (Pilgrim at Tinker Creek), Peter Matthiessen (The Cloud Forest and The Snow Leopard), John Muir (The Wilderness World of John Muir), Roderick Nash (Wilderness and the American Mind), Farley Mowat (Never Cry Wolf), and Everett Reuss (A Vagabond for Beauty).
Posted by David Taylor on March 28, 2009 at 3:20 AM
Another vote for fellow Alaskan, Nick Jans. Incredible writer, really hooks you in. My second & third choices aren't really nature writers - but I still really like Jon Krakauer (adventure journalism dealing with what mother nature has a way of throwing at you) and Sebastian Junger (journalistic writer) - both are fantastic writers who can really immerse you into a scene, and that's what we all try to do with our images. These guys don't have the added benefit of any visual cues, but they (like Nick Jans) paint pictures with beautiful writing.
Great topic, gonna have to check out your suggestions!
Posted by Brian Vance on March 28, 2009 at 11:15 AM
I'll go old school and offer up Thoreau, John Muir and Jack London. Nothing inspires me more than picking up Walden and getting lost in the natural world he describes in such incredibly beautiful prose.
Posted by Mel Ladewig on March 28, 2009 at 12:12 PM
Edward Abbey writes some profoundly beautiful prose, but at other times bugs the heck out of me for his I found paradise and everyone else should stay out attitude. There is certainly alot more to his portfolio than Desert Solitaire.
I like Thoreau with no complaints at all. Beautiful prose and attention to detail in the natural world.
But I'll have to check out some of the others in this list.
And since it is the 200th anniversary, I suppose Charles Darwin should be added to this list.
Robinson Jeffers: California. Big Sur. Neighbor to Adams and the Westons. Radical. Poet. Not a 'nature writer' in the pure sense, but he loved it and wrote lovingly of it. 'Hurt Hawks' is a small and simply constructed poem. But it will make you think of responsibility-and love. And it will make you very sad.
Loren Eiseley: Professor. Bone hunter. Essaist and peot. Noone was better at connecting (and disconnecting) man with the cosmos and the tinyest of things. When he cuts a finger and bleeds, he stands still watching the blood spatter on the sidewalk and cries--knowing full well that there are living things, tiny living organisms, in that blood that will die now without the protection of his body. And he is deply sorry to have brought on their deaths. Nevermind the 'correctness' of his theory of the evolution of the theory of evolution; that has long since been disproved. His essays are long, and somewhat wordy, but worth wading through. 'The Star Thrower', especially, is worth reading. The story of a man's fruitless and hopeless effort to save life by walking a tropical beach picking up starfish that have crawled only the sand and throwing them back out to sea--befor they can be found by tourists and kept for souveniers.
My two favorites; but do not forget Ernest Hemingway. Not all of his stuff is about bull fighting and war. Noone did better than he at painting a picture of a place; of describing the mood of a place. Especially when water is involved. Some of his news articles, especially about fishing, are classic. And his writings of fishing for trout are some the the describing of places trout hide cannot be beaten.
Take care Nathaniel. Sincerely; Lee
Posted by TACHE@PA.NET on March 28, 2009 at 7:05 PM
In the emerging market, I have recently "discovered" a young woman named Julie Zickefoose, whose writing is delightful. Moreover, she illustrates her own work with some of the best watercolor sketches I have ever seen. She also has a website that she populates with all kinds of off-the-wall stories of her farm, her family, her travels, and her art. It is about 60% nature, but 100% joy.
From my early days, let me cast votes for the following: Edwin Way Teale, who I believe had the best-trained eye of any nature writer; his "A Walk through the Year," written at the end of his long life, is one of the simplest, most moving evocations of a man's love of living that I have ever read. Marjorie Stoneman Douglas' "River of Grass," which I think sets the standard for a narrative of place, including human and natural interactions. George Reiger's books, particularly "Wanderer on My Native Shore." Rachel Carson, who, besides "Silent Spring" (great book, but a tough slog), wrote the exquisitely beautiful"Sea Around Us" and "Sense of Wonder." Anything by George Miksch Sutton, who just really enjoyed being "there."
Locally well known and well worth reading: John Janovy, for anyone interested in the Great Plains; William Warner's "Beautiful Swimmers" about the Blue Crab.
Posted by Chuck Beatty on March 28, 2009 at 10:34 PM
I'll second Lee's thoughts on Loren Eiseley. I come back to him time and again. After "The Star Thrower," one of my favorites is "The Fifth Planet."
Another author who has not been mentioned is Dan O'Brien. He's a wildlife biologist, falconer and buffalo rancher in South Dakota. "Buffalo for the Broken Heart," "Equinox," and "Rites of Autumn" are favorites.
I'd add much of John McPhee's writing to the list of names. And David James Duncan; The River Why is a classic. And Scott Weidensaul, who is also a photographer.
Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert, David Abrams' The Spell of the Sensuous, and Wallace Stegner (just about anything). For poetry I'd take Gary Snyder and John Haines.
I love all the above mentioned books and authors too.
David M. Cobb
Posted by Carl Donohue on March 30, 2009 at 12:58 AM
Hey Folks,
Paul Shepard, as Lon Sharp said, was about as good as it gets .. though 'challenge your vocabulary' is putting it mildly. :) "Coming Home to the Pleistocene' is great.
Peter Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard - masterful writing.
Ed Abbey, Desert Solitaire.
Thoreau; Walking is my favorite.
Jack Turner; The Abstract Wild - perfect.
Gary Snyder; Practice of the Wild - delicious.
Derrick Jensen; 'Listening to the Land' is a series of interviews with some of the greatest writers around. A beautiful book.
John Muir, Rod Nash, Aldo Leopold, Barry Lopez (he wrote an essay for Nat Geo recently for a photo series on global warming that was simply sublime), Bill McKibben, Wendell Berry, Terry Tempest Williams, Ralph Emerson, ad infinitum.
I often wonder that the overwhelming number of amazing writers in this genre isn't possibly the best sign we have of how far outta whack, environmentally, this world has become.
Wow, a lot of authors that I've never heard of that I need to check out I forgot to mention Mary Austin- I recently read Land of Little Rain and enjoyed it immensely.
Discussion
15 repliesThe purpose of this topic is simple- just state your favorite nature writer (or writers) and maybe provide some comments about them. I'll start with a couple of my favorites.
Edward Abbey- insight, beauty, humor, adventure, and philosophy. What more could you really want in nature writing? Desert Solitaire is pretty much in my bag 24/7. I suppose it's also important to include that I love the desert, which may result in a little bias
Aldo Leopold- a little more subtle than Abbey, but just as expressive. Since I'm currently living in the midwest, his writings have opened my eyes to the quieter beauty that characterizes this part of the U.S.
I've also enjoyed books by Rick Bass, Doug Peacock, Mike Lapinski, and William Least Heat Moon although Least Heat Moon also writes about things besides nature in his books. I also like Enos Mills' books about Rocky Mountain National Park when there were still grizzly bears there. Charlie Russell is also another author I enjoy reading.
I hope this thread helps me find some new authors!
Nancy
www.NancyWagnerPhotography.com
For in depth thinking, no nature writer that I have encountered comes to the level of philosopher Paul Shepard, and although he will challenge your vocabulary it is worth the effort of reading slowly, with a dicitionary at your elbow. He is not recreational reading, but he will change your sense of who you are and how we belong to the world.
I'll second Ed Abbey (Desert Solitaire) and Barry Lopez (Arctic Dreams). I also really like the work of Annie Dillard (Pilgrim at Tinker Creek), Peter Matthiessen (The Cloud Forest and The Snow Leopard), John Muir (The Wilderness World of John Muir), Roderick Nash (Wilderness and the American Mind), Farley Mowat (Never Cry Wolf), and Everett Reuss (A Vagabond for Beauty).
Great topic, gonna have to check out your suggestions!
I like Thoreau with no complaints at all. Beautiful prose and attention to detail in the natural world.
But I'll have to check out some of the others in this list.
And since it is the 200th anniversary, I suppose Charles Darwin should be added to this list.
Robinson Jeffers: California. Big Sur. Neighbor to Adams and the Westons. Radical. Poet. Not a 'nature writer' in the pure sense, but he loved it and wrote lovingly of it. 'Hurt Hawks' is a small and simply constructed poem. But it will make you think of responsibility-and love. And it will make you very sad.
Loren Eiseley: Professor. Bone hunter. Essaist and peot. Noone was better at connecting (and disconnecting) man with the cosmos and the tinyest of things. When he cuts a finger and bleeds, he stands still watching the blood spatter on the sidewalk and cries--knowing full well that there are living things, tiny living organisms, in that blood that will die now without the protection of his body. And he is deply sorry to have brought on their deaths. Nevermind the 'correctness' of his theory of the evolution of the theory of evolution; that has long since been disproved. His essays are long, and somewhat wordy, but worth wading through. 'The Star Thrower', especially, is worth reading. The story of a man's fruitless and hopeless effort to save life by walking a tropical beach picking up starfish that have crawled only the sand and throwing them back out to sea--befor they can be found by tourists and kept for souveniers.
My two favorites; but do not forget Ernest Hemingway. Not all of his stuff is about bull fighting and war. Noone did better than he at painting a picture of a place; of describing the mood of a place. Especially when water is involved. Some of his news articles, especially about fishing, are classic. And his writings of fishing for trout are some the the describing of places trout hide cannot be beaten.
Take care Nathaniel. Sincerely; Lee
From my early days, let me cast votes for the following: Edwin Way Teale, who I believe had the best-trained eye of any nature writer; his "A Walk through the Year," written at the end of his long life, is one of the simplest, most moving evocations of a man's love of living that I have ever read. Marjorie Stoneman Douglas' "River of Grass," which I think sets the standard for a narrative of place, including human and natural interactions. George Reiger's books, particularly "Wanderer on My Native Shore." Rachel Carson, who, besides "Silent Spring" (great book, but a tough slog), wrote the exquisitely beautiful"Sea Around Us" and "Sense of Wonder." Anything by George Miksch Sutton, who just really enjoyed being "there."
Locally well known and well worth reading: John Janovy, for anyone interested in the Great Plains; William Warner's "Beautiful Swimmers" about the Blue Crab.
Another author who has not been mentioned is Dan O'Brien. He's a wildlife biologist, falconer and buffalo rancher in South Dakota. "Buffalo for the Broken Heart," "Equinox," and "Rites of Autumn" are favorites.
I love all the above mentioned books and authors too.
David M. Cobb
Paul Shepard, as Lon Sharp said, was about as good as it gets .. though 'challenge your vocabulary' is putting it mildly. :) "Coming Home to the Pleistocene' is great.
Peter Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard - masterful writing.
Ed Abbey, Desert Solitaire.
Thoreau; Walking is my favorite.
Jack Turner; The Abstract Wild - perfect.
Gary Snyder; Practice of the Wild - delicious.
Derrick Jensen; 'Listening to the Land' is a series of interviews with some of the greatest writers around. A beautiful book.
John Muir, Rod Nash, Aldo Leopold, Barry Lopez (he wrote an essay for Nat Geo recently for a photo series on global warming that was simply sublime), Bill McKibben, Wendell Berry, Terry Tempest Williams, Ralph Emerson, ad infinitum.
I often wonder that the overwhelming number of amazing writers in this genre isn't possibly the best sign we have of how far outta whack, environmentally, this world has become.
Cheers
Carl