Rating: 
Summary: The Danger To Nature Is Our Nonparticipation
Review: There are few books on conservation, wildlife and nature that haven't been quickly obsoleted, are hoplessly trapped in period pop cultural amber, are fronts for naive political extremism or are simply irrelevant.
Aldo Leopold's "A Sand County Almanac" is one of those few; composed of illuminating vignettes dealing with practical knowledge of and experience in the North American wilderness, thoughtful critiques of today's accepted notions of wildlife and land "management," and the realistic acceptance of the human role as a predator within nature's massive food chain. Leopold believed humanity's ever-increasing physical and psychological isolation from full but equal participation in all parts of the natural world's reality--its beauty and wonder as well as its cruelty and danger--has been to its severe detriment.
This trend, to him, is leading us to environmental carelessness, colossal misuse and waste of natural resources, and, worst of all, gives rise to an aberrant social ideology reveling in the fatuous cartoon fantasy of nature being a big, happy, perpetually peaceful commune if only humans weren't there. After looking at our sad record of pollution, repeated habitat destruction, poaching, overfishing and listening to the endless, arrogant prattle of government bureaucrats, pop conservationists and so-called animal rights activists, it seems Leopold is indeed a prophet for our times
Rating:
Summary: This book may change your life
Review: This book is as original as its author. The format is one that follows the seasons of a year, and is driven by a collection of essays that implore the reader to look within for that deep connection to the land that shaped us as a species.
Aldo Leopold may have influenced the modern environmental movement, but what he really gave birth to was the common man conservation movement. An avid hunter and student of the land, he believed that the key to any successful conservation movement depended on the cooperation of the small landowner.
His "land ethic" philosophy branched out to many other relevant topics; such as his argument that wilderness was a valuable cultural resource, as well as being vital to scientific study. At one point, he asks, "Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"
The most striking thing about Aldo Leopold to me is that his words only become more relevant and more pressing as time goes on. This man has some important things to say. Please listen.
Rating:
Summary: The book that changed my life
Review: This book will open your eyes to what is going on in the world around us. Whether you agree with Mr. Leopold or not, this book sould be a necessity to live an informed life. No modern naturalist has topped it.
Rating:
Summary: A Sand County Almanac
Review: This is a beautifully written and insightful book. Loepold shows his reader his life and views. This is a MUST READ for anyone who loves the natural world though it may be a little too "hard core" for the average metropolitan citizen.
The only thing I really have to say is that I LOVE THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Required reading
Review: This is a magnificent book. If you didn't give 2 hoots about nature and the world around you before reading Sand County Almanac, take it from me, you will and you will wonder why you didn't before. Aldo Leopold was a valuable man, one whose like we don't see today in the overwrought world of tree-spiking and "monkey wrenching" by so-called "environmentalists (trouble makers is more like it). Read this book, read every word carefully and lovingly and let it transform you from an organism merely taking up space to a human being alive with the wonders of nature and our place in it. Unforgettable.
Rating:
Summary: An American Classic
Review: This is a profoundly insightful and important book that ranks among the most significant American books of the Twentieth Century. It would be a mistake to describe this book as "nature writing" per se, or of that genre. It is a series of essays in wonderful prose in which nature, outdoor settings or situations provide the backdrop. But it is not written as a naturalist droning about the wonders of some aspect of nature. It is an inspired and deeply insightful description, by a man who clearly has a deep understanding of how nature works, about the ethical dimensions of our relationship with the land and our environment generally. Despite the simple elegance of the writing style, it can be seen (and I know from biographical information) the author draws from a vast experience and knowledge far outside the confines of the wildlife management, which was his professon. The ideas expressed, and the many quotable passages are a treasure trove for anyone interested in broad ideas, not to mention readers whose professions involve recreation, wildlife, natural resources management, the environment, and the teaching of these disciplines as well as ethics, philosophy, and english literature. In sum, this is a must read for virtually anyone who wishes to be familar with important American literature, as well as those with a particular interest in the environment, environmental ethics and philosophy.
Rating:
Summary: An American Classic
Review: This is a profoundly insightful and important book that ranks among the most significant American books of the Twentieth Century. It would be a mistake to describe this book as "nature writing" per se, or of that genre. It is a series of essays in wonderful prose in which nature, outdoor settings or situations provide the backdrop. But it is not written as a naturalist droning about the wonders of some aspect of nature. It is an inspired and deeply insightful description, by a man who clearly has a deep understanding of how nature works, about the ethical dimensions of our relationship with the land and our environment generally. Despite the simple elegance of the writing style, it can be seen (and I know from biographical information) the author draws from a vast experience and knowledge far outside the confines of the wildlife management, which was his professon. The ideas expressed, and the many quotable passages are a treasure trove for anyone interested in broad ideas, not to mention readers whose professions involve recreation, wildlife, natural resources management, the environment, and the teaching of these disciplines as well as ethics, philosophy, and english literature. In sum, this is a must read for virtually anyone who wishes to be familar with important American literature, as well as those with a particular interest in the environment, environmental ethics and philosophy.
Rating:
Summary: Profound, of great importance.
Review: Though many of Leopold's essays are fifty years old (or more), his words have not lost their effect. And, though trained as a scientist, Leopold treats his subject with the love of an artist and the clarity and conciseness of a philosopher (well, some philosophers, at any rate). And, though many of his ideas have recently come under attack by proponents of "new ecology", a more focused reading of Leopold's work will reveal that these criticisms are off-base. Leopold's views on nature and ecology, in many respects, anticipate and parallel the views of "new ecology" (especially, for instance, his concession that evolution is a constant, even within ecosystems, and that conservation should not be directed towards preserving an "ideal state" of the environment). Still, Leopold reminds us that anthropogenic changes, while still natural (in the sense that humans are "biotic citizens"), operate at different temporal and spatial scales than other natural processes; thus, though human influences on the environment are not fundamentally different than natural influences, they tend to interfere with the natural processes which respond to and evolve to conform with those influences. If all Occidental philosophy is only a series of footnotes to Plato, then all environmental ethics is a series of footnotes to Leopold.
Rating:
Summary: One of the loveliest books I ever read.
Review: Thoughtful, beautiful writing. Put a log or two on the fire, start a kettle of water for tea, and cozy up to this wonderful book. Pause between each chapter to watch the snowflakes fall outside your window.
Rating: 
Summary: Possibly the most important book in American Conservation
Review: What does one say about a classic? Leopold obviously has his fanatic defenders, and there seems to be quite an industry these days in digging up everything that he ever wrote or said, including stuff that I imagine he would much rather have left lying. Fortunately this collection doesn't delve too deeply, and we get the best of Leopold as the conservationist/naturalist writing at the height of his powers. To be frank, the ecology of parts of Leopold's writing is very dated and in some cases simply wrong, but it is the product of a very different mind-set in which "stability" appeared to have validity, and while we may wonder at the evidence of other landscapes that Leopold ignores or skips over, we must also wonder at his skill as a writer in capturing a mood or the feel of particular places. In some ways what I find most important about Leopold -and what I point out to my "eco-fundamentalist" students- is here is someone who celebrated nature more eloquently than any other professional biologist that I have read, and yet here also is someone who never went out without his gun. In this sad age where "sportsmen" and "environmentalists" are too often on opposite sides of the same issue, it is important to reflect on an age when one could be both.
|
