Beautiful/Poetic books about nature?

[gruntingslime]

I was wondering if anyone knew any books like this (beautiful or poetic books about nature) along the lines of Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun or Georgics by Virgil, although not necessarily about farming... something with a strong focus on nature's beauty. I am looking to feel strong feelings of nostalgia/longing towards nature in a hopefully beautiful light.

[Pecksie]

Charles Frazier's 'Cold Mountain' (beautiful depictions of landscape).
John Clare's poetry (landscape, natural cycles, birds and other animals).
Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Blithedale Romance' (a story about a utopian farming community).

[Seasider]

William Wordsworth would fit the bill.

[sixsmith]

O Pioneers - Willa Cather.

[Paulclem]

"Cider with Rosie" by Laurie Lee is a wonderful evocation of rural England before WW1.

It's poetic and very funny too.

[loe]

If you could do without a concrete plot I would recommend the following:

Thoreau's "Walden" and "Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers".
Emerson's "Nature"

Best regards

[The Comedian]

Wow. . . .

The obvious place to start is Thoreau's Walden. Of his other works, I also love The Maine Woods. Mary Oliver is a great contemporary poet who publishes mostly on topics related to nature.

Other contemporary writers you might enjoy are Barry Lopez -- his book Arctic Dreams, which relates his extensive travels around the Arctic Circle is some of the finest natural history you're likely to ever read. Terry Tempest Williams' book Refuge is a beautiful book that connects the natural environment around the Great Salt Lake with family and women's issues. Sigrid Olson is a beautiful writer who writes mostly about the Boundary Waters area in the US an Canada. Rachel Carson, famous for Silent Spring, but under-appreciated for her beautiful non-fiction about the sea shore: At the Sea's Edge and Under the Sea-Wind are well worth your time.

And then there's Edward Abbey -- the barbarian of the Southwest, whose Desert Solitaire is beautiful and brutal at the same time. Of his other works, I like The Journey Home and Down the River best. Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is a fine book about the beauty of nature. The contemporary writer David James Duncan is out-loud funny and tearfully beautiful. My favorite of his works is The River Why.

I'm sure I could go on and on and on. But I'll leave it at this for now.

:)

[The Comedian]

I totally forgot about the poet Wendell Berry -- a great, great poet who I think often gets overshadowed as a poet because of his focus on the environment.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Good thread.


"Cider with Rosie" by Laurie Lee is a wonderful evocation of rural England before WW1.

It's poetic and very funny too.

I've just ordered this book, sounds just the thing.

[Buh4Bee]

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring-non-fiction.

[Whifflingpin]

Richard Jefferies

Gilbert White's Natural History of Selborne

Izaak Walton's Compleat Angler

[Alexander III]

A Hero Of Our Time, it has some amazing descriptions of the 19th century caucus region. And A byronic hero which is just as well crafted as Childe Harold.

[LitNetIsGreat]

"Cider with Rosie" by Laurie Lee is a wonderful evocation of rural England before WW1.

It's poetic and very funny too.


Good thread.

I've just ordered this book, sounds just the thing.

The Amazon fairies brought me this today. I've started reading it and I love the poetic prose - I'm going to enjoy this I think. Recommended here already.

[The Comedian]

The Amazon fairies brought me this today. I've started reading it and I love the poetic prose - I'm going to enjoy this I think. Recommended here already.

If your up for it Neely, I'd love to read your review of this book. These sorts of books are just the sort of thing that I've spent most of my life reading.

[LitNetIsGreat]

If your up for it Neely, I'd love to read your review of this book. These sorts of books are just the sort of thing that I've spent most of my life reading.

I'm not good at reviewing, but I'll open a thread on it when I've read it sure and share a few thoughts. I'm reading this as an antidote to a lot of stuff I "have" to read. There's nothing like getting lost in something idyllic like this from time to time, sort of restores the sanity a bit if you know what I mean?