Of Wolves and Men by Barry Lopez
Natural history, a literary form that's sadly on the fringe of most readers' literary landscapes, is still practiced by a few quality writers. One of these writers is Barry Lopez.
I've read several of Lopez's other works -- Arctic Dreams, Crossing Open Ground, Winter Count, Field Notes -- all of these illustrate Lopez's fluid, balanced narrative voice and deep appreciation for the scientific and mystical aspects of human experience.
While most natural histories focus on place, Of Wolves and Men (1978) puts the author's anthropological microscope on an animal:canis lupus. The text first offers us a scientific understanding of North American wolves -- feeding habits, family and pack structures, and relationships with other species. Good stuff -- a bit tedious for some, but I like this sort of thing. And Lopez doesn't simply offer the reader his book learnin' on the subject, with his copious reading comes his first-hand experience with wolves and the people affected by them.
The middle portions of the book give a historical accounting of the wolf's role in native American cultures. And later, the pogroms to eliminate the wolf in the US and later in Canada are described and, in a way, reckoned with. The book concludes with several chapters on how the wolf has been depicted in European mythology, literature, and culture since the middle ages.
While my review may strike the LitNet reader as mundane, Lopez's prose and meditative balance of ideas give anyone interested the larger relevance of the wolf in human culture big payoffs time and time again.
As for his prose, it's clear, fluvial, and judicial.
And while I think Arctic Dreams is a better book, Of Wolves and Men, is certainly worth a read for anyone who appreciates fine writing or is curious about the role wolves have played in our history, culture, literature, ecology, religion, or mythology.
To end, my favorite passage from the book --
Quote:
We create wolves. The methodology of science creates a wolf just as surely as does the metaphysical vision of a native American, or the enmity of a cattle baron of the nineteenth century. It is only by convention that the first is considered enlightened observation, the second fanciful anthropomorphism, and the third agricultural necessity.
As this passage demonstrates, Lopez's mind always seeks a holistic understanding of his object, which is the essence of the lost art of natural history.
My rating: 8.5/10 howls at the moon.
EDIT: Dough! I thought I put this in the book review section. If possible, could one of the mods move it to its appropriate place? Thanks!
