Steep Trails: A collection of wilderness essays and tales (John Muir: The Eight Wilderness-Discovery Books Book 8) by John Muir (PDF)

Description

‘When a man plants a tree, he plants himself. Every root is an anchor, over which he rests with grateful interest, and becomes sufficiently calm to feel the joy of living.’Steep Trails encompasses a delightful mix of John Muir’s essays and adventure narratives, spanning a period of twenty-nine years. The selections included in this book are varied: ranging from geological studies to stories of the people and towns he encounters throughout his exploits. As Muir expert Terry Gifford observes in the foreword, ‘Most of Steep Trails’ chapters are dispatches from Muir as travelling correspondent with a mixture of insights into local cultures, criticism of pollution and enthusiasm for everything wild.’Muir’s refreshing philosophy of being ‘at one’ with nature shines through every account he details, as does his agenda for environmental activism – to treat wildness lovingly, rather than selfishly for material greed. Covering mostly the western regions of the states, California, Washington, Nevada, The Grand Canyon, Oregon and Utah; Steep Trails showcases Muir’s passion continuously as he climbs mountains, bathes in lakes, and sketches his findings. Muir’s classic extended metaphors and knowledgeable tone are present throughout, making for both an enjoyable and educational read.The enthusiasm contained within these pages is infectious, and as well as simply describing the beauty he sees, Muir will inspire you too, to ‘go and see for yourselves’ the rewards of studying the endless gift of nature:‘Surely faithful and loving skill can go no farther in putting the multitudinous decorated forms on paper. But the colours, the living, rejoicing colours, chanting morning and evening in chorus to heaven! Whose brush or pencil, however lovingly inspired, can give us these? And if paint is of no effect, what hope lies in pen-work? Only this: some may be incited by it to go and see for themselves.’

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book is full of short essays written by John Muir and they’re beautiful. Most I read while on the bus or waiting for things – the words suck you in instantly, and three pages later you’ve dived into the coldest sea, ran across empty beaches, and then reached the end of that particular story, with the option to enter another adventure or finish your coffee and move on.Muir is clearly in love with the landscape, understanding the delicate balance needed for it to survive. The writing style is very victorian, kind of reminds me of Tolkien or an older version of Nan Shepard.This book brought some life to my slow commute. I definitely recommend.

⭐This is a well-curated collection of John Muir’s essays and prose. He paints a picture with every sentence, and his poetic style brings to life the almost-forensic detail of the flora, fauna and communities he encounters. In some ways Muir was very much of his time, heading out into the wilderness with just the bare essentials, but he was also so far ahead of his time in his views on conservation and preservation. Some of these works could have been written with today’s pressing environmental concerns in mind. Muir’s passion for the natural world jumps off the page, and his desire to inspire others to get out and explore the wilderness for themselves, is the hallmark of his writing. A wonderful introduction to this highly-respected environmentalist and writer.

⭐I had heard of John Muir but never read any of his writing before this and really enjoyed the collection. Having liked authors such as Robert Macfarlane, Roger Deakin and Nan Shepherd this is very much in the same vein, albeit with slightly dated language by comparison to those mentioned. I had never been to the areas Muir writes about but still enjoyed the pieces, although I would imagine that the enjoyment would be greater if you had some geographical knowledge of the area. He paints an evocative and sometimes idyllic picture of the regions he visits and I will certainly be on the lookout for other pieces by him.

⭐Reasonable quality for today’s publication and superb read.

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