This Hill, This Valley

by Hal Borland

In one of the true classics of American nature writing (first published in 1957), Borland recounts the cycle of a year on his hill-country farm in northwestern Connecticut.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published May 1, 1990

About the author

Harold Glen Borland was a nature journalist. During World War II he wrote radio programs for the government and served as special magazine correspondent. He had written several documentary movies, two volumes of poetry, a volume of essays, has collaborated on a play, and has contributed many non-fiction articles, short stories and novelettes to leading magazines here and abroad.

Mr. Borland was graduated from the Columbia School of Journalism. He also attended the University of Colorado and received a Litt.D. from there in 1944.

Reviews

[Paige Wilmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, this book was beautiful. I read it slowly, which usually means I was bored and made myself come back to it - but not in this case. It was just so gorgeous I genuinely wanted to savor it. It was also set up for a slow read as it's a year in the life of his valley home. I started it in the Spring and finished in the Winter, which was the author's intention. I read many of the passages out loud to my husband because I was so struck by them. This book had a lot of personal connections for me that wouldn't apply to everyone, and the final paragraphs had me in tears partly because "Levavi Oculos" means something special to my heart. I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, but to me this was a perfect 5-star novel.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The “gentle reads” description definitely applies to this charmer, written back in the fifties by the naturalist Hal Borland. As the dust jacket says, this book is “one of the true classics of American nature writing” that “recounts the cycle of a year on Borland’s hill-country farm in north-western Connecticut” with “a naturalist’s eye and a poet’s sense of wonder.”

What more can I say? I loved this book. It’s the absolute antidote to the ills of our over-information age and its depressing news cycle. You can feel your heart rate slow and a feeling of well-being emerge just by reading segments like this:

“Today I took a walk up the mountainside and found that though a hundred things be wrong, a thousand things are right and completely in order.

“The right things are so obvious. Water still runs downhill, making brooks that sing and rivers that flow seaward. Grass still sends up green shoots in the pasture. Robins strut the lawn and sing their mating call from the trees. Daffodils come to blossom. Maples begin to open wine-red bloom ...

“The world is all right. The quarrels are among men. Men who forget that ideas have their roots in one of two places, in the earth or in the stars. April invites a conference on the open hillside to investigate the state of affairs at their common source.”

Don’t you feel better, just reading this? I do.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spending as much time as I do reading books about other parts of the country or world, it was lovely to discover a book that speaks so beautifully and perceptively of the place I've always felt most at home: New England farm country. In this informal journal of a year of life on a Connecticut farm, first published in 1957, Borland records descriptions and observations of the land, plants, wildlife, weather, and a farmer's work and life. I started reading it in the summer, and since it runs from spring to spring, I was able to stretch it out so its changing seasons loosely paralleled whatever season I was in. The gently tangential musings on things as varied as a chickadee's personality, the mood evoked by a winter night, and the mindsets cultivated by growing a vegetable garden make for both intelligent and quietly comforting reading.

My single criticism would be Borland's too-frequent harking back to some plant or geographical feature's supposed emergence from prehistoric ooze, which demonstrates the underlying sense of unease and questioning the evolutionary worldview gives to one's overall philosophy of life. Nature writing this good which was also grounded in the confidence and awe of regarding creation as an intelligent design, with mankind having a clear purpose in the scheme of things, would be truly brilliant.

[Mary]

Abandoned for now. May take it up again later. I loved Borland's memoirs and even his tale of his dog Pat. But this book is slow going for me

September 2024 I am trying again. Maybe if I read the chapter on the present month, I will get through it. I read "September" today and it is gentle, lovely reading. But I am not a gardener.

It's October 3 and it's time to read the October chapter. This is the way to read this book--for me at least. I enjoyed October--a time that Borland loves.

November 1 "leaf rustle" "reluctant oaks" Sometimes a phrase grabs me--I should mark them as I go because when I go back to find them, they are elusive. One chapter at a time is the way to read this quite, meditative book. I always like his dog stories--and I am not a dog person. Pat will not shake off the rain outside--always inside. And Pat made a big mistake going after a porcupine. That involved a trip to the vet and being put to sleep in order to get the quills out of his mouth.

December 2 "I must know Winter if I am to know Spring and Summer." Sometimes Borland gets quite philosophical and poetic. I am reading the Winter--December chapter. Two more for 2025.

January 2 I just read January. Borland is so observant. I enjoyed his account of the January thaw--which gives a hint of spring. It smelled like that here earlier this week.

February 2 I finished the February chapter. This is a good way to read this quite book. February hints of spring but not full of promise. The robins have arrived. Someone saw a woodchuch (groundhog?) but he thinks it will be a while before he sees one. He is so observant of birds. I wonder if my bird-watching offspring would enjoy this book as they look for the birds in each season.

March 1 The simplicity of spring--"Life persists. It reproduces itself. It animates growth." It is an optimistic thought when I am despairing for our country right now and its evil leadership. I liked the observation that spring travels up the mountain at a rate of a 100 feet of altitude a day. He could watch the green grow up the mountain in his view.

[Sonia With an I · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book because it was mentioned in Gladys Taber's Stillmeadow Sampler. Hal and his wife Barbara were friends of Gladys and she kept this book on her coffee table to read during the seaons. I love this because I read Gladys' books seasonally as well. So I rushed over to Hoopla and there was an audio version of this book. I was not disappointed. Hal much like Gladys describes his beautiful home/property with the most vivid of words and makes me feel like I am there. He also has his opinons about nature, conservation, and how humanity is destroying much of it. I don't disagree with any of these opinons. It is also humorous to listen to him talk about his community and his relationship with his wife and friends.
This is a very slice of life piece of nonfiction that is very similar to Gladys. He does talk about shooting pesky animals on the property that destroy crops and such. ( I didn't care for shooting bunnies) and his dogs are not pets, they are working animals and are treated as such. I grew up in a rural area and understand this thought but I don't always agree with it.
I really enjoyed this and would read more Hal Borland for sure. I did miss some of the wit and charm that is in Gladys' books. She's self depricating in a humorous way and she makes observations that bring me a chuckle. I would suggest this for anyone who would like a mid-century slice of life, Amercian book.

[Kerry Clair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite from him. More for a naturalist than for a casual read. But as always well written and amazingly descriptive.

[Fran Kraybill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reread of one of my favorite books.

[Carol]

From Roanoke public library