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Histoire D'une Montagne: Récit
«Estaba triste, abatido, cansado de la vida. El destino me había arrebatado a seres queridos, había arruinado mis proyectos, había reducido a la nada mis esperanzas». Así comienza este libro de culto para varias generaciones de lectores. ¿Qué le había ocurrido a su autor, Élisée Reclus? Sin duda, estaba al borde de la desesperación. Y la montaña le salvó la vida. En los años inmediatamente anteriores a su escritura, Reclus, geógrafo excepcional y fiero militante anarquista, había perdido de forma sucesiva a los dos grandes amores de su vida: Clarisse y Fanny fallecieron ambas al dar a luz. Entonces Reclus trató de olvidar esta doble tragedia tomando las armas y liderando, junto a otros camaradas, el proceso revolucionario de la Comuna de París, que pretendía fundar una sociedad nueva, libre e igualitaria. Tras la derrota del movimiento insurgente, tuvo que huir para evitar ser fusilado. Y encontró refugio en la montaña.
Podría decirse, por tanto, que este es un libro sobre el poder sanador de la naturaleza. Pero sería absurdo reducirlo a eso. Pues Reclus, uno de los grandes intelectuales de la Modernidad, se compromete con una labor mucho más grande: relatarnos la historia integral de una montaña o, con más precisión, la historia de aquello que las montañas, en su conjunto, fueron, son y serán para la humanidad. Así, combinando el conocimiento científico, la erudición humanista y su dilatada experiencia personal como montañero, nos habla tanto del origen geológico de las montañas como de aquello que amenaza sus ecosistemas, de los tipos de rocas que las conforman y de sus diversas climatologías, de las leyendas, las mitologías y los dioses que a lo largo de las épocas y en distintas culturas les han asociado los hombres, de sus curiosos habitantes humanos y de los talantes singulares formados en sus alturas, de la variedad de su flora y de la riqueza de su fauna… y, por supuesto, de sus muchas aventuras atravesando tormentas de nieve, glaciares o desfiladeros. Un clásico indispensable de la nature writing y de la gran literatura de montaña.
Podría decirse, por tanto, que este es un libro sobre el poder sanador de la naturaleza. Pero sería absurdo reducirlo a eso. Pues Reclus, uno de los grandes intelectuales de la Modernidad, se compromete con una labor mucho más grande: relatarnos la historia integral de una montaña o, con más precisión, la historia de aquello que las montañas, en su conjunto, fueron, son y serán para la humanidad. Así, combinando el conocimiento científico, la erudición humanista y su dilatada experiencia personal como montañero, nos habla tanto del origen geológico de las montañas como de aquello que amenaza sus ecosistemas, de los tipos de rocas que las conforman y de sus diversas climatologías, de las leyendas, las mitologías y los dioses que a lo largo de las épocas y en distintas culturas les han asociado los hombres, de sus curiosos habitantes humanos y de los talantes singulares formados en sus alturas, de la variedad de su flora y de la riqueza de su fauna… y, por supuesto, de sus muchas aventuras atravesando tormentas de nieve, glaciares o desfiladeros. Un clásico indispensable de la nature writing y de la gran literatura de montaña.
- GenresNature
240 pages, Pocket Book
Published June 4, 1999
11 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
About the author
Élisée Reclus
904 books55 followersÉlisée Reclus, also known as Jacques Élisée Reclus, was a renowned French geographer, writer and anarchist. He produced his 19-volume masterwork La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes ("Universal Geography"), over a period of nearly 20 years (1875 - 1894). In 1892 he was awarded the prestigious Gold Medal of the Paris Geographical Society for this work, despite his having been banished from France because of his political activism.
Reclus was the second son of a Protestant pastor and his wife. From the family of fourteen children, several, including his brother and fellow geographer Onésime Reclus, went on to achieve renown either as men of letters, politicians or members of the learned professions.
Reclus began his education in Rhenish Prussia, and continued higher studies at the Protestant college of Montauban. He completed his studies at University of Berlin, where he followed a long course of geography under Carl Ritter.
Withdrawing from France because of political events of December 1851, he spent the next six years (1852 - 1857) traveling and working in Great Britain, the United States, Central America, and Colombia. Arriving in Louisiana in 1853, Reclus worked for about two and a half years as a tutor to the children of Septime and Félicité Fortier at their plantation Félicité, located about 50 miles upriver from New Orleans. He recounted his passage through the Mississippi river delta and impressions of antebellum New Orleans and the state in Fragment d'un voyage á Louisiane, published in 1855.
On his return to Paris, Reclus contributed to the Revue des deux mondes, the Tour du monde and other periodicals, a large number of articles embodying the results of his geographical work. Among other works of this period was the short book Histoire d’un ruisseau, in which he traced the development of a great river from source to mouth. From 1867 - 1868 he published La Terre; description des phénomènes de la vie du globe in two volumes.
During the 1870 siege of Paris, Reclus shared in the aerostatic operations conducted by Félix Nadar, and also served in the National Guard. As a member of the Association Nationale des Travailleurs, he published a hostile manifesto against the government of Versailles in support of the Paris Commune of 1871 in the Cri du Peuple.
Continuing to serve in the National Guard, now in open revolt, Reclus was taken prisoner on April 5, and on November 16 was sentenced to deportation for life. Because of intervention by supporters from England, the sentence was commuted in January 1872 to perpetual banishment from France.
After a short visit to Italy, Reclus settled at Clarens, Switzerland, where he resumed his literary labours and produced Histoire d’une montagne, a companion to Histoire d’un ruisseau. There he wrote nearly the whole of his work, La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes, "an examination of every continent and country in terms of the effects that geographic features like rivers and mountains had on human populations—and vice versa," This compilation was profusely illustrated with maps, plans, and engravings. It was awarded the gold medal of the Paris Geographical Society in 1892. An English edition appeared simultaneously, also in 19 volumes, the first four by E. G. Ravenstein, the rest by A.H. Keane. Reclus's writings were characterized by extreme accuracy and brilliant exposition, which gave them permanent literary and scientific value.
Reclus was the second son of a Protestant pastor and his wife. From the family of fourteen children, several, including his brother and fellow geographer Onésime Reclus, went on to achieve renown either as men of letters, politicians or members of the learned professions.
Reclus began his education in Rhenish Prussia, and continued higher studies at the Protestant college of Montauban. He completed his studies at University of Berlin, where he followed a long course of geography under Carl Ritter.
Withdrawing from France because of political events of December 1851, he spent the next six years (1852 - 1857) traveling and working in Great Britain, the United States, Central America, and Colombia. Arriving in Louisiana in 1853, Reclus worked for about two and a half years as a tutor to the children of Septime and Félicité Fortier at their plantation Félicité, located about 50 miles upriver from New Orleans. He recounted his passage through the Mississippi river delta and impressions of antebellum New Orleans and the state in Fragment d'un voyage á Louisiane, published in 1855.
On his return to Paris, Reclus contributed to the Revue des deux mondes, the Tour du monde and other periodicals, a large number of articles embodying the results of his geographical work. Among other works of this period was the short book Histoire d’un ruisseau, in which he traced the development of a great river from source to mouth. From 1867 - 1868 he published La Terre; description des phénomènes de la vie du globe in two volumes.
During the 1870 siege of Paris, Reclus shared in the aerostatic operations conducted by Félix Nadar, and also served in the National Guard. As a member of the Association Nationale des Travailleurs, he published a hostile manifesto against the government of Versailles in support of the Paris Commune of 1871 in the Cri du Peuple.
Continuing to serve in the National Guard, now in open revolt, Reclus was taken prisoner on April 5, and on November 16 was sentenced to deportation for life. Because of intervention by supporters from England, the sentence was commuted in January 1872 to perpetual banishment from France.
After a short visit to Italy, Reclus settled at Clarens, Switzerland, where he resumed his literary labours and produced Histoire d’une montagne, a companion to Histoire d’un ruisseau. There he wrote nearly the whole of his work, La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes, "an examination of every continent and country in terms of the effects that geographic features like rivers and mountains had on human populations—and vice versa," This compilation was profusely illustrated with maps, plans, and engravings. It was awarded the gold medal of the Paris Geographical Society in 1892. An English edition appeared simultaneously, also in 19 volumes, the first four by E. G. Ravenstein, the rest by A.H. Keane. Reclus's writings were characterized by extreme accuracy and brilliant exposition, which gave them permanent literary and scientific value.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 1, 2016
3.5 étoiles. Une œuvre de vulgarisation sur la nature des montagnes, écrite simplement et jamais emphatique, ce que je craignais étant un texte du XIX siècle. Ce qui rend ce livre encore moderne sont les prévisions de l'auteur sur comment l'homme aurait de plus en plus exploité la montagne: pas seulement par la construction de chemins de fer et tunnels, mais aussi comme Réclus envisage: "des ascenseurs mécaniques auront été établis sur les parois des monts jadis inaccessibles, et les "touristes" se feront hisser le long des murs vertigineux...".
La montagne et la nature resteront quand même lieux de liberté pour s'enfuir du "grand tumulte des humains" et retrouver ses propres pensées et sa propre direction.
C'est une œuvre pleine d'amour pour la montagne: cet amour enrobe toute la narration d'une grande douceur et touche qui lit jusqu'à lui apaiser l'esprit.
La montagne et la nature resteront quand même lieux de liberté pour s'enfuir du "grand tumulte des humains" et retrouver ses propres pensées et sa propre direction.
C'est une œuvre pleine d'amour pour la montagne: cet amour enrobe toute la narration d'une grande douceur et touche qui lit jusqu'à lui apaiser l'esprit.
February 17, 2026
Escrito en 1880, el autor nos da su romántica/poética visión de unas montañas, que no han cambiado tanto desde entonces como a veces creemos o nos quieren hacer creer
Magníficamente editado por “errata naturae” (no es la misma que aparece en la App) , su lectura te traslada a la tranquilidad, el aire puro, las cumbres nevadas, los valles verdes y las personas y animales que los pueblan
Muy recomendable para leer en el tren/metro, aeropuertos o incluso en medio de los atascos para luego animarse a salir al monte los fines de semana o vacaciones
7,5
Magníficamente editado por “errata naturae” (no es la misma que aparece en la App) , su lectura te traslada a la tranquilidad, el aire puro, las cumbres nevadas, los valles verdes y las personas y animales que los pueblan
Muy recomendable para leer en el tren/metro, aeropuertos o incluso en medio de los atascos para luego animarse a salir al monte los fines de semana o vacaciones
7,5
February 14, 2026
Muy bueno. Muy descriptivo a veces, pero da gusto leer la visión completa de un buen naturalista.
July 9, 2015
merci.
October 21, 2015
Anarcopimitivismo.
January 6, 2019
Pues todo una maravilla y un gusto y una delicadeza (salvo el loquísimo capítulo del cretinismo y el desbarre místico, que añaden color al asunto) y ojalá ver así de bien las montañas.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews