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Always the Mountains
David Rothenberg is one of our most eloquent observers of the interplay between nature, culture, and technology. These nineteen pieces exemplify what has been called Rothenberg's "amiable" mix of interests, styles, and approaches.
In settings that range from wildest Norway to his own front porch in upstate New York, Rothenberg discusses the Hudson River School of painters, the hazy provenance of Chief Seattle's famous speech, ecoterrorism, suburbia, the World Wide Web, and much more. He asks if we can save a place less obtrusively than by turning it into a park. He muses on the plight of a pacifist beset by a swarm of mosquitoes. He ascends Mt. Ventoux with Petrarch and Mt. Katahdin with Thoreau.
In Always the Mountains , Rothenberg dares us to "enjoy the fundamental uncertainty that grounds human existence," to wean ourselves from the habit of simple answers and embrace the world's vastness.
In settings that range from wildest Norway to his own front porch in upstate New York, Rothenberg discusses the Hudson River School of painters, the hazy provenance of Chief Seattle's famous speech, ecoterrorism, suburbia, the World Wide Web, and much more. He asks if we can save a place less obtrusively than by turning it into a park. He muses on the plight of a pacifist beset by a swarm of mosquitoes. He ascends Mt. Ventoux with Petrarch and Mt. Katahdin with Thoreau.
In Always the Mountains , Rothenberg dares us to "enjoy the fundamental uncertainty that grounds human existence," to wean ourselves from the habit of simple answers and embrace the world's vastness.
272 pages, Paperback
First published November 25, 2002
8 people want to read
About the author
David Rothenberg
51 books24 followersDavid Rothenberg is a professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. His research investigates the musicality of animals and the role of nature in philosophy. He received his BA from Harvard College in 1984 and his PhD from Boston University in 1991.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 6, 2018
I'll be honest, I picked this book off of the title during a random rove in the library. I just knew I could not disagree with the statement.
There was a connectedness of the individual chapters that did make whole greater then the sum of it's parts. The mixing of chapters of the authors own ideas with his impressions of those he had learned from added much depth and diversity to the perspectives expressed. There was certainly chapters that I took my time moving through and other that just came and went. A found 'A Plea for Quiet Preservation' to present a very important stance on a challenge that is continuing to grow.
This was a very thought-provoking read for me. It filled a niche that was had been missing for awhile.
There was a connectedness of the individual chapters that did make whole greater then the sum of it's parts. The mixing of chapters of the authors own ideas with his impressions of those he had learned from added much depth and diversity to the perspectives expressed. There was certainly chapters that I took my time moving through and other that just came and went. A found 'A Plea for Quiet Preservation' to present a very important stance on a challenge that is continuing to grow.
This was a very thought-provoking read for me. It filled a niche that was had been missing for awhile.
June 11, 2023
This book took me forever to get into and get into his voice. Definitely some typos. But there were some great lines. My favorites:
“when they let me go I felt the future descend, and myself rise to blow in its wind: I’ll face my demons on my own time thank you. We’re all as lucky as we’re willing to be.”
“But I’ll try to know enough not to imagine I will ever know - let the amazement come first, let it drown out the shock of the world”
“And do the mountains care? Does the current notice? Does the tide mark the years or only follow the moon?”
“when they let me go I felt the future descend, and myself rise to blow in its wind: I’ll face my demons on my own time thank you. We’re all as lucky as we’re willing to be.”
“But I’ll try to know enough not to imagine I will ever know - let the amazement come first, let it drown out the shock of the world”
“And do the mountains care? Does the current notice? Does the tide mark the years or only follow the moon?”
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews