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In de wildernis
De Schotse John Muir verhuisde halverwege de negentiende eeuw met zijn ouders vanuit een Schots dorpje naar Wisconsin in de VS. Zij besloten daar een nieuwe boerderij en een nieuw leven op te bouwen. Het ravottende baasje van elf dat van vogels en dieren hield en van buiten zijn, werd in een nieuw land neergezet en ravotte daar met zijn broertjes en zusjes gewoon door, maar zag nieuwe vogels en nieuwe dieren.
Muir werd de grootste natuurbeschermer van de VS, de man die zorgde voor de oprichting van Nationale Parken als Sequoia en Yosemite, en natuurlijk zijn eigen Muir Woods.
In deze verrassende keuze uit zijn geschriften leren we de natuur van Amerika kennen zoals die dankzij Muir op veel plekken is bewaard, verbijsterend veelzijdig en geweldig. Muirs verwondering over wat hij ziet, zijn behoefte het landschap te begrijpen en aan te raken, te tekenen, er te slapen en te verdwalen zijn met zoveel precisie beschreven dat de lezer zich nog steeds aan Muirs bossen en bergen kan laven.
Muir gidst de lezer door landschappen die door zijn toedoen en bescherming nog steeds de eigenschappen bezitten die Muir zelf zo lyrisch maakten.
Muir werd de grootste natuurbeschermer van de VS, de man die zorgde voor de oprichting van Nationale Parken als Sequoia en Yosemite, en natuurlijk zijn eigen Muir Woods.
In deze verrassende keuze uit zijn geschriften leren we de natuur van Amerika kennen zoals die dankzij Muir op veel plekken is bewaard, verbijsterend veelzijdig en geweldig. Muirs verwondering over wat hij ziet, zijn behoefte het landschap te begrijpen en aan te raken, te tekenen, er te slapen en te verdwalen zijn met zoveel precisie beschreven dat de lezer zich nog steeds aan Muirs bossen en bergen kan laven.
Muir gidst de lezer door landschappen die door zijn toedoen en bescherming nog steeds de eigenschappen bezitten die Muir zelf zo lyrisch maakten.
- GenresTravel
197 pages, Paperback
Published February 12, 2018
6 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
John Muir
596 books1,424 followersJohn Muir (1838 – 1914) was a Scottish-American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions. His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is now one of the most important conservation organizations in the United States. One of the best-known hiking trails in the U.S., the 211-mile (340 km) John Muir Trail, was named in his honor. Other such places include Muir Woods National Monument, Muir Beach, John Muir College, Mount Muir, Camp Muir and Muir Glacier.
In his later life, Muir devoted most of his time to the preservation of the Western forests. He petitioned the U.S. Congress for the National Park bill that was passed in 1890, establishing Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. The spiritual quality and enthusiasm toward nature expressed in his writings inspired readers, including presidents and congressmen, to take action to help preserve large nature areas. He is today referred to as the "Father of the National Parks" and the National Park Service has produced a short documentary about his life.
Muir's biographer, Steven J. Holmes, believes that Muir has become "one of the patron saints of twentieth-century American environmental activity," both political and recreational. As a result, his writings are commonly discussed in books and journals, and he is often quoted by nature photographers such as Ansel Adams. "Muir has profoundly shaped the very categories through which Americans understand and envision their relationships with the natural world," writes Holmes. Muir was noted for being an ecological thinker, political spokesman, and religious prophet, whose writings became a personal guide into nature for countless individuals, making his name "almost ubiquitous" in the modern environmental consciousness. According to author William Anderson, Muir exemplified "the archetype of our oneness with the earth".
Muir was extremely fond of Henry David Thoreau and was probably influenced more by him than even Ralph Waldo Emerson. Muir often referred to himself as a "disciple" of Thoreau. He was also heavily influenced by fellow naturalist John Burroughs.
During his lifetime John Muir published over 300 articles and 12 books. He co-founded the Sierra Club, which helped establish a number of national parks after he died and today has over 1.3 million members. Author Gretel Ehrlich states that as a "dreamer and activist, his eloquent words changed the way Americans saw their mountains, forests, seashores, and deserts." He not only led the efforts to protect forest areas and have some designated as national parks, but his writings gave readers a conception of the relationship between "human culture and wild nature as one of humility and respect for all life," writes author Thurman Wilkins.
His philosophy exalted wild nature over human culture and civilization. Turner describes him as "a man who in his singular way rediscovered America. . . . an American pioneer, an American hero." Wilkins adds that a primary aim of Muir’s nature philosophy was to challenge mankind’s "enormous conceit," and in so doing, he moved beyond the Transcendentalism of Emerson and Thoreau to a "biocentric perspective on the world."
In the months after his death, many who knew Muir closely wrote about his influences.
In his later life, Muir devoted most of his time to the preservation of the Western forests. He petitioned the U.S. Congress for the National Park bill that was passed in 1890, establishing Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. The spiritual quality and enthusiasm toward nature expressed in his writings inspired readers, including presidents and congressmen, to take action to help preserve large nature areas. He is today referred to as the "Father of the National Parks" and the National Park Service has produced a short documentary about his life.
Muir's biographer, Steven J. Holmes, believes that Muir has become "one of the patron saints of twentieth-century American environmental activity," both political and recreational. As a result, his writings are commonly discussed in books and journals, and he is often quoted by nature photographers such as Ansel Adams. "Muir has profoundly shaped the very categories through which Americans understand and envision their relationships with the natural world," writes Holmes. Muir was noted for being an ecological thinker, political spokesman, and religious prophet, whose writings became a personal guide into nature for countless individuals, making his name "almost ubiquitous" in the modern environmental consciousness. According to author William Anderson, Muir exemplified "the archetype of our oneness with the earth".
Muir was extremely fond of Henry David Thoreau and was probably influenced more by him than even Ralph Waldo Emerson. Muir often referred to himself as a "disciple" of Thoreau. He was also heavily influenced by fellow naturalist John Burroughs.
During his lifetime John Muir published over 300 articles and 12 books. He co-founded the Sierra Club, which helped establish a number of national parks after he died and today has over 1.3 million members. Author Gretel Ehrlich states that as a "dreamer and activist, his eloquent words changed the way Americans saw their mountains, forests, seashores, and deserts." He not only led the efforts to protect forest areas and have some designated as national parks, but his writings gave readers a conception of the relationship between "human culture and wild nature as one of humility and respect for all life," writes author Thurman Wilkins.
His philosophy exalted wild nature over human culture and civilization. Turner describes him as "a man who in his singular way rediscovered America. . . . an American pioneer, an American hero." Wilkins adds that a primary aim of Muir’s nature philosophy was to challenge mankind’s "enormous conceit," and in so doing, he moved beyond the Transcendentalism of Emerson and Thoreau to a "biocentric perspective on the world."
In the months after his death, many who knew Muir closely wrote about his influences.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 20, 2018
John Muir still is a big name in America. Almost on his own, this son of Scottish immigrants was responsible for the recognition and protection of many 'national parcs', in the United States at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The most famous of these are in California, with Yosemite Valley at the top.
This booklet is an anthology of the many reports that Muir made during his often adventurous walks through the still very 'wilderness-like' America of that time, looking for pieces of untouched nature. Muir was a botanist in training and it is therefore logical that most attention goes to the infinite variety of plants and trees. But also geological aspects, the formation of ravines and glacial valleys are discussed. It is incredible with what an eye for detail Muir observes and describes all that beauty with an enthusiasm that is disarming and inspiring, and also regularly has a religious touch.
One of the most remarkable fragments in this book is the description of the enormous diversity of sounds that he hears during a violent storm, after he has climbed 20 meters high in a stately douglas fir, swinging to and fro. At least as horrifying is his description of the exploration of a glacier in Alaska, again in stormy weather, where he barely escapes death, and in the meantime a small dog is following him, with which he develops a special bond.
The striking thing about the anthology is that Muir emerges as an unadulterated nature-romantic: he becomes absolutely lyrical at the sight of untouched natural beauty, and he contrasts that "paradisiacal purity" with the depravity of modern civilization. There is also something solemn, archaic about the literary style of Muir, which is very much respected by the Dutch translator.
One critical reflection, though: Muir is very concerned about the threats to the natural beauty, and rightly so, but in the period of time that he traveled through the described areas and was enchanted by the landscapes, very nearby there was a form of genocide in progress against the Indians. Judging from this anthology, his sensitivity to this issue apparently was much less developed.
Nevertheless, warmly recommended, this booklet. Not to read on the beach, at the pool or on a terrace. No, better in a swaying cornfield, a majestic spruce forest or high in the mountains near glacier ice ... these are the places where this booklet really comes into its own.
This booklet is an anthology of the many reports that Muir made during his often adventurous walks through the still very 'wilderness-like' America of that time, looking for pieces of untouched nature. Muir was a botanist in training and it is therefore logical that most attention goes to the infinite variety of plants and trees. But also geological aspects, the formation of ravines and glacial valleys are discussed. It is incredible with what an eye for detail Muir observes and describes all that beauty with an enthusiasm that is disarming and inspiring, and also regularly has a religious touch.
One of the most remarkable fragments in this book is the description of the enormous diversity of sounds that he hears during a violent storm, after he has climbed 20 meters high in a stately douglas fir, swinging to and fro. At least as horrifying is his description of the exploration of a glacier in Alaska, again in stormy weather, where he barely escapes death, and in the meantime a small dog is following him, with which he develops a special bond.
The striking thing about the anthology is that Muir emerges as an unadulterated nature-romantic: he becomes absolutely lyrical at the sight of untouched natural beauty, and he contrasts that "paradisiacal purity" with the depravity of modern civilization. There is also something solemn, archaic about the literary style of Muir, which is very much respected by the Dutch translator.
One critical reflection, though: Muir is very concerned about the threats to the natural beauty, and rightly so, but in the period of time that he traveled through the described areas and was enchanted by the landscapes, very nearby there was a form of genocide in progress against the Indians. Judging from this anthology, his sensitivity to this issue apparently was much less developed.
Nevertheless, warmly recommended, this booklet. Not to read on the beach, at the pool or on a terrace. No, better in a swaying cornfield, a majestic spruce forest or high in the mountains near glacier ice ... these are the places where this booklet really comes into its own.
August 25, 2019
Een snoepertje van een boek, eigenlijk een bloemlezing van Muir zijn hoogtepunten. Muir, immers, zou vermoedelijk nog geen gevoel van eenzaamheid hebben gekend als hij het laatste levende wezen op aard was geweest; hij ‘speelt’ tijdens zijn wandelingen naar hartenlust ‘met de dennen’, ‘converseert’ met ‘de ronde heuveltoppen’, en noemt rotsen zijn ‘dierbare vrienden’, die bij momenten lijken te ‘willen praten’. Werkelijk álles lijkt met Muir mee te leven: watervallen zingen lieflijke slaapliedjes, en de maan wordt uiteraard niet louter gezien, maar kijkt ook zélf neer op wat er zich op de wereld zoal afspeelt.
January 4, 2020
I love Muir's writings, but there were a bit too many glacier ramblings this time.
January 15, 2020
Heerlijk nostalgisch en licht afgunstig met John Muir door de weidse en gulle natuur van Noord-Amerika trekken.
Muir heeft een goede pen en zijn stukken geven een heldere indruk van de indrukwekkende, rijke natuur die onze aardbol (Noord-Amerika) te bieden heeft. Soms zo helder dat je zou willen dat er 4 soorten bloemen minder groeiden rond de kreek die hij beschrijft, zodat de tekst wat meer vaart zou krijgen ;).
Muir heeft een goede pen en zijn stukken geven een heldere indruk van de indrukwekkende, rijke natuur die onze aardbol (Noord-Amerika) te bieden heeft. Soms zo helder dat je zou willen dat er 4 soorten bloemen minder groeiden rond de kreek die hij beschrijft, zodat de tekst wat meer vaart zou krijgen ;).
Read
September 4, 2022Mooie meditaties over de natuur, waarvan er veel nog verassend actueel zijn of misschien nog wel nijpender zijn geworden. Ook hier en daar een mooie reflectie op de mens en de mentale veerkracht. By far mijn meest favoriete hoofdstuk is die van Stickeen.
July 13, 2021
This was a great read on a rainy day while out camping. A collection of stories from John Muir, translated in Dutch. Nature in America has always fascinated me, and their natural parks are on my to-visit list one day. I love the writing, but it can be quite detailed with plant names and terms, which could be less enjoyable for some.
September 25, 2022
John Muir was een held die zich in zijn graf zou omdraaien als hij zou weten hoe de wildernis van de States te grabbel gegooid is. John Muir heeft met succes gelobbyd voor het creëren van nationale parken en reservaten in de VS om de natuur te behouden. In dit boek is een aantal verslagen van zijn tochten door de wildernis verzameld, en kunnen we over zijn schouder meegenieten van zijn avonturen.
April 14, 2021
Some parts were brilliant and heart-moving. But mostly the descriptions were too botanical for my taste. I can imagine that for Americans or people who know the regions he describes, it's far more interesting. It did give me a constant itch to go camping though!
August 22, 2019
The mountains are calling and i must go...
Helaas was dit boek niet wat ik dacht dat het was....
Maar 1 hoofdstuk waar ik me waande in de natuur door de mooie beschrijvingen.
Helaas was dit boek niet wat ik dacht dat het was....
Maar 1 hoofdstuk waar ik me waande in de natuur door de mooie beschrijvingen.
May 12, 2021
Het boek is zeker vier sterren waard, maar ik kon me er absoluut niet op concentreren.
June 10, 2024
vijf sterren voor deel 1 waarin hij over zijn jeugd vertelt. De rest vond ik oeverloos saai.
June 13, 2020
Wanneer je in de Amerikaanse nationale parken bent geweest zie je de prachtige omgeving, zo vol detail beschreven door John Muir, zo voor je.
Het boek is soms zo beschrijvend dat het de aandacht niet helemaal vast kan houden.
Het boek is soms zo beschrijvend dat het de aandacht niet helemaal vast kan houden.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews