The Courage of Turtles

by Edward Hoagland

These fifteen essays, by perhaps our finest personal essayist, range over the widest possible territory - county fairs, rodeos, the circus, boxing, taxidermy, bear hunting, about being a writer, about tugboats, and about the courage of the animal kingdom. They explore compassion, pain, love, and the densely textured spectacle of a world endlessly compelling to its author. And they are brilliant. (5 1/2 X 8 1/4, 256 pages)

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Nature

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Edward Hoagland (born December 21, 1932, in New York, New York) is an author best known for his nature and travel writing. His non-fiction has been widely praised by writers such as John Updike, who called him "the best essayist of my generation."

Reviews

[carson · Rating 3 out of 5]

*read for class
The Courage of Turtles is an essay that was equally horrifying and heartbreaking. There were lines that horrified me to my core in regard to how these animals were being treated/their situations, but then there would be lines that would bring me hope and simultaneously break my heart.

The middle sections did suffer from over-analysis. Hoagland went so in-depth on the details of his turtles that I felt like I was losing my mind a little bit.

Anyways... yay to the first bit of school reading!

[Roger Burk · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are essays from around 1970 by the sort of upper-crust bohemian one rarely hears about nowadays. He bounced around prep schools, declared himself a socialist, literally ran off and joined the circus, fought forest fires in the West, joined the Army, went to Harvard, became a writer, moved to Manhattan, destroyed his draft card. The essays often mention the existential concerns of the 60s: overpopulation, pollution, nuclear war. He is pessimistic about the prospects of the next generation.

He writes charmingly about bear hunting with dogs, the fluorescence of Jewish-American literature, having a stutter, his numerous past loves (he came late to the party, but made up for lost time--unless they're all fantasies--how would one ever know?), professional boxing, taxidermy, carnival shows, his ancestors. The essays sometimes wander, but they are well-written and Hoagland is observant, tolerant, and kind. He describes life as he sees it. Somehow his stories remind me of the News from Lake Wobegon.

[Amy Dong · Rating 3 out of 5]

One or two of the essays are brilliant and stand the test of time - including the essays about turtles, the golden rule, and love. Some miss the mark and left me feeling underwhelmed, including the ones about home being two places and being a WASP (it felt a mix of trite and obnoxious - he recognizes his own privilege but in a not-so-inviting way). Others are just a bit outdated for our time, e.g., circus life and hunting bears (although the nature-loving side of him comes out subtly and quite beautifully in the latter).

Overall, a good but not great read!

[TopBob · Rating 5 out of 5]

RIP lil bro turtle !!!

[Terry Earley · Rating 1 out of 5]

On your recommendation, Deja.

Uh, I really could not get into these essays. They just seemed dated and ordinary. No doubt it is my limited ability to appreciate them. Still, I read a few, including the turtles.

[Paddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing nature writer. And pretty good on the circus too.