Andare in montagna è tornare a casa. Saggi sulla natura selvaggia

by John Muir, Caterina Bernardini (Translator)

200 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2020

About the author

John Muir was far more than a naturalist; he was a secular prophet who translated the rugged language of the wilderness into a spiritual calling that saved the American soul from total surrender to materialism. Born in 1838 in the coastal town of Dunbar, Scotland, Muir’s childhood was a blend of seaside wanderings and a brutal religious upbringing. His father, Daniel Muir, was a man of uncompromising faith who forced John to memorize the New Testament and most of the Old Testament by age eleven. When the family immigrated to the frontier of Wisconsin in 1849, this iron-fisted discipline continued on their farm. However, for the young Muir, the "Book of Nature" began to rival the Bible. He saw the divine not just in scripture, but in the black locust trees and the sun-drenched meadows of the midwest.
The pivotal moment of Muir’s life occurred in 1867 while working at a wagon wheel factory in Indianapolis. A tool slipped, piercing his cornea and leaving him temporarily blind in both eyes. Confined to a darkened room for six weeks, Muir faced the terrifying prospect of a life without light. When his sight miraculously returned, he emerged with a clarity of purpose that would change the course of American history. He famously wrote, "This affliction has driven me to the sweet fields. God has to nearly kill us sometimes, to teach us lessons." He immediately set out on a 1,000-mile walk to the Gulf of Mexico, beginning a lifelong odyssey of exploration.
Muir eventually found his "true home" in California’s Sierra Nevada. To Muir, the mountains were not mere piles of rock, but "the range of light." He spent years as a shepherd and guide in Yosemite, living a life of extreme simplicity—often traveling with nothing but a tin cup, a crust of bread, and a volume of Emerson’s essays. His scientific contributions were equally profound; he defied the leading geologists of the day by proving that the Yosemite Valley was carved by ancient glaciers. While the state geologist, Josiah Whitney, dismissed him as a mere "shepherd," the world’s leading glaciologists eventually recognized Muir’s genius.
His transition from explorer to activist was born of necessity. Seeing the "hoofed locusts"—domestic sheep—devouring the high mountain meadows, Muir took up his pen. His landmark articles in The Century Magazine and his 1903 camping trip with President Theodore Roosevelt became the catalysts for the modern conservation movement. Under the stars at Glacier Point, Muir convinced the President that the wilderness required federal protection. This meeting laid the groundwork for the expansion of the National Park system and the eventual return of Yosemite Valley to federal control.
As the co-founder and first president of the Sierra Club, Muir spent his final years in a fierce philosophical battle with Gifford Pinchot. While Pinchot argued for "conservation" (the sustainable use of resources), Muir championed "preservation" (the protection of nature for its own sake). Though he lost the battle to save the Hetch Hetchy Valley from being dammed, the heartbreak of that loss galvanized the American public, ensuring that future "cathedrals of nature" would remain inviolate. John Muir died in 1914, but his voice remains ubiquitous, reminding us that "into the woods we go, to lose our minds and find our souls."

Reviews

[Annalisa]

Dieci racconti sulla wilderness scritti da John Muir, pioniere del conservazionismo e icona dell'ambientalismo.
Oppositore dell'antropocentrismo, è ritenuto il padre dei Parchi Nazionali statunitensi, ha infatti avuto un ruolo fondamentale nella creazione dei parchi di Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Canyon e Mount Rainer.
Un libro illuminante e poetico che vi farà venire voglia di indossare gli scarponi e andare a vedere da vicino quello spettacolo che è la natura selvaggia.

[Marco Dp]

Raccolta di articoli e diari di Muir selezionati dalla sua enorme produzione letteraria rispetto all'esperienza umana nella natura cosiddetta "selvaggia". I saggi sono in ordine sparso ed è possibile leggerli a piacimento in base al proprio interesse, trattandosi di una raccolta articolata per argomenti (botanica, zoologia, mineralogia e cosi via). Il pensiero di Muir è suggestivo e la prosa molto affascinante, l'unica - personale, quindi magari trascurabile - nota amara è che la sua analisi lascia un po' troppo spazio ad una visione spirituale ed a volte religiosa della natura (che lui spesso scrive con la lettera maiuscola, piccola notazione che ho sempre trovato obsoleta), ma è anche facilmente comprensibile dato il contesto storico in cui si sviluppa il suo pensiero e la sua formazione.

[Danilo Loiacono]

vari racconti del padre del più grande parco nazionale degli USA, lo Yosemite che inaugurò insieme a Roosevelt tramite un gruppo di attivisti: la Sierra. Descrive in poche pagine la straordinarietà della natura, la forza della tempesta, il silenzio della alte montagne e l'armonia che regna nei luoghi più sperduti in cui compie le sue spedizioni.

[Beatrice Fanchini]

Raccolta di saggi sulla montagna e sui suoi abitanti, libro affascinante e pieno di spunti di riflessione. Nonostante John Muir abbia vissuto a cavallo di 1830 e 1920 riesce a sottolineare temi più che mai attuali.
La sua visione non antropocentrica è provocatoria e la scrittura è divertente e fluida.