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Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane - 4* - My Review

In Landmarks, Robert Macfarlane explores the relationship between language and landscape. The book is structured in a series of essays covering nature writers and their works. It also serves as a memoir. Macfarlane traverses the British Isles and beyond, collecting specialized vocabularies that different communities have developed to describe their local terrains. These glossaries are inserted between each essay. The author believes we are losing our ability to describe the natural world just as we are losing our connection to it.

Macfarlane excels at nature writing. His prose is lyrical. He makes a compelling case for the importance of maintaining these specialized vocabularies as tools to express our appreciation for the natural world. I particularly enjoyed his essay regarding Barry Lopez, one of my personal favorite nature writers. I will likely be looking into several of the works mentioned in this book. It is a peaceful and relaxing read that I enjoyed very much.