Is a river alive?

Book

Is a river alive? / Robert Macfarlane.

Macfarlane, Robert, 1976- (author.).

Summary:

"Hailed in the New York Times as 'a naturalist who can unfurl a sentence with the breathless ease of a master angler,' Robert Macfarlane brings his glittering style to a profound work of travel writing, reportage, and natural history. Is a River Alive? is a joyful, mind-expanding exploration of an ancient, urgent idea: that rivers are living beings who should be recognized as such in imagination and law. Macfarlane takes readers on three unforgettable journeys teeming with extraordinary people, stories, and places: to the miraculous cloud-forests and mountain streams of Ecuador, to the wounded creeks and lagoons of India, and to the spectacular wild rivers of Canada -- imperiled respectively by mining, pollution, and dams. Braiding these journeys is the life story of the fragile chalk stream a mile from Macfarlane's house, a stream who flows through his own years and days. Powered by dazzling prose and lit throughout by other minds and voices, Is a River Alive? will open hearts, challenge perspectives, and remind us that our fate flows with that of rivers -- and always has." -- Provided by publisher.

Record details

ISBN: 9780393242133
ISBN: 0393242137
Physical Description: ix, 374 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York, NY : W.W. Norton & Company, [2025]
Copyright: ©2025

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:: Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-345) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:: Prologue: The Springs -- Introduction: Anima -- Part I The River of the Cedars (Eucador) -- The Springs (Winter) -- Part II Ghosts, Monsters and Angels (India) -- The Springs (Spring) -- Part III The Living River (Nitassinan/Canada) -- Epilogue: The Springs (Autumn).