Arctic Dreams
by Barry Lopez
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Book Summary Information
Author: Barry LopezEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-10-02
ISBN: 0375727485
Number of pages: 496
Publisher: Vintage
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780375727481
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Arctic Dreams
Book Review: Reading to Understand the Planet
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first book by Barry Lopez, but it won't be my last. Before reading Arctic Dreams I thought I had some sort of a clue about what the Arctic was like: land of the midnight sun, aurora borealis, tundra and permafrost, long dark winters. Over 400 pages later I have a lot more information, and I now understand that I don't really have a clue. The history, archeology, cultures, ecosystems, land and ice forms are all much more complex than most are likely to imagine.
Ice itself is infinitely complex. There are various kinds of sea ice, glacial ice, ice lenses in the soil, frozen soil, land ice, ice that forms shelves between land and sea. The ice changes in physical properties depending on the salt content of the water, how long it has been frozen, and many other factors that all affect the plants, animals, and people that are part of the arctic landscape. The arctic food chain actually depends on ice. Of this food chain Lopez states "The algae at the bottom of this food web are called "epontic" algae, the algae of the sea ice." He goes on to say that, "It is the ice . . . that holds this life together."
While Lopez does not make a strong case for the effects that the arctic food chain has on the entire planet, it does not take a great leap to come to this understanding. Most animals that depend on the arctic are transitory visitors. They spend spring and summer feasting on pollen, insects, algae, or other creatures that live on these seasonal resources. They may depend on this bounty for nesting and raising young, or in other cases they may use the arctic as a feeding station for long migrations. These migrating animals tie the arctic food web to the landscapes and food chains that many of us inhabit and depend on. The nutrients that are produced by the algae living on sea ice make their way around the world in the movements of animals and ocean currents. Lopez doesn't dwell on climate change or the melting of the arctic. However, this seems to be a something we should all be concerned about.
Anyone who is interested in understanding the planet, and our history as social and political creatures, will appreciate this book. I found some of the information I have been introduced to in other books strengthened and deepened with this reading. In "Collapse, How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" the author, Jared Diamond, discusses our ability to change and adapt as key to our survival. This is also reflected in Arctic Dreams, where Lopez discusses the failure of Arctic explorers to adapt and learn from Native people. The result of this failure to change resulted in repeated large scale tragedies--with hundreds of men lost, frostbitten, suffering from starvation, and sometimes even cannibalism.*
Lopez also explores ground relating to the history of the "discovery" of the Western Hemisphere. I first read about Europeans fishing along Eastern North America's coast line before North America's "discovery" in "Cape Cod," by Henry David Thoreau. Lopez covers this subject, and may even use the same documentation as Thoreau. However, he lingers longer and deepens our understanding. The ice crystals in the northern atmosphere, at times, create reflections of land masses that are below the horizon. During these events, land that is normally beyond our view becomes visible. Northern mariners, of all nationalities, have utilized these phenomena to find "new" land and fishing grounds. Lopez also explains that only the European elite class was considered capable of making "discoveries." Peasant fisherman, wanderers, or early settlers were expected to get out of the way so the elite could have their way--some things just don't seem to change. **
Arctic Dreams is beautiful written. The prose sings, illuminates, and educates. We are treated to first hand stories about musk ox and polar bear, as well as the results of scientific studies that look into these and other arctic creatures. The arctic is reflected back to us from indigenous inhabitants, explorers, and those who plunder resources. The collision between these forces has a huge bearing on the arctic, and perhaps, on all of us.
"Arctic Dreams, Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape," by Barry Lopez, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1986
~~~~~~
* When you're ready to change--both for yourself and the planet--see my book "Food Security & Sustainability for the Times Ahead".
** You will find reviews of "Collapse" and "Cape Cod" in my Facebook notes as well as on Amazon.com.
~~~~~
Note to Native readers: Barry Lopez calls all far north indigenous people "Eskimos." I thought this was a little odd, until I read the end notes (after I had read the rest of the text). In these notes he explains that the people do not like to be called Eskimos. I was a little horrified that he knew better, yet chose to promote this term. He knew the people--with whom he camped, ate, and hunted, and that he also called "friend"--would be offended. I do highly recommend this book, just keep in mind that the author considers himself white, and it shows.
~~~~~
For permission to post or publish outside Facebook or Amazon.com please contact me at: harvest95546@yahoo.com All my reviews are available--with permission--to post or publish on other sites or in print based publications.
Summary of Arctic Dreams
Barry Lopez's National Book Award-winning classic study of the Far North is widely considered his masterpiece.Lopez offers a thorough examination of this obscure world-its terrain, its wildlife, its history of Eskimo natives and intrepid explorers who have arrived on their icy shores. But what turns this marvelous work of natural history into a breathtaking study of profound originality is his unique meditation on how the landscape can shape our imagination, desires, and dreams. Its prose as hauntingly pure as the land it describes, Arctic Dreams is nothing less than an indelible classic of modern literature.
Based on 15 extended trips to the Canadian far north over a five-year period, Arctic Dreams celebrates the mysteries of what documentarians fondly call "last frontiers." Such places are everywhere in danger of destruction in the interest of ever-elusive economic progress, but Lopez writes no jeremiads. Instead, he aims to foster a kind of learned understanding of wild places, in this case the vast, scarcely knowable northern landscape. Writing of the natural history of the Arctic and its inhabitants--narwhals, polar bears, beluga whales, musk oxen, and caribou among them--Lopez draws powerful lessons from the land and imparts them assuredly and gracefully. Arctic Dreams deservedly won a National Book Award in 1986 when it was first published.
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