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Reviews tagging 'Animal death'
A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold
3 reviews
ceruleanseas's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Minor: Colonisation
laurareads87's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
2.0
Sand County Almanac is a classic of conservation writing, released posthumously by the author’s son as two volumes (here combined) in 1949 and 1953.
What I appreciated about this book is some of the nature writing – there are some truly beautiful turns of phrase here, and I enjoyed the author’s descriptions of the land, trees, and animals. As someone who grew up on a similar latitude to Sand County, many of the species were very familiar to me which I’m sure made me appreciate it even more. I also appreciate Leopold’s vision of education fostering an ethical orientation toward land and other species and a desire to understand the complex interconnections of ecosystems – these visions, I think, are still relevant and still needed amidst so much disconnection from nature.
With this said, there is a lot about this book that I think doesn’t work today, and which I found rather frustrating. He writes that “we abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us” [xviii] and that conceiving of nature in capitalist terms, or in capitalist terms only anyway, is a problem – yes!! – but then continues to conceptualize it in terms of “resources” for humans to use (albeit not solely economic resources). This, I think, doesn’t go nearly far enough to undermining the commodifying thinking he criticizes. He calls for enlarging the boundaries of ethical community to include non-human species and the land, and to conceptualizing nature in terms of community, yet continues to set humans apart, even writing of humans’ “superiority over the beasts” having “objective evidence” to support it [117-119] and continuing to justify killing members of other species simply for the enjoyment of it. There is also very little connection made between the exploitation of the land for capitalist gain and America as a violent colonial project. So, while I can see relevance of this text in learning about the history of ecological or conservation writing in the United States, I cannot recommend it beyond that.
Content warning: animal cruelty, violence towards & death of non-human animals, colonialism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Colonisation
jiayuanc's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.5
Part 1 of the book has Leopold detailing in month by month chapters how flora and fauna change in and around his farmland; it is truly some of the most beautiful nature writing I have ever read. He is the master of packing a punch in a single sentence; his carefully chosen turns of phrase is sometimes funny, always inspiring. I would have loved to read this book while sitting by the river in cottage country (unfortunately I read this sitting in my home in the city).
Part 2 sees him write about the various states and provinces he has travelled to for adventure or hunting. I completely understand why some people may read this part and feel differently but I love that his conservation includes the importance of hunting.
His part 3 essays are alright as well, though he has some interesting views on who should be the governor of land ethics - he thinks it can only be done through private landowners taking responsibility which I think is an impossibility. I do agree with his critique on just throwing the "more education" phrasing around without actually committing funds to making sure the natural wilderness is protected is pretty useless.
I also want to note that he wrote this book in the late 1940s and thus uses some outdated terminology for Indigenous peoples - Leopold will call them 'American Indians' or 'Red Indians' and makes some generalizations. No doubt that's why other reviewers have pointed to his "colonialism" mindset. While he is outdated with his phrasing here, his ideas on ecology, nature and conservation was probably very forward thinking at the time. His writings and ideas still ring true, if not more so in our modern 2023 day. I hope you will read this book and leave inspired for more expanded wilderness.
Part 2 sees him write about the various states and provinces he has travelled to for adventure or hunting. I completely understand why some people may read this part and feel differently but I love that his conservation includes the importance of hunting.
His part 3 essays are alright as well, though he has some interesting views on who should be the governor of land ethics - he thinks it can only be done through private landowners taking responsibility which I think is an impossibility. I do agree with his critique on just throwing the "more education" phrasing around without actually committing funds to making sure the natural wilderness is protected is pretty useless.
I also want to note that he wrote this book in the late 1940s and thus uses some outdated terminology for Indigenous peoples - Leopold will call them 'American Indians' or 'Red Indians' and makes some generalizations. No doubt that's why other reviewers have pointed to his "colonialism" mindset. While he is outdated with his phrasing here, his ideas on ecology, nature and conservation was probably very forward thinking at the time. His writings and ideas still ring true, if not more so in our modern 2023 day. I hope you will read this book and leave inspired for more expanded wilderness.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death
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