tbutton's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
florisw's review against another edition
5.0
Macfarlane recalls his experiences in underground spaces, from caves and mines in Britain, to the Paris catacombs and Italian Carso, to Scandinavian fjords and glaciers. Along the way he explains how underground spaces are shaped, naturally and artificially, and how they relate to the different ways we interact with it: to shelter (memories, precious matter, messages, fragile lives); to yield (information, wealth, metaphors, minerals, visions); to dispose (waste, trauma, poison, secrets). The book is thoroughly captivating, incredibly vivid, and almost visceral in its storytelling. Some of the passages are genuinely quite scary to read (especially if you have claustrophobia and a strong imagination). “Fear slithers up my spine, spills greasy down my throat” (p. 120). If that sounds indulgent to you, I would agree. Some of his passages are so lush they are hard for me to follow. But for the most part his scenes are quite lively and realistic, making for a compelling read. If nothing else, I feel like my vocabulary has increased by reading this book, which is a plus.
The vivid storytelling is also impressive given the material Macfarlane works with. The dark underground does not strike me as an easy place to describe visually. And yet he manages to eek every detail out of every cave wall. His underlands are alive, both explicitly (as the glacier containing a rich diversity of microscopic life) and implicitly (as the glacier “breathing”). Amongst the romantic passages of underland encounters are also some great references to ongoing intellectual debates (think: the Anthropocene; Western aesthetic understandings of nature; the role of science as a way of studying and understanding nature). Macfarlane sometimes acknowledges these intellectual influences, for example by referring to scholars (e.g. Anna Tsing) or specific concepts (e.g. hyperobjects), but mostly leaves it at little hints and goes no further. It’s probably what makes this a great read both for leisure and a bit of brain work, and ultimately a great piece of nature writing!
The vivid storytelling is also impressive given the material Macfarlane works with. The dark underground does not strike me as an easy place to describe visually. And yet he manages to eek every detail out of every cave wall. His underlands are alive, both explicitly (as the glacier containing a rich diversity of microscopic life) and implicitly (as the glacier “breathing”). Amongst the romantic passages of underland encounters are also some great references to ongoing intellectual debates (think: the Anthropocene; Western aesthetic understandings of nature; the role of science as a way of studying and understanding nature). Macfarlane sometimes acknowledges these intellectual influences, for example by referring to scholars (e.g. Anna Tsing) or specific concepts (e.g. hyperobjects), but mostly leaves it at little hints and goes no further. It’s probably what makes this a great read both for leisure and a bit of brain work, and ultimately a great piece of nature writing!
tabjuh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
cpwang65's review against another edition
5.0
A very interesting book.
The beginning was hard to get through. There was a lot of technical stuff to get through, various scientific description. Physics, astrophysics, various geology stuff. Background stuff, plus description to understand the hazards of venturing underground, temperature, atmosphere (limited amounts of oxygen, turning into carbon dioxide), dangerous footing, specifics of the past of the earth. Plus is this a new era, maybe that of the anthropocene (spelling?) dominated by the existence of humans.
After the first 15-20%, the book became much easier to read. More about personal experiences, with each chapter a different location.
Beginning was in the America’s (Mexico?). Later on in such places as Scotland (England?), Paris / France / Spain with a large part about the catacombs under Paris.
Some other places
Slovenia - water above ground leading to underground caves
Greenland - glaciers, melting, effects of climate change, and the mining industry trying to move in to extract precious materials including metals.
Norway - conflict between fishing industry and oil industry
Finland - process of storing nuclear waste
(I didn’t take notes. I am sure I omitted quite a few locations.)
Towards the end, the places were more extreme winter areas, and mainly above ground.
For the author and the people going with him, the outdoor environment is extremely harsh.
The beginning was hard to get through. There was a lot of technical stuff to get through, various scientific description. Physics, astrophysics, various geology stuff. Background stuff, plus description to understand the hazards of venturing underground, temperature, atmosphere (limited amounts of oxygen, turning into carbon dioxide), dangerous footing, specifics of the past of the earth. Plus is this a new era, maybe that of the anthropocene (spelling?) dominated by the existence of humans.
After the first 15-20%, the book became much easier to read. More about personal experiences, with each chapter a different location.
Beginning was in the America’s (Mexico?). Later on in such places as Scotland (England?), Paris / France / Spain with a large part about the catacombs under Paris.
Some other places
Slovenia - water above ground leading to underground caves
Greenland - glaciers, melting, effects of climate change, and the mining industry trying to move in to extract precious materials including metals.
Norway - conflict between fishing industry and oil industry
Finland - process of storing nuclear waste
(I didn’t take notes. I am sure I omitted quite a few locations.)
Towards the end, the places were more extreme winter areas, and mainly above ground.
For the author and the people going with him, the outdoor environment is extremely harsh.
sil3nos's review against another edition
3.0
I can see people really enjoying this book, but unfortunately it didn't do much for me. I was astonished upon reading about the wood wide web, but that was kind of the only thing that I took away from this book.
Also Macfarlane uses a language that, for someone that isn't a native speaker, is kinda unusual and unnecessarily complicated in some places.
Still not a bad read tho, else I would've dnf'ed it.
Also Macfarlane uses a language that, for someone that isn't a native speaker, is kinda unusual and unnecessarily complicated in some places.
Still not a bad read tho, else I would've dnf'ed it.
hannah_greendale's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
ekoster's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.25