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The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks by Terry Tempest Williams
leasummer's review against another edition
3.0
This one took a dive at the end for me with a chapter on a wildfire that was not fact checked. The issue with that is then I wonder what else isn’t correct. Sure, it’s the details that are wrong and the overall emotion and passion endures, which is why I gave it 3 stars.
It talks a lot about oil and gas and the ramifications to our wild lands. Powerful messages throughout.
It talks a lot about oil and gas and the ramifications to our wild lands. Powerful messages throughout.
sgreenleaf's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of the best books I have ever read. It is vital, moving, and takes formal risks and experiments. I loved every minute of reading it. I cried. It is pretty much perfect.
madleigh_unabridged's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
danastaples's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this book and should have. The subject matter is right up my alley, I’ve been to and love many of the places rhapsodized about, I agree politically with Tempest, we’re both from Utah, I appreciate intelligent and creative nonfiction. But… it felt like she was trying too hard to make us cry. Extremely didactic. Took me forever to finish.
book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
Subtitle: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks
This is a book I would not have picked up were it not for being a book-club selection. I share the author’s love of this country’s National Parks, and of nature in general. I recently visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park for the first time, and was particularly interested in reading the chapter on that park. And, looking at the index, I noticed several other parks I was eager to read about: Big Bend, Arcadia, Gettysburg, Alcatraz Island and Cesar Chavez National Monument.
Williams is a good writer, and there are times when her descriptions take the reader straight to the park she is visiting. Some of these passages are downright poetic. However …
Williams spent less time on the park itself and its natural and/or historic wonders than she did on a political agenda, whether that be the mistreatment of Native Americans or the disturbing fervor of Civil War re-enactors (especially those portraying the Rebel forces) or, most often, the shameful policies of the then-current administration (G W Bush) with respect to mineral and drilling rights for big oil. I don’t even disagree with her point of view, but it wasn’t what I expected or wanted from this book. So I give it a middle-of-the-road 3-star rating.
This is a book I would not have picked up were it not for being a book-club selection. I share the author’s love of this country’s National Parks, and of nature in general. I recently visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park for the first time, and was particularly interested in reading the chapter on that park. And, looking at the index, I noticed several other parks I was eager to read about: Big Bend, Arcadia, Gettysburg, Alcatraz Island and Cesar Chavez National Monument.
Williams is a good writer, and there are times when her descriptions take the reader straight to the park she is visiting. Some of these passages are downright poetic. However …
Williams spent less time on the park itself and its natural and/or historic wonders than she did on a political agenda, whether that be the mistreatment of Native Americans or the disturbing fervor of Civil War re-enactors (especially those portraying the Rebel forces) or, most often, the shameful policies of the then-current administration (G W Bush) with respect to mineral and drilling rights for big oil. I don’t even disagree with her point of view, but it wasn’t what I expected or wanted from this book. So I give it a middle-of-the-road 3-star rating.
jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars
I've been mulling this review over since finishing this book six weeks ago. I should have loved it and I didn't. Not exactly. And I'm having a hard time digging down to the why.
Ms. Williams writes about twelve national park units in this book, eight of which I've visited and loved.
And I think that's maybe the crux of the matter. A "personal topography" implied to me that this would be a straightforward memoir of her time in the parks and the people and animals or histories she encountered there. And that's pretty much what I found for the first couple of chapters. I loved those. But the personal is political for Ms. Williams and the book turned into more of an environmental call to action than I expected. I actually agree with her thoughts so I don't know why this aspect threw me off so much; I only know that it did.
Maybe it's that I view our parks as almost sacred, wild spaces. It's disturbing to read that the only reason I didn't see oil rigs on the horizon from inside Theodore Roosevelt National Park is because the park superintendent begs oil companies to find a way not to ruin the park's sightlines. They're still drilling, but they're drilling behind hills and rises in the landscape. The essay about Gulf Islands National Seashore is really about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and it's the stuff nightmares are made of. The book is littered with similar stories of environmental dangers and disasters and people being jailed for civil disobedience when they protest. Ms. Williams tries to end on a hopeful note but it was too late for me--I was thoroughly depressed. Maybe she lifted the veil from my eyes and my dislike of the message has affected my view of the messenger. I don't know but this is my best theory.
This is the first book I've read by Terry Tempest Williams and she is a beautiful, thoughtful writer. My copy is littered with Post-It flags marking passages that spoke to me.
"This is what we can promise the future: a legacy of care. That we will be good stewards and not take too much or give back too little, that we will recognize wild nature for what it is, in all its magnificent and complex history--an unfathomable wealth that should be consciously saved, not ruthlessly spent."
"I return to the wilderness to remember what I have forgotten, that the world can be wholesome and beautiful, that the harmony and integrity of ecosystems at peace is a mirror to what we have lost."
"Perhaps this is what our national parks hold for us: stories, of who we have been and who we might become--a reminder that as human beings our histories harbor both darkness and light. To live in the United States of America and tell only one story, from one point of view, diminishes all of us."
"At a low ebb of hope, I asked my friend Doug Peacock how he staves off despair.... 'Insulate yourself with friends and seek out wild places,' he said."
This truly is a beautifully written book and it provides a lot of food for thought. I did enjoy it overall, just not as much as I expected.
I've been mulling this review over since finishing this book six weeks ago. I should have loved it and I didn't. Not exactly. And I'm having a hard time digging down to the why.
Ms. Williams writes about twelve national park units in this book, eight of which I've visited and loved.
And I think that's maybe the crux of the matter. A "personal topography" implied to me that this would be a straightforward memoir of her time in the parks and the people and animals or histories she encountered there. And that's pretty much what I found for the first couple of chapters. I loved those. But the personal is political for Ms. Williams and the book turned into more of an environmental call to action than I expected. I actually agree with her thoughts so I don't know why this aspect threw me off so much; I only know that it did.
Maybe it's that I view our parks as almost sacred, wild spaces. It's disturbing to read that the only reason I didn't see oil rigs on the horizon from inside Theodore Roosevelt National Park is because the park superintendent begs oil companies to find a way not to ruin the park's sightlines. They're still drilling, but they're drilling behind hills and rises in the landscape. The essay about Gulf Islands National Seashore is really about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and it's the stuff nightmares are made of. The book is littered with similar stories of environmental dangers and disasters and people being jailed for civil disobedience when they protest. Ms. Williams tries to end on a hopeful note but it was too late for me--I was thoroughly depressed. Maybe she lifted the veil from my eyes and my dislike of the message has affected my view of the messenger. I don't know but this is my best theory.
This is the first book I've read by Terry Tempest Williams and she is a beautiful, thoughtful writer. My copy is littered with Post-It flags marking passages that spoke to me.
"This is what we can promise the future: a legacy of care. That we will be good stewards and not take too much or give back too little, that we will recognize wild nature for what it is, in all its magnificent and complex history--an unfathomable wealth that should be consciously saved, not ruthlessly spent."
"I return to the wilderness to remember what I have forgotten, that the world can be wholesome and beautiful, that the harmony and integrity of ecosystems at peace is a mirror to what we have lost."
"Perhaps this is what our national parks hold for us: stories, of who we have been and who we might become--a reminder that as human beings our histories harbor both darkness and light. To live in the United States of America and tell only one story, from one point of view, diminishes all of us."
"At a low ebb of hope, I asked my friend Doug Peacock how he staves off despair.... 'Insulate yourself with friends and seek out wild places,' he said."
This truly is a beautifully written book and it provides a lot of food for thought. I did enjoy it overall, just not as much as I expected.
amandae129's review against another edition
3.0
It started off very strong, but then we went on a journey I wasn't expecting and not really up for. The author reads the audiobook and her voice is fantastic.
kystarbucks's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.25
dresdenreads's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0