The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! đ
A review by florisw
Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane
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). âFear slithers up my spine, spills greasy down my throatâ (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 âbreathingâ). 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. Itâs 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 âbreathingâ). 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. Itâs probably what makes this a great read both for leisure and a bit of brain work, and ultimately a great piece of nature writing!