My First Summer in the Sierra
Ratings9
Average rating4.1
My First Summer in the Sierra is a diary naturalist John Muir kept during the first summer he spent in the Sierra Mountains. He worked as a sheepherder, but he had a lot of time to observe nature, write about nature, and to make pictures of nature.
I was taken by Muir's knowledge of nature and his detailed observational skills. He is also a brilliant writer, with fresh comparisons and surprising thoughts.
Beautiful nature writing- John Muir kills it with his descriptions of the wilderness, of plants, of mountains. He treats it all with a sincerity we don't see much in the everyday. However, the book's not quite a pageturner and I wouldn't quite recommend it to a friend unless they're as much of a nature nut as myself.
An inspiring account of Ye Father of American Conservationism John Muir's blissed-out trip through Yosemite in the summer of 1869.
Brimming with 19th century Romantickal feelings about Nature and the sublime, this book is really great if you're either already an outdoors-person, or even a proto-outdoors-person. His enthusiastic descriptions are so inspiring that they make you want to put down your Kindle, put on your hiking boots, book flight tickets, and go hike the eponymous trail RIGHT NOW. It's no wonder he inspired politicians and got the whole national parks thing going. Here's a pic with Teddy Roosevelt (who, btw, doesn't Teddy look cartoonish? yo, no offense).
Yeah. So Muir basically spent those three months of 1869 in a constant state of ecstasy, and he also had an encyclopedic knowledge of the natural world (which is, yikes, really impressive). What this means is that you're like 90% carried along by his enthusiasm and gorgeous descriptions of gorgeous nature, and you're like 10% a little eyes-glazed-over at his effusive “oh, heavenly glorious!” proclamations over the chipmunk. (Though I did find myself taken in by his effusive proclamations over the rat. Surprising!) Muir also leavens his writing with occasional sardony, especially re: the “silly sheep” he's meant to be accompanying, and the grungy, Californian shepherd who is kinda smelly and totally “blind” to all the natural beauty around him (philistine!).
Free version over at Gutenberg.