Underland

This is NOT a book about caves. You might think then that this is a book about something called “The Underland”. This is also not necesarily true. This book is about exactly the thing it says in the title. It is “A deep time journey”, meaning that this book is about one mans specifc personal journey with his exploration of what writer John McPhee calls “Deep Time”, and how exactly he thinks this relates to the anthrocene of earth. The book is seperated into three parts, with a shorter piece before each one, and a final piece after the third section. Almost every single bit of writing in Underland is both equal parts incredibly eloquently written, and explained in a way that makes the subject matters interesting. If you bought this book (please buy it, its worth having a physical copy to mark all your favorite quotes (there will be a lot)) expecting McFarlane to just wax poetic about caves or something, youre in for so so so much more, and its beyond worth it to give it a chance.

I find caves (and nature in general) incredibly boring. That thing you just read that I typed was true on June 17th, 2023. Now it is July 21st, 2023, and that statement is a massive lie. Here is a very real and genuine list of some of the things this book is about, in simple and reductive terms, because a part of the magic of reading this lies in figuring out how McFarlane connects everything to society and what it all means in his world view.
Burial of loved ones and how humans have done it through history
Urban exploration and the exploitation of unavoidable ruin
Our place in the universe and carrying on through uncertainty
How forest communicate within themselves and how humans sort of do this too
The indomitable human spirit and also carrying on throug uncertainty
How war bakes history into the living world and how landscapes are within themselves terrifying storybooks
the intoxicating call of ice maulins and the genuine wonder in seeing things happen in nature
and even how a team of semiotics experts werent even able to figure out how to stop humanity from destroying itself with radioactive waste on purpose

As I read this book over the span of a month I had tons of ideas of things I wanted to talk about, but I decided that this review probably wont help anyone decide whether or not they want to buy this, so instead im gonna wrap this up by talking about how “The Understory” chapter in the first section of this book is one of the most interesting and education things Ive ever read. McFarlane is an extremley talented writer, but a lot of my favorite lines from this entire book are actually quotes he borrows from another writer. These quotes always match the tone and style of writing of Underland pretty perfectly, so they never feel out of place when used, but there are a few specific quotes from The Understory that I absolutley adore. Do yourself a favor and check it out

Excellent outlining of some of the challenges we face from global warming and over dependence on oil.

3 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
A series of contemplative essays about hard to reach underground places

Review

Underland both starts well and is well intentioned – the author's impressions of a series of underground spaces, poetically rendered and carefully set in geographic and human context. Each chapter/essay is generally interesting and easy to read (with a few exceptions). It's coherence in the book overall that's lacking.

While Macfarlane writes well, he relies too heavily on broad, poetic statements and vague metaphors – and I say this as someone who loves metaphors. These are essays about the mood of a place more than its practical reality. That worked well at the start, but after a few such chapters – and even with plenty of time away from the book, I wanted more. Invariably, Macfarlane meets a local guide, tells us something about the person and how they live, and then they go marvel together at a beautiful underground place. The guides, for all their diversity, all seem to speak with the same voice, and by the end I just felt that Macfarlane had taken some pretty substantial liberties with their phrasing.

If you know these places, it's probably quite interesting to hear his take. If you don't – as will be true for most of us with most of these places – they all begin to merge a bit into one. There's no real thread through the book, other then sequential visits to neat places with invariably wise natives. By the end, I found the book more tiresome than enthralling or uplifting.