Published Dec. 3, 2019 by W.W. Norton Company.
A really brilliant book that makes you think about the earth and how much humans really matter to it. Makes you feel small but realise your impact is so large. My only complaint is that it drags and is a bit dense in some parts...the science overwhelms the wonder.
Majestic experiential writing, exploration of extreme underground confluences of geological and human stories, and chilly pressing terror of both.
This causes actual claustrophobia.
Holy Craparooney! what a cracking book. The first two books of 2020 have been amazing, it looks like it is going to be a good year of reading for me.
Whilst most people are looking around them or looking up at the stars, Macfarlane is looking down at the magical places underground. Whether that is a small cave under a tree or an underground lake system or even man made tunnels he manages to find something unique and poetic in each place.
I've always enjoyed exploring underground, since being a young kid and exploring caves at the beach on holiday and pot-holing as a scout to being at work and running cables under one of the buildings. I always jump at the chance to go and explore, hoping I don't get stuck with my ample gut :-) and whilst there the light has to be turned off for as long …
Holy Craparooney! what a cracking book. The first two books of 2020 have been amazing, it looks like it is going to be a good year of reading for me.
Whilst most people are looking around them or looking up at the stars, Macfarlane is looking down at the magical places underground. Whether that is a small cave under a tree or an underground lake system or even man made tunnels he manages to find something unique and poetic in each place.
I've always enjoyed exploring underground, since being a young kid and exploring caves at the beach on holiday and pot-holing as a scout to being at work and running cables under one of the buildings. I always jump at the chance to go and explore, hoping I don't get stuck with my ample gut :-) and whilst there the light has to be turned off for as long as I can stand it to experience the complete blackness.
There is something very special about Macfarlane's writing, every place he visits in this book has been treated well, he uses his words very carefully and is able to transport the reader there, I found his time under Paris terrifying, pretty sure this could traumatise some readers. One of the most interesting parts of the books was with the network that trees had created for themselves underground sharing nutrients and helping those in need....Nature has proven that social media can work, you just need to get rid of the humans.
A wonderful book and I've loved every page. I highly recommend this one.
Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2020/01/18/underland-by-robert-macfarlane/
Macfarlane explores the underground. Caves, mines and mushrooms; nuclear waste in deepest earth; glacial caves that are quickly eroding. His writing is consistently sharp, at its best when he describes the people that he meets and their ways of looking at the surface, and the underland. Some parts are a little slow in a long book, but Macfarlane's natural ability to write about nature and people shines through and this is a great, informative, narrative read.
Purchasable
https://www.litalist.com/book/9780393242140.