Arctic Dreams

Written with great sensitivity to all aspects of life in the Arctic including accounts of the animals: muskoxen, polar bears, seals, walruses and birds, as well as to the history of indigenous people and their drastic encounters with white whalers and now contemporary corporations who show no interest or understanding of this landscape and the traditions of these remarkable Inuit people.

Yes! This book to definitely have by your side to dip into. What a marvellous read.

Ótimo livro e boa experiência de compra

Excelente libro

I confess that I hadn't heard of Barry Lopez prior to noticing that Arctic Dreams was given high praise by Robert Macfarlane in one of his own books. Incidentally it is Macfarlane that writes the introduction to this paperback edition and I feel the two authors write in similar style. I'm certainly pleased that I came across this work and I feel wiser from having read it, although I did struggle in understanding one or two of the chapters written in a fairly intensive and scientific manner. I think it is a book that really requires a second reading. I find it difficult to place the book in a category as it contains so much expertly written information from varying perspectives, landscape, natural history, social/cultural history and exploration to name a few. Each chapter can be enjoyed without resorting to reading the whole book, but few readers once into this work will want to put it down before completion. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of the wildlife, the Inuit culture and the final chapters concerning the history of the exploration of this complex area. Detail is given down to the smallest minutia. Lopez considers humankind's relationship with the environment and of course humankind does not always come out of this looking positive, although I have to say I didn't finish the book feeling too depressed. Wonderful writing and well worth putting effort into reading this book, and it did require effort at times.