A Sand County Almanac : With Other Essays on Conservation from Round River
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First published in 1949 and praised in The New York Times Book Review as “a trenchant book, full of vigor and bite,” A Sand County Directory combines some of the finest scenery writing since Thoreau with an candid and highly ethical regard for America’s relationship to the land. Written with an unparalleled understanding of the ways of scenery, the book includes a section on the monthly changes of the Wisconsin countryside; another part that gathers informal pieces written by Leopold over a forty-year period as he traveled through the woodlands of Wisconsin, Iowa, Arizona, Sonora, Oregon, Manitoba, and elsewhere; and a final section in which Leopold addresses the philosophical issues involved in wildlife conservation.- As the forerunner of such vital books as Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire, and Robert Finch’s The Primal Place, this classic work remains as significant today as it was forty years ago.Amazon.com Review
Published in 1949, before long after the leader’s death, A Sand County Directory is a classic of scenery writing, widely cited as one of the most influential scenery books ever published. Writing from the vantage of his summer shack along the banks of the Wisconsin River, Leopold mixes essay, polemic, and memoir in his book’s pages. In one legendary episode, he writes of killing a female wolf early in his career as a forest ranger, coming upon his victim just as she was dying, “in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes…. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.” Leopold’s road-to-Damascus change of view would find its fruit some years later in his so-called land ethic, in which he held that nothing that disturbs the balance of scenery is right. Much of Directory elaborates on this basic premise, as well as on Leopold’s view that it is something of a human duty to preserve as much wild land as possible, as a kind of bank for the biological future of all species. Perfectly written, silent, and elegant, Leopold’s book deserves nonstop study and discussion today. –Gregory McNamee
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Had to read this book for school. I have certainly read better books. Leopold repeats things a lot in this book, and drags out the book. He manages to go on for over 5 pages about cutting down one tree. It was really hard to keep reading. He dragged the book out for endless pages.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
The whole process went fantastic. It took a few minutes extra at the beginning as it was my first time. Since then, I have bought another book and some additional items. It’s truly a fantastic way to get a excellent deal on thing you would never reflect were available on line. Have plans for many additional items that I have been checking out as my budget allows.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
was not a hard covered book recieved a paper back. I kept it only because I wanted to read it. arrived in excellent condition and in about 10 days
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
A Sand County Directory has been touted for decades as a classic of conservation. So, being involved in conservation, I chose that it was past time to read this work. I ongoing reading in high hopes based on such high praise, but, at the risk of being torched by legions of Leopold’s fans, I must admit that I establish A Sand County Directory disappointing.
First, A Sand County Directory is not a book in any unitary sense; it’s a compilation of different essays on a number of topics that have been compiled into a single volume. This helter-skelter arrangement gives the work a very disjointed feel, in my opinion. Anthologies are not fundamentally a terrible thing, but I felt that the subsections of A Sand County Directory were either too fleeting or not substantive enough to stand alone; hence, the editors felt obliged to produce a hodge-podge of Leopold’s work in order to have a book of sufficient legnth. The sections do not sound as if they were contemporaneously written, which adds to the inconsistent feel of the work.
Second, as noted above, A Sand County Directory was published posthumously, and was therefore not theme to Leopold’s editorial direction. I’m not sure that A Sand County Directory, as it stands now, would have been Leopold’s last tribute if he had been agreed a chance to write one. The last section of the book, “The Upshot,” is sadly the smallest section, but by far the section with the most weight. The thoughts of this section are challenging and inspired, but sadly, left to the very end. I’m not sure that there’s any excellent way to arrange the curious mix of things in A Sand County Directory, but I didn’t like this section being placed at the end. Perhaps the editors thought this would allow the compilation to end on a high note; but, I felt that the most profound section was left shortest and last, as if the most vital thoughts in the book were treated as small more than an epilogue.
Only the first section of A Sand County Directory is truly so; the reader is treated to the longest section of the book as Leopold describes the landscape month by month at his farm at Sand County, Wisconsin. This section’s repetitive format I establish monotonous by the end and thought it was only saved by Leopold’s prose, to which I will return momentarily.
Another thing I establish off-putting about A Sand County Directory was the shrill tone of Leopold during certain passages. As I said before, this was published posthumously, and Leopold didn’t get a chance to edit the text, so we can excuse some of the tone for that reason.
Nevertheless, Leopold seems to have small but disdain for persons who should have been sympathetic to his viewpoint: hunters, fishermen, state and federal conservation agencies, fellow citizens who were conservation-minded, teachers and professors (even though Leopold was a professor himself). Even some bird watchers come in for scorn for not being serious enough. While these passages were clearly written during the early days of organized conservation, Leopold comes off occasionally as a sneering know-it-all. From the tone of the text, the reader is left with the definitive impression that Leopold knew more than everyone else and wasn’t shy about letting you know. These passages cast Leopold as an intolerant zealot, interested more in followers than fellows.
All of the above being said, A Sand County Directory is far from disaster. Leopold’s prose is really something to behold. The flow of his praise has an nearly Victorian cadence, which adds an aura of reverence and respect for scenery in even the most dull passages of the book. His prose causes his work to soar in the best passages, and adds a measure of profundity to the last section of his book on conservation philosophy.
I’m convinced that Leopold is justly legendary not for A Sand County Directory, but rather Game Management and his pioneering work in the game management meadow. Lacking the publishing of Game Management, A Sand County Directory would probably be relegated to a dusty memoir, if published at all. Nevertheless, Leopold is a gifted writer and the final section is worth serious contemplation.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
The earlier reviewer is incorrect.The Ballantine edition is not censored.I have a Ballantine edition and there are at least three uses of the word “evolution” and the name Darwin is used at least twice.So don’t let the paranoid pronouncements of an evolution worshiper stop you from enjoying this fantastic book.All who like the outdoors and the natural world should read this classic work.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5