In his introduction to Natural Acts, Quammen aptly describes the book as “a chimerical creature.” It’s a collection of his articles and essays spanning the years 1981-2007, grouped roughly according to the time period in which he wrote them. The sections are, as a group, pretty darned mismatched, but each is cohesive in and of itself. Quammen is a cerebral writer with a vast vocabulary. He avoids verbal filler and fluff, and he sticks to his purpose, which is to inspire among Joe Schmoes like me a concern for ecological issues.
For me, Quammen’s first section, “All God’s Vermin,” achieves that objective. In these early writings, he talks on a friend-to-friend level about various animals of generally ill repute: beetles, mosquitoes, crows, black widows, octopi, vampire moths, anacondas, and bats. He’s life-of-the-party funny, the kind of person you want to sit next to at a banquet so he can regale you with his commentary. But while you’re laughing, he gets you to consider and appreciate the unsung merits of these “vermin,” and that gets you thinking that other not-so-beloved creatures may also deserve your attention and respect.
After that, unfortunately, things get a little boring. The author loses his sense of humor, and the essays get didactic, like required university lectures - more cerebral dissertation than witty conversation. If you’re into environmentalism, you’ll probably like it more than I did. But for me, the subject matter in most of the later essays couldn’t hold my interest, and the deficit of comedy didn’t help. I felt as if I’d been duped into sitting through an under-inspiring sermon because the pastor opened with a few great jokes.
You had me interested, too. Maybe I'll skip it. I have a book review coming out tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteAww. This still sounds pretty good. Since the essays stand alone, I guess you can quit when the going gets boring!
ReplyDeleteGevinah HaGadol
Scot, I think you'd like it much more than I did. You seem to be a more sober soul than I am, and you're certainly more interested in environmental issues.
ReplyDeleteI did like a few of the later essays, two in particular: one about kayaking in the Grand Canyon, and a sweet soliloquy in honor of a recently departed doggy.
Big Cheese, the essays do stand alone, so I suppose you can quit - if you're a quitter. (-;
Your review gave me an insightful view as to why I probably wouldn't read this book. But what struck interest to read this book?
ReplyDeleteMelanie, you know I'm always looking for book recommendations, especially non-fiction. Well, this author - not the specific book - was recommended to me by a friend. The book got good reviews on Amazon, so that's why I bought it. The author IS good. It's just that some of his subject matter in this particular collection wasn't my thang.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, thanks for following the blog!