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Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape
by Barry Lopez
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Charles Scribner & Sons (1986-03-01)
ISBN: 0684185784
EAN: 9780684185781
Dewy Decimal #: 508.98
Journal: 464 pages
Edition: 1st Ed
SKU: 20486
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Hardcover. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. All pages unmarked and free of writing.
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Editorial Reviews
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Amazon.com
Based on 15 extended trips to the Canadian far north over a five-year period, Arctic Dreams celebrates the mysteries of what documentarians fondly call "last frontiers." Such places are everywhere in danger of destruction in the interest of ever-elusive economic progress, but Lopez writes no jeremiads. Instead, he aims to foster a kind of learned understanding of wild places, in this case the vast, scarcely knowable northern landscape. Writing of the natural history of the Arctic and its inhabitants--narwhals, polar bears, beluga whales, musk oxen, and caribou among them--Lopez draws powerful lessons from the land and imparts them assuredly and gracefully. Arctic Dreams deservedly won a National Book Award in 1986 when it was first published.
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Product Description
Barry Lopez's National Book Award-winning classic study of the Far North is widely considered his masterpiece.
Lopez offers a thorough examination of this obscure world-its terrain, its wildlife, its history of Eskimo natives and intrepid explorers who have arrived on their icy shores. But what turns this marvelous work of natural history into a breathtaking study of profound originality is his unique meditation on how the landscape can shape our imagination, desires, and dreams. Its prose as hauntingly pure as the land it describes, Arctic Dreams is nothing less than an indelible classic of modern literature.
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Customer Reviews
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Great book, but flawed...
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-05-12
This book is a lyrical reflection on the oneness of nature and mankind's troubled relationship with it. It is recommended for anyone contemplating a journey to the higher latitudes. However, as a history of arctic exploration it is sadly flawed. The two chapters on early journeys of discovery and the quest for the northwest passage are chronologically jumbled. Furthermore, the inexplicable and virtually complete neglect of Amundson - including his learning from Eskimos - leaves one wondering what other omissions may have tilted the balance of Lopez's otherwise thought-provoking writing.
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Filling and fulfilling
Rating  (5)
Date: 2007-12-03
I bought this book while in the tourist center at McKinley National Park in Alaska because of the chapter on Polar Bears (someone at the desk recommended it to me). I have found this book to be amazing. This is one of the most rewarding books I've ever read. It's one of very few books that I'll read more than once.
Lopez's writing creates a desire to know more, to research more, and to experience the arctic for oneself. Reading Arctic Dreams is like going on a journey to the Arctic in an airplane, equipped with a microscope, where in general you get a broad picture, but on certain topics (narwhals, polar bears, etc) you have a living speciman to study. And the writing is never mundane. It reads as a narration, as though you were sitting around a campfire while Lopez talks of the arctic. There are enough facts to educate without being a burden, and enough of Lopez's voice to carry the imagination to remote arctic islands, or on an early expedition, or simply to a prarie to watch the arctic fox. And when a question arises about something in particular, Lopez address it, answering both the scientific and the introspective questions at the same time.
Arctic Dreams is a masterpiece that will educate the mind and the heart. I couldn't recommend it enough.
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Stands the test of time
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-11-07
Arctic Dreams is the most extraordinary book I've ever read. Lopez not only has the insights that make the Arctic come alive, but he expresses those insights in the most elegant prose. Arctic Dreams was published 20 years ago, and while the science needs updating (an Arctic scientist recently shared with me), the rest of the book is timeless. Who knew there were so many kinds of ice? Not only does the author describe the "land", but he describes the culture of the people whose lives are intertwined with the land, as well as the influences and politics that have changed their way of life forever. He explores the language needs of the people who work to survive in their often harsh environment. Those languages are primarily verb rich as opposed to English which is noun based. It took me a long time to read the whole book because often I would stop to ponder something I had just read. I have bought at least 20 copies over the years to give to friends and relatives. I still return to the book to reread passages or favorite chapters. Anyone interested in the Arctic would love this book. I would guess that someone with patience but not interested in the Arctic would become fascinated by the challenge to experience the Arctic in ways never imagined. B. Vesper 11/07
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Barry Lopez Froze my Brain
Rating  (1)
Date: 2007-09-10
0 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
I would, sincerely, rather scrape linoleum tile off of a concrete slab than read any more Barry Lopez.
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Environmental Nonfiction
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-04-12
This arctic study goes under the surface of the ice to bring out the subtleties in arctic life. You'll uncover mysteries without answers in this nonfiction work.
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