Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

What is the true nature of Nature? Is it a harmonious, interconnected system, operating according to the principles of co-dependence and benevolence? Or is it red in tooth and claw, an unfeeling, unthinking force, in which the individual is overwhelmed and subsumed to serve a larger purpose, one mysterious and obscure? This is what this volume is all about: an exploration into the nature of Nature, an attempt to discover the true character of the natural world around us. Appropriately, it is neither a rapturous celebration of Nature, nor a grim survey of its various cruelties. Rather, like Nature itself, it is something in between, and something quite beautiful. It is a collection of related essays recounting the author's thoughts on Nature as she observes the ecological happenings of the eponymous Tinker Creek in Virginia's Blue Ridge valley for a period of several years.

First sentence: I USED TO HAVE a cat, an old fighting tom, who would jump through the open window by my bed in the middle of the night and land on my chest.

Year

1990

Language

English

Publisher

Harper Perennial Modern Classics

Editions

25

Reader rating

4.1 / 5 (11)

Pages

290

ISBN

9780061233326

Data source: Wikidata