Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
by Terry Tempest Williams
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Read in April, 2004
Williams is an especially confounding writer, and part of it has to do with her voice—it’s very assured, but in that certainty lie the seeds of alienation and annoyance. It’s the assurance born of privilege, of money, and of an intact family. She can speak of democracy all she wants (and she does, especially in later works), but she’s at the higher end of the social spectrum—democracy (or any system) tends to work out for those people. Additionally, she tries too hard to wring some ...more
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Read in September, 2007
I just hold tight hoping Terry Tempest Williams will devote an entire book to that grandmother of hers. "Refuge," though, was a beautiful book of love, loss of loved ones, loss of self – and doing what you can to get it all back. I loved the opening of each chapter with the tracking of the elevation of Great Salt Lake during the flood of the 1980s: how the lake began to embody everything for the author, and knowing the special significance of the elevation level to the author and to...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in December, 2007
This book was well written, but a little heavy on nature/ecology (and I'm someone who's interested in ecology). Sometimes I felt like she didn't fully make the connection about what was going on with the Great Salt Lake and her life. But, when she did connect those two things (predominantly near the end of the memoir) it was beautiful and it made me have a different perspective about suffering and loss. I related most to her description of watching the women in her family suffer from cancer a...more
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Read in January, 2008
My mother died from cancer 6 years ago,so I took the story in a very personal way. I envied a bit that Terry and her mother had time to communicate and experience together the illness. We were robbed of this opportunity,as my mother was unexpectedly admitted in emergency and died few days after surgery. Terry`s mother seems to have been a remarkable woman.I think the writer managed to convey in a very honest way the lessons learnt during difficult time. The idea of combining life experience wit...more
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Williams tells her own story of her mother dying of breast cancer at the same time her beloved bird refuge is being forced to move because of the rising of the Great Salt Lake (she is a naturalist.) Coming to terms with both, she let's you make the same connections she is making to her own life. Beautifully written. Written in short chunks so, if you're not into birds (i'm not...still love love it) she wraps it up with some fantastic insight and then goes on to something else. ONe of the fe...more
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Read in March, 2008
Well it took me a while to finish this book. It had two things going against it, it is non-fiction and it talks a lot about birds. I think the author is a great writer and has some great things to say about birds and her life and her family's struggle with cancer (from living in Utah and being down winders from atomic bomb testing) BUT.....I think sometimes she has a mistaken sense of self-importance. The author is LDS and seems to be trying to shock her few LDS readers with interesting views on...more
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Read in February, 2005
recommends it for:
everyone
Sort of a cross between a memoir and a natural history book - it combines the story of her mother's struggle with ovarian cancer with the flooding of a nearby bird refuge. It gives a look into traditional Mormon culture as well, and helps you understand the different ways that people deal with suffering and loss. Williams is an environmental activist, and the end chapter, "The Clan of One-Breasted Women" is really interesting - it suggests that the US government's nuclear testing of ...more
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Read in January, 1995
recommended to Alie by:
big sky wyomingrecommends it for: everyone, especially women with breast cancer or their families/friends
On my all time favorite shelf for many years, that is when I hadn't given the latest copy of it away.
This memoir, is a classic, at the top of all 'nature' books. It is much more. Written by a naturalist, it is a meditation on the politics of place, where do we belong, what does it mean, how do we respect it. She carries the reader along during a time when her mother was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer and joined The Clan of One Breasted Women. It is possibly the most personal and...more
This memoir, is a classic, at the top of all 'nature' books. It is much more. Written by a naturalist, it is a meditation on the politics of place, where do we belong, what does it mean, how do we respect it. She carries the reader along during a time when her mother was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer and joined The Clan of One Breasted Women. It is possibly the most personal and...more
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Read in August, 2000
recommends it for:
anyone who has lost a parent
This book was listed as "suggested reading" for a nature-writing class that I took in college. The book is about the long, slow death of the author's mother from cancer. In Utah in the 50's, parts of the state were used for nuclear testing. Many people got cancer as a result. It's a sad book, but starkly realistic. Terry Tempest Williams is a naturalist, and I actually met her when I lived in Utah. She's lovely. This is a realistic American story of a family tragedy, how our en...more
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Read in March, 1997
This book ties the author's anger and feeling of loss between her mother who is dying of breast cancer and the bird refuge on the North end of the Great Salt Lake. It is a riveting story of how as humans we knowingly or unknowingly effect our environment through carelessness. TTW does a fabulous of writing about the environment and the ties to her own life. I visited the bird refuge after reading this book (for a college project), which made a more porfound effect on me. I had not been inter...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommended to Amanda by:
Jackierecommends it for: bird lovers
This book was referred to me since the author is a member of my church. So, I was curious. The book was not horrible, but on the boring side. I wish 2 1/2 starts were possible, because 2 seems low, but 3 too high. The author relates stories in her life to the patterns of birds and nature she observes. The stories of her life are somewhat interesting, but I lose her a bit in the chapters that drone on about birds that I have never heard of and don't really care about. But, if you are a bird watc...more
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recommends it for:
people who like: memoir, family history, natural history, religious studies, or any combination
this book is an illustration of a mormon family, a natural history of utah's salt lake, a meditation on illness, a lesson on the birds of utah, and an exploration of one woman's undying connection to the land. terry tempest williams combines and contrasts her mother's battle with cancer, and the rising of salt lake that threatens to destroy her beloved bird refuge. she does this deftly and delicately. if you have been touched by loss or illness or a tragedy beyond your control, this book should ...more
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Read in June, 2005
This is the true story of Terry Tempest Williams and she juxtapositions the rise of the Great Salt Lake with her mothers reoccurrence of breast cancer and her mormonism. She very much describes herself as an ecofeminist and worries what will happen to the many migrating birds who flock to the Great Salt Lake every year when it floods the plains or dries up altogether.
She balances each of the 3 subjects nicely against the other, forming a chain of thought that makes this book worth reading.
She balances each of the 3 subjects nicely against the other, forming a chain of thought that makes this book worth reading.
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This series of essays is written by a woman who happens to be Mormon. The fact she is Mormon seems to do more with geography in this book, than by choice. It is a wonderful series of essays because she is a naturalist in writing. The Salt Lake and the environment around there take on almost a divine beauty in the way she describes it. There are some poignant, wonderful tender essays about the land, and her mother and her writing style is just that - tender.
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For any of you friends who have visited, lived, or currently live in the Eastern Sierra, this is the story of Mono Lake's larger twin - Great Salt Lake. For Williams, Great Salt Lake is the warp of her life, and her family becomes the weft, which is how I feel many people interact with Mono Lake - it's not just the backdrop for life, but something much more. This book is also a fascinating, heartbreaking glimpse into a world of Mormon women, very interesting.
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Lovers of Desert Solitare and people affected by cancer.
I read this book some time ago and am re-reading it now as a dear friend undergoes treatment for breast cancer. The author writes about the wildlife of the Great Salt Lake and her family's journey during her mother's cancer treatment. The intersections of the crisis of wildlife and human life are amazing. Williams is a talented writer and devoted naturalist. She is also a Mormon and the geography of her book will be familiar to other LDS members.
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recommended to Marsha by:
my daughter, Tacy
An Unnatural History of Family and Place is a good description of this book. It's easy to read and is really excellent. It takes place during the Utah flood years of 1983-1984. I really enjoyed the book. A bit of an emotional roller coaster. If you are LDS, just be aware of some weird things in the book that you might not expect from someone else who is a "member" of the faith! But don't let that stop you from reading it.
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I have to say that I was somewhat bored with this book. But I also have to say that my literary review is somewhat skewed because I was disturbed by the things in the book. She does some things in the book, as a supposed LDS member that she shouldn't have been doing. And as an active LDS member, those things bothered me and very possibly effected my enjoyment of the book as a piece of literature in and of itself.
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Read in June, 2007
This book by Terry Tempest Williams is a real roller coaster. If you like sophisticated autobiographical drama, you'll like this.
The book draws parallels between the author's life and the natural cycles of a bird refuge near Salt Lake. I enjoyed it, but if there's one thing I could criticize it for, it's that the author tries too hard to draw metaphors with nature sometimes and it can seem forced.
The book draws parallels between the author's life and the natural cycles of a bird refuge near Salt Lake. I enjoyed it, but if there's one thing I could criticize it for, it's that the author tries too hard to draw metaphors with nature sometimes and it can seem forced.
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Read in January, 1995
One of my favorites. An early example of landscape memoir. Terry Tempest Williams succesfully weaves her mother's illness with the flooding of salt lake, which puts bird refuges at risk. Quiet, female, heartbreaking, still one of the best books of its kind. As her more recent writing becomes slightly more political, this book serves as a place, home, that feeds her skills as witness and speaker.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.14 (641 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.43 (42 ratings) number of reviews: 120popular shelves
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