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9th out of 20 books
—
24 voters
The Anthropology of Turquoise: Reflections on Desert, Sea, Stone, and Sky
by
Ellen Meloy
In this invigorating mix of natural history and adventure, artist-naturalist Ellen Meloy uses turquoise—the color and the gem—to probe deeper into our profound human attachment to landscape.
From the Sierra Nevada, the Mojave Desert, the Yucatan Peninsula, and the Bahamas to her home ground on the high plateaus and deep canyons of the Southwest, we journey with Meloy throu...more
From the Sierra Nevada, the Mojave Desert, the Yucatan Peninsula, and the Bahamas to her home ground on the high plateaus and deep canyons of the Southwest, we journey with Meloy throu...more
Paperback, 336 pages
Published
July 8th 2003
by Vintage
(first published 2002)
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I'm reminded of a college professor, and friend, who said of Joyce's Ulysses, "I didn't know you could do that with words," upon his first read of the book and his thoughts therein. Similarly, I feel toward The Anthropology of Turquoise. The parsimonious use of colourful (please forgive the pun), phrases, lyrical and vivid words paint pictures easily in the readers mind.
Maybe it's the Southern-Utah whore in me that is drooling for her words that describe her life, landscapes, and essays about h...more
Maybe it's the Southern-Utah whore in me that is drooling for her words that describe her life, landscapes, and essays about h...more
Jan 01, 2008
Jon
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
lovers of nature writing, environmental ethicists, humorists
Ellen was a close friend of my family's for many years--in fact, my father had lunch with her only a few weeks before her sudden passing in 2004 at the age of 58. Needless to say, her death hit us rather hard--hard enough that, though she gave me The Anthropology of Turquoise on my birthday in 2003, it took me until mid-2007 to begin reading it. Journeying through these pages was thus a very intimate experience for me: full of sadness at the memory of a lost friend; laughter at the ridiculousnes...more
Jul 15, 2010
Jessica
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
stuck-on-a-deserted-island,
outside
After finishing this book I found, to my absolute delight, that Ellen Meloy lived in Mexican Hat! That was it. I was set. On my way down there to show up on her door step and sit at her feet...or at the foot of her raft, either way. Then I found out she was dead.
I've been robbed. you have too, though you may not know it. The fact that no matter how long I wait...there won't be any more books by Ellen just plain sucks.
I have felt that most of my life has been a struggle between my academically...more
I've been robbed. you have too, though you may not know it. The fact that no matter how long I wait...there won't be any more books by Ellen just plain sucks.
I have felt that most of my life has been a struggle between my academically...more
This took me quite a long time to plow through. Her imagery is dense and her thought process is not like mine, so I found myself having to very deliberately read. She and I share a love of the outdoors (and for some of the same places, actually), so it made it worth it. I did not read every single essay, quickly exiting those that were either too focus on anthropology or places I didn't care as much about.
I am on the fence about whether this gets 4 or 5 stars, I am still so blown away by Meloy's writing. I haven't given many books 5 stars. I have a feeling that this book deserves another reading, but I borrowed it on ILL so it has to go back to the library.
Almost every day I get an email called Shelf Awareness. It is written for independent booksellers, but anyone who loves books would enjoy it. Awhile back, Philip Connors mentioned Ellen Meloy as an author he is an evangelist for. I don't know w...more
Almost every day I get an email called Shelf Awareness. It is written for independent booksellers, but anyone who loves books would enjoy it. Awhile back, Philip Connors mentioned Ellen Meloy as an author he is an evangelist for. I don't know w...more
Reading upon Philip Connor's recommendation in Shelf Awareness 4/8/11:
Book you're an evangelist for:
I'm an evangelist for a lot of books--among novels, Blood Meridian and Housekeeping are favorites--but lately the writer I've been championing to anyone who will listen is Ellen Meloy. She died an untimely death in 2004 with four books to her credit: Raven's Exile, The Last Cheater's Waltz, The Anthropology of Turquoise and Eating Stone. They're all beautiful meditations on humanity's relationshi...more
Book you're an evangelist for:
I'm an evangelist for a lot of books--among novels, Blood Meridian and Housekeeping are favorites--but lately the writer I've been championing to anyone who will listen is Ellen Meloy. She died an untimely death in 2004 with four books to her credit: Raven's Exile, The Last Cheater's Waltz, The Anthropology of Turquoise and Eating Stone. They're all beautiful meditations on humanity's relationshi...more
My favorite book by Ellen Meloy was nominated for a Pulitzer. The Anthropology of Turquoise, like Burntwater by Scott Thybony, contains essays that stand alone, but have a sequential momentum. That said, if I had to choose only one, it is Tilano's Jeans. Prefaced with an 1897 quote from Lillian Bell about the relationship of men, humor, women, and the outdoors, Meloy begins, "I have just stapled my hair to the roof." From that perspective, she dispenses fact and opinion on desert history, includ...more
I really enjoyed this book in the beginning, but became very impatient with it towards the middle through to the end. What was enjoyable to me was her detail and pace. You couldn't hurry through the book, she made you see, feel, taste and touch what was going on in that moment.
Matt read the book a short while after I did and gave it far better reviews than I did. I think my timing for reading it was off a bit. I feel like I should read it again b/c Matt keeps telling me that I didn't give it a...more
Matt read the book a short while after I did and gave it far better reviews than I did. I think my timing for reading it was off a bit. I feel like I should read it again b/c Matt keeps telling me that I didn't give it a...more
I started reading the book hoping to learn more about the history of the color as it is in the natural world and utilized by humans throughout history. This information was included in the book exploring the stone turquoise across the world’s cultures, touching on dyes, and the color as a natural phenomenon as some coastal waters. I expected the book to be more scientific, and while it did include facts, the main focus was the authors travel experiences and reflections on her life and her surrou...more
I'll admit, it took a bit of time to get fully immersed in Ellen Meloy's book, but once I was in, I was hooked. Her writing style can kindly be described as meandering, and she might have benefitted from a touch more editing (especially when describing childhood moments of imagining invisible road-trip friends, which lasted a couple of pages). But outside of this very minor complaint, and I was in love. I devoured her passion for the desert, the world, environments, and mankind's stewardship wit...more
This author is an amazing and gifted writer with penchant for detailed descriptions that readers will savor in their mind's eye. Her phrasing and observations about botany and biology are sure to delight most readers. I learned that: Some women have two different red pigments in their eyes and can see subtle differences in color that other women and men cannot see; and the fleshy, interior part of the pads (nopales) on prickly pear cacti will stop a cut from bleeding.
Truly spectacular. A fantastically rich and silly book. The through-line is the firm belief that human animals are as attached to habitat as any others. What comes of that is a web of personal, national, national, regional, geographic, gendered, tectonic, Aboriginal, climatic, urban, emotional, family histories and others, spun around the colour turquoise. Funny, studiously scientific, occasionally hallucinogenic, full of fantasy, complicated, and wonderful.
With wit and lovely writing, Meloy takes readers on a journey through her life (driving a car, running a river, hiking, roofing) as she explores her beloved Southwest- with sojourns to California, Mexico and the Bahamas.
From the perspective of an artist, I loved the descriptions of color and how she sees.
From the perspective of a desert rat, I loved the descriptions of the land, its inhabitants, and the fauna.
From the perspective of an artist, I loved the descriptions of color and how she sees.
From the perspective of a desert rat, I loved the descriptions of the land, its inhabitants, and the fauna.
It's hard to categorize this book because the slim volume packs so much in it. I love the personal essay/memoir and there are certainly components of these genres. A huge dose of nature/travel writing is in here too. The subtitle says it well: "Reflections on Desert, Sea, Stone, and Sky." Wow. Plus, turquoise is one of my very favorite colors. I will be seeking out other books by Meloy.
There are a series of memoirs included,each of which discusses or just touches on the color turquoise. There really is not much more of a link between all of the stories. This book includes some great nature writing, and social commentary. The author writes about her experiences in specific places, and her stories are more about herself in these places than about turquoise.
my love for this book might be mostly about timing; every conversation i had seemed to relate to something meloy writes about, and i read it as i was remembering my love for the colorado plateau. i love the somewhat stream-of-consciousness style, and ability to move between self-deprecating memoir and well-researched natural and cultural history. gave me a lot to think about...
Beautifully written nature book. It can be dense at times, I was sucked in the beginning but through the books some parts seemed to drag, even though I could recognize the elegance in the writing. Overall not perfect, but something I would read again and recommend. Also, don't be confused by the title, it's much more a memoir of the author's life and love of the desert.
She's a good writer but these are definitely the essays of someone who likes the sound of her own voice. She says a lot but little of it has meaning to anyone other than her. That said, some of her stories are very interesting and while i felt like I had to really push myself to finish the book, there were parts I really did enjoy.
I got my copy in a bookstore in the Grand Canyon. I thought it made a nice tradition, since I got Eating Stone, by the same author, in a bookstore in Arches last year. I so like her writing, and it sticks with me more than I anticipated. In fact, I think I'm going right now to switch my rating for Eating Stone to five stars.
A lovely, to be savored read about how color (naturally she focuses on turquoise) and light affect culture. She has a wonderful way with words and I enjoyed the memoir-essay-musing feel of this natural history book. I experienced many emotions while reading this and isn't that a good enough reason to read anything??
Excellent. This book is a true (turquoise) gem. I chose this book purely because I thought the title and premise was cool, but the book turned out to be such a lovely surprise and is so much more than the cover and title would lead you to expect. Meloy's writing is truly fabulous: poetical, clear, imaginative, entertaining, and addicting. I had never heard of this author before, but I look forward to reading her other work. Each chapter is an essay on a fairly random topic, although turquoise an...more
Mar 03, 2011
Yuki
is currently reading it
"Colors challenge language to encompass them. (It cannot; there are more sensations than words for them. Our eyes are far ahead of our tongues.) Colors bear the metaphors of entire cultures. They convey every sensation from lust to distress."
Ellen Meloy is the Shakespeare of the American deserts. Her passions for all things desert and her gift for expressing them are unsurpassed. After reading the first few chapters of this book, I bought every book she'd ever written.
I never considered colors as deeply as Ellen Meloy does in her book, but after reading, I now feel as if they are inseparable from my explorations of the world around me. I was mesmerized by Meloy's beautiful descriptions and reflections on colors, how they affect people, how they define a landscape, and how they can even connect different places that seem to have nothing else in common.
I had to leave this unfinished and return it to the library, but I really liked what I read so far. The language is lyrical, evoking images of desert and gem, family and meditative spirit. An unusual memoir, composed of free-standing sections or chapters, tied together by the author's fascination with turquoise. I hope I remember to get this again.
Aug 13, 2007
Brittany
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Everyone I know, or will ever know, and everyone else besides
Shelves:
nonfiction,
favorites
I loved this book. It's a collection of essays about a woman's relation with the world and colors. I picked it up worried it might be more than a little pretentious, but quickly got over that fear. Meloy has a fantastic sense of humor. In fact, she's just a lot of fun to hang around with. In some cases, reading her essays was a little scary in that they so closely mirrored my own thoughts. More often, though, it was just exhilarating. These are delicious essays, meant to be read, savored, quoted...more
This rating should be 3.5 stars. I developed a love-hate relationship with this book: the flowery, hyper-adjective language inlaid in run-on sentences inspired hair pulling. To the contrary, select passages struck a chord in my core and provided deep contemplation on my own home nestled in Idaho's wilderness. I sincerely appreciate the author's honesty about her role as a nature writer. Her admittance of being a mere footnote in the vast natural history of her beloved lands was refreshing, albei...more
Mar 03, 2012
Florence
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
miquixote, lucyca
Shelves:
fiction,
southwestern-usa
The beautiful phrases and descriptive phrases used in Meloy's journey is a pleasure to follow. Rich and colourful attributes of landscaping, mountains, water, desert and sky are given full attention to detail. Her writing style appears to be mostly a hunger of the senses; we immediately are drawn into the realistic imagery she presents. She winds her way through the beautiful Sierra Nevada, the Mojave Desert, the Yucatan Peninsula, the Bahamas and finally to her beloved home in the canyons of So...more
Aug 23, 2012
Alison
added it
I find all your books about natural history to be fascinating. Very sad she is dead. This book is my favorite . I like her book on Ravens too
It took me a couple of months to finish the book because I set out to read as many of the essays as possible in one sitting each, and I don't always have enough time for that kind of concentrated reading. The overall read was well worth the effort, and I'm glad I could savor each essay over time, rather than rush through them just for the sake of finishing. I particularly enjoyed "Tilano's Jeans" and "The Silk That Hurls Us Down Its Spine" -- these are the kind of essays that I love to read and...more
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Ellen Meloy was an American nature writer. Among the awards she garnered are the Whiting Writer's Award (1997) and the John Burroughs Medal (2007); in 2003 she was also nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, for The Anthropology of Turquoise Meditations on Landscape, Art & Spirit.
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“The complex human eye harvests light. It perceives seven to ten million colors through a synaptic flash: one-tenth of a second from retina to brain. Homo sapiens gangs up to 70 percent of its sense receptors solely for vision, to anticipate danger and recognize reward, but also—more so—for beauty.”
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9 people liked it
“ In genealogy you might say that interest lies in the eye of the gene holder. The actual descendants are far more intrigued with it all than the listeners, who quickly sink into a narcoleptic coma after the second or third great-great-somebody kills a bear or beheads Charles I, invents the safety pin or strip-mines Poland, catalogues slime molds, dances flamenco, or falls in love with a sheep. Genealogy is a forced march through stories. Yet everyone loves stories, and that is one reason we seek knowledge of our own blood kin.
Through our ancestors we can witness their times. Or, we think, there might be something in their lives, an artist’s or a farmer’s skill, an affection for a certain landscape, that will match or explain something in our own. If we know who they were, perhaps we will know who we are. And few cultures have been as identity-obsessed as ours. So keen is this fascination with ancestry, genealogy has become an industry. Family reunions choke the social calendar. Europe crawls with ancestor-seeking Americans. Your mother or your spouse or your neighbors are too busy to talk to you because they are on the Internet running “heritage quests.” We have climbed so far back into our family trees, we stand inches away from the roots where the primates dominate.”
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3 people liked it
More quotes…
Through our ancestors we can witness their times. Or, we think, there might be something in their lives, an artist’s or a farmer’s skill, an affection for a certain landscape, that will match or explain something in our own. If we know who they were, perhaps we will know who we are. And few cultures have been as identity-obsessed as ours. So keen is this fascination with ancestry, genealogy has become an industry. Family reunions choke the social calendar. Europe crawls with ancestor-seeking Americans. Your mother or your spouse or your neighbors are too busy to talk to you because they are on the Internet running “heritage quests.” We have climbed so far back into our family trees, we stand inches away from the roots where the primates dominate.”
Jul 20, 2010 11:15pm