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35th out of 349 books
—
382 voters
Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
In the spring of 1983 Terry Tempest Williams learned that her mother was dying of cancer. That same season, The Great Salt Lake began to rise to record heights, threatening the herons, owls, and snowy egrets that Williams, a poet and naturalist, had come to gauge her life by. One event was nature at its most random, the other a by-product of rogue technology: Terry's mothe...more
Paperback, 336 pages
Published
September 1st 1992
by Vintage
(first published January 1st 1991)
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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 elemental tru...more
I hold tight hoping Terry Tempest Williams will devote an entire book to that grandmother of hers. "Refuge" 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 to all of the people of Salt Lake City. This is a personal story about being part of a bad and a good wo...more
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Yes, this is one of those books that I will list as "amazing" for me. I had a difficult time getting started into this one but I pushed through for several reasons. It was recommended to me by my grad school professor. So, of course, I wanted to read to understand more closely the mind of this mentor and I like the idea of the subtitle "An Unnatural history of Family and Place." I had not heard of Williams previously. Initially it had too much naturalist talk for me and then its other subject ma...more
Terry Tempest Williams is a local author with a transcendent story. Part memoir, Utah history, Audubon guide, and observer, Williams tells the story of the rise of the Great Salt Lake in the 1980's and its destruction of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. Alongside this historical and ornithological account, Williams relates her own search for refuge as her mother and grandmother die of cancer, Both "down winder" victims of the nuclear testing in Nevada during the 1950s and early 60s. It is a...more
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Jul 18, 2007
Lauren
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who has lost a parent
Shelves:
memoir
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 environment can hurt...more
This was a tough book to read. It's kind of about the Great Salt Lake, kind of about birds, but really about death and how Terry Tempest Williams deals with the deaths of her mother and both grandmothers in a very short period of time, and all from cancer. Most of the narrative focuses on the rise of the Great Salt Lake during the mid 80's and the impact the rising water had on local and migratory bird populations. It's clear that TTW loves the natural world, that the mountains and deserts are h...more
Finished reading this today on the Metro ride home from work. This book was like a trip back home to me. I was born in Ogden and grew up in North Ogden, Utah in the 50s and 60s. I remember going to the Bear River bird refuge with my family a few times when I was a kid and enjoying it a lot. This book made me wish I had gone there as an adult as well as some of the other places mentioned around the Great Salt Lake. I was also in Utah in 1983 (I worked for Kennecott in Salt Lake City at the time)...more
A blank spot on the map is an invitation to encounter the natural world, where one's character will be shaped by the landscape. To enter wilderness is to court risk, and risk favors the senses, enabling one to live well.
The landscapes we know and return to become places of solace. We are drawn to them because of the stories they tell, because of the memories they hold, or simply because of the sheer beauty that calls us back again and again.
One of the things in this world that I truly and absolu...more
I was reminded to add this to my read shelf today by a goodreads friend who added it to his. I read it long ago, when my wife bought it and read it, not long after it came out, but awhile after my wife had been treated for cancer. My wife read it and added to a small bookstand on her nightstand next to her bed. It's where I think she adds favorites she wants nearby to inspire her dreams.
This book excels in interweaving several different narratives: that of a dying mother, the influences of natu...more
This book excels in interweaving several different narratives: that of a dying mother, the influences of natu...more
I'm not altogether sure how to talk about Terry Tempest Williams' Refuge. Here is what it is not:Refuge is not a book about the loss of a wildlife refuge due to the rising water of the Great Salt Lake. It is not a book about death, or cancer, or doubt, or history, or government, or place, or faith, or the LDS, or birds, or water, or Utah.
I say Refuge is not these things, but that's not to say it doesn't talk about them all a good deal. This is a story of loss, and finding beauty in the mids...more
I say Refuge is not these things, but that's not to say it doesn't talk about them all a good deal. This is a story of loss, and finding beauty in the mids
Why do I torture myself reading sad tales of mothers and daughters? I'm pretty sure it's a sign that I'm sick in the head. However, to redeem myself slightly, this one had an interesting twist. The author is a natrualist and conservationist. Her great outdoors is a wildlife refuge on the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Her passion, birds. During the tough years that her mother was battling cancer, she sought sanctuary in nature. Unfortunately for her, her mother wasn't the only sick one; Great Salt Lak...more
I read this book while I was in Utah this summer, which was perfect since it takes place in Utah and I found it to parallel parts of my life growing up in Utah. It is a very moving and loving account of the author and her Mormon family, coming to terms first with her mother's cancer and then her own, which was a by-product of their exposure to fallout from atomic bomb testing in the 1950's. They are classified as "down winders", as am I. The author, a naturalist as well as a poet, interweaves he...more
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.
May 17, 2007
Shelley
rated it
5 of 5 stars
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.
I thought this book was just okay. I had high hopes for this book after I read select excerpts in my literature and environment class. And on some levels, it did deliver. There were parts of the book that were very touching and beautiful. Especially the parts concerning her family and the people side of things. But there were other parts that were quite boring. I mean, they were beautiful in a sense, her description of the birds and so on, but there was a little too much of that for my taste. I...more
In this memoir, Williams describes the 1989 flood of the Great Salt Lake, paralleling it with the return of her mother’s breast cancer. Beautifully poetic, Williams connects the two events in surprising and touching ways and shows how nature is a mighty force of both destruction and creation. She also shows the consequences, both positive and negative, of man’s attempt to bend nature to our will. The book is very female and environment oriented, so the target audience is somewhat limited, howeve...more
Sep 30, 2007
Celeste
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
nature enthusists, cancer patients and families of cancer patients
Beautiful story interweaving a family's struggle with cancer and the observations of some of the birds of Utah. Very thoughtful and well written. Interesting side note....After we read this for a high school English class, this book was banned from my school's English classes after some Mormon families complained about it although I don't remember it to be anti-Mormon.
My copy of this book is covered with notes and underlined passages. Williams uses her intimacy with nature to adeptly describe her intimacy with people, relationships, core beliefs, and life's meaderings. I identified with many of her images and experiences--not because I share her love of birds, but because I share her poet's heart. I am always thinking in parallels and comparisons. It was validating and liberating for me to read of someone else doing the same. I also have seen cancer death up-...more
this is no conventional book by a conventional author- it is written by a fierce nature lover and serious nature writer. though nature writing is not my favorite genre, tempest williams reached me in a way no author ever has. i've turned to this book like i would turn to a best friend over the past few years- it's always as good as i remember it.
This book is a heartbreaker. A close friend recommended this book many years ago. I avoided it because of the subject, but I finally wanted to read it after reading and loving "Finding Beauty in a Broken World." Williams writes exquisitely. There were many places where I just had to pause and put the book down because it can be overwhelming--not just sad but also so human, so honest, so intimate. This is a journal of an adult woman and her family experiencing the second and final recurrence of c...more
(Genre:Non-fiction/memoir) This book chronicles the rise of the Great Salt Lake in Utah's West desert in the 1980's and the destruction of the wetlands and bird refuge located on the shores of this lake. Along side this running story is the author's account of the life changing events that she was experiencing at the same time--the loss of her mother to cancer. It is well written and very insightful in places about life and the process of dying. I particularly appreciated the feelings of the aut...more
I'm not reading it word by word, but as I skim through it I can honestly say it is a very special book.
Written by a daughter whose mother has cancer and the relationship they develop because of the illness. Has some really nice philosophical thoughts about nature and humans.
Written by a daughter whose mother has cancer and the relationship they develop because of the illness. Has some really nice philosophical thoughts about nature and humans.
First heard Terry Tempest Williams on the radio - this voice spoke words that made me pull over to the side of the road on State Street in Orem: "I belong to a Clan of One-Breasted Women." Her book, Refuge, had just come out and she was reading what turned out to be the epilogue. I was fortunate to be living in UT at the time, where the author lives and met her at a reading at Atticus Books (now defunct - but a wonderful book shop and place to work) where I was working.
The book melds her mother...more
The book melds her mother...more
Oct 01, 2012
Sebina (Classicmaiden)
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Readers interested in nature, inner/outer journeys and women's issues.
Recommended to Sebina (Classicmaiden) by:
Terri Windling on her wonderful and inspiring blog.
Shelves:
_women-s-history,
_type_written-by-women,
_type_owned-kindle-version,
_type_non-fiction,
_setting_america,
_research_nature-spiritualism,
_research_female-writers-bios,
_research_creativity-inspiration,
_research_autobiography,
_research_feminism,
_historical_non-fiction,
_author_terry-tempest-williams
Reading Terry Tempest Williams is like going on a journey inside yourself... She is what I consider a clear, gentle and thoughtful author - something that makes her the kind of author I know I can re-read again and again. Her writing, even in its simplicity, has a lot of depth, with a beautiful and poetic quality that makes her prose a joy to read. It was a very moving, heartfelt book. And an honest one too.
I can't wait to discover more of her books after this one! I will probably read When Wome...more
I can't wait to discover more of her books after this one! I will probably read When Wome...more
Terry reminds me a bit of Barbra Kingsolver; a poetic scientist on the forefront of activism.
I like Terry.
"What is it about the relationship of a mother that can heal or hurt us?"
This was a very maternal book; Terry's mother, her mother's mother, her ambivalence about becoming a mother, Mother Earth, and, ultimately, her needing to be "the midwife to her mother's death."
I must admit to doing a bit of skimming in the portions of this book where she goes into extensive detail about avian habit a...more
I like Terry.
"What is it about the relationship of a mother that can heal or hurt us?"
This was a very maternal book; Terry's mother, her mother's mother, her ambivalence about becoming a mother, Mother Earth, and, ultimately, her needing to be "the midwife to her mother's death."
I must admit to doing a bit of skimming in the portions of this book where she goes into extensive detail about avian habit a...more
Okay, so this one isn't fiction but I read it and I want to discuss it. I started this one for my ecobiography writing retreat and actually found it too intense to finish. Terry Tempest Williams' place in nature writing and Mormon writing compounded by the drama/transcendence of her mother's and grandmother's slow deaths overwhelmed me. I had to walk away from the book. I was glad that I picked it back up and I'm glad I bought it; there was so much to underline! A sample: "To acknowledge that wh...more
Interesting book about familial breast cancer against the backdrop of a historic rising of the Great Salt Lake. Lots of interesting tidbits about birds and the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
Favorite quotes:
“Buddha says there are two kinds of suffering: the kind that leads to more suffering and the kind that brings an end to suffering.”
Denial stops us from listening…Denial lies. It protects us from the potency of a truth we cannot yet bear to accept. It takes our hands and leads us to places o...more
Favorite quotes:
“Buddha says there are two kinds of suffering: the kind that leads to more suffering and the kind that brings an end to suffering.”
Denial stops us from listening…Denial lies. It protects us from the potency of a truth we cannot yet bear to accept. It takes our hands and leads us to places o...more
This book was beautifully written. The author chronicles the struggle of her mother dying from breast cancer at the same time that a bird refuge is being flooded by Great Salt Lake in the 80's. The descriptions of the birds, their habits, etc. were interesting, and done in language that even people who did not major in a life science in college would want to keep reading.
As a member of the same faith as Ms. Williams, I struggled a little with some of the things she and her mother felt about femi...more
As a member of the same faith as Ms. Williams, I struggled a little with some of the things she and her mother felt about femi...more
There is something very different going on in Terry Tempest William's head than my own. Her mother is dying of cancer and she is a scientist who studies birds near Great Salt Lake.
"The pulse of Great Salt Lake, surging along Antelope Island's shores, becomes the force wearing against my mother's body. And when I watch flocks of phalaropes wing their way toward quiet bays on the island, I recall watching Mother sleep, imagining the dreams that were encircling her, wondering what she knows that I...more
"The pulse of Great Salt Lake, surging along Antelope Island's shores, becomes the force wearing against my mother's body. And when I watch flocks of phalaropes wing their way toward quiet bays on the island, I recall watching Mother sleep, imagining the dreams that were encircling her, wondering what she knows that I...more
I read this book nearly ten years ago. My sister gave it to me.
It is beautifully written, and I really enjoyed reading it, although I can't fully remember what it is about now. Environmentalism? Cancer? Utah?
It is beautifully written, and I really enjoyed reading it, although I can't fully remember what it is about now. Environmentalism? Cancer? Utah?
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Terry Tempest Williams is an American author, conservationist and activist. Williams’ writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of her native Utah in which she was raised. Her work ranges from issues of ecology and wilderness preservation, to women's health, to exploring our relationship to culture and nature.
She has testified before Congres...more
More about Terry Tempest Williams...
She has testified before Congres...more
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“I believe every woman should own at least one pair of red shoes.”
—
21 people liked it
“Today, I feel stronger, learning to live within the natural cycles of a day and to not expect too much of myself. As women, we hold the moon in our bellies. It is too much to ask to operate on full-moon energy three hundred and sixty-five days a year. I am in a crescent phase.”
—
12 people liked it
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