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5th out of 63 books
—
12 voters
Findings
"A book of unparalleled beauty, sharpness of observation, wit, delicacy, strength of vision and rare exactness of language."—The Daily Telegraph
"I had noticed, more than noticed, the cobwebs, and the shoaling light, and the way the doctor listened, and the flecked tweed of her skirt, and the speckled bird and the sickle-cell man's slim feet. Isn't that a kind of prayer? Th...more
"I had noticed, more than noticed, the cobwebs, and the shoaling light, and the way the doctor listened, and the flecked tweed of her skirt, and the speckled bird and the sickle-cell man's slim feet. Isn't that a kind of prayer? Th...more
Published
(first published November 7th 2011)
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Finding this book - in a charity shop, with a long train journey ahead - was a piece of serendipity.
It's hard to know quite why this series of essays and reflections is so enjoyable. The poet Kathleen Jamie describes her explorations of the natural world. Some pieces focus on the area round her home, others on her travels around remoter areas of Scotland. There are a couple of sections devoted to her discoveries of little-known parts of Edinburgh.
Maybe it's the unflashy beauty of her measured pr...more
It's hard to know quite why this series of essays and reflections is so enjoyable. The poet Kathleen Jamie describes her explorations of the natural world. Some pieces focus on the area round her home, others on her travels around remoter areas of Scotland. There are a couple of sections devoted to her discoveries of little-known parts of Edinburgh.
Maybe it's the unflashy beauty of her measured pr...more
Reading poetry , i suppose, is a little like entering into a relationship with someone much more than in a novel or history or even, oddly in a biography or autobiography. In those prose works you encounter, to an extent, from a distance but in Poetry you encounter the person their opinions and feelings and sometimes even their innermost thoughts that maybe they are not even too sure or certain about. I know that when i write my own paltry stuff because i find I often reveal far more that I real...more
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One of my favourite nature writers, her poetry and her essays are very comforting to settle into and her subtle connections between the world of humans and nature, often as elusive as a random bird or moth sighting itself.
Read my full review here at Word by Word.
Read my full review here at Word by Word.
1 like · like · see review
"When I was sick and lay abed, I had two pillows at my head..." and I had this lovely, soothing book by a Scottish poet. This is a beautiful volume of essays, mostly about the natural world of the author's homeland. I read them while feverish and they somehow carried me away, away to a land of the islands, the birds, the scenery of Scotland. There are a couple of essays about areas of Edinburgh; another essay details a trip to an observatory where she saw some corncrakes, a bird that has traditi...more
As many regular readers of my blog may have noticed, I don’t read as much non-fiction as I often feel I should. I tend therefore to be a little picky about what non-fiction books I do read. Having seen several reviews of Kathleen Jamie’s volumes of essays this has been on the horizon of books I must read for a little while. Finding myself in the mood for something a little different I downloaded it to my kindle just the other day deciding to read it straight away. Now that is the wonderful thing...more
Is the mark of a good book that it leaves us wanting more? Perhaps if authors satisfied us too thoroughly, we wouldn’t be driven to seek more of their work.
After finishing Findings, I do find myself wanting more. It seems like such a beginning, so many places left unexplored, so many connections not yet made. It leaves the way open, I suppose.
This is a nonfiction collection of place/travel narratives about Scotland, some from around the author’s home and others from her travels to different par...more
After finishing Findings, I do find myself wanting more. It seems like such a beginning, so many places left unexplored, so many connections not yet made. It leaves the way open, I suppose.
This is a nonfiction collection of place/travel narratives about Scotland, some from around the author’s home and others from her travels to different par...more
Findings opens in the author’s home, mid-winter, amidst talk of Christmas shopping and school parties, as Jamie offers a meditation on darkness and light, those two symbolic seeds long nurtured at opposite ends of our garden of myth and memory—and her subtle, observant eye reveals what flourishes in between. Like Gilbert White in The Natural History of Selborne, written well over two hundred years earlier, Jamie reminds us that the local parish—the domestic familiar—can be as richly revealing as...more
Writing on a par with Roger Deakin and Robert Macfarlane. Interweaves the personal experiences and anecdotes, with a wider world, largely the natural world, but goes beyond that too into history and metaphysics.
Macfarlain and Deakin are both masters of prose, she brings the poets ability to hone in on specific images in very few words, and very well chosen words at that, to create very tangible scenes and scenery in very brief paragraphs.
The book is wonderfully readable and enjoyable. Some boo...more
Macfarlain and Deakin are both masters of prose, she brings the poets ability to hone in on specific images in very few words, and very well chosen words at that, to create very tangible scenes and scenery in very brief paragraphs.
The book is wonderfully readable and enjoyable. Some boo...more
I really tried with this, and did at least manage to get to the end - unlike on my last attempt. However, I still much prefer Annie Dillard.
There are some gems in the collection - sentences or phrases, but I quickly wearied of Jamie's tone. I think I'd have got on better if she had restricted herself to what she saw, rather than tell me what she thought about it and so what I was to think. Once she 'stepped in' so to speak, I became acutely aware of The Author, and was frankly irritated by her c...more
There are some gems in the collection - sentences or phrases, but I quickly wearied of Jamie's tone. I think I'd have got on better if she had restricted herself to what she saw, rather than tell me what she thought about it and so what I was to think. Once she 'stepped in' so to speak, I became acutely aware of The Author, and was frankly irritated by her c...more
A gentle and very readable narrative about many areas of Scotland, especially the islands. The author has a way of making you feel as though you are experiencing the quietness and solitude with her. Her descriptions are clear and informative. What makes this book slightly different is the range of areas that she covers from peregrines to the Sabbath.
I tripped over this book in a bookshop, as you do, while looking for something else. I picked it up because of the vibrant blue sky on the cover and read the first page. An hour later I had to buy it. Beautiful descriptions and writing that flows so easily it must have been dreadfully hard to write.
highly recommended
highly recommended
Stunningly written. The author is magical with words. I had to stop and re-read passages numerous times to soak up their beauty. What an extreme pleasure to read.
This book made me realise how little of our lives we spend observing; after reading these superb essays I intend to see more of what life has to offer us.
Possibly my favourite book of 2012.
I thought this was going to be boring, but it wasn't. It's quiet, contemplative, meditative, for sure. It needs space around it to breathe, but put in the investment and it delivers the attention and space that Jamie herself talks about in terms of a sort of secular form of prayer.
Beautiful book with dreamy prose. Kathleen Jamie, a Scottish poet, has a keen eye for nature and a knack for describing her surroundings in a respectful, quiet way with an eye for the smallest detail. A gem of a book.
The chap in the Harrogate bookshop recommended it with passion. He even pointed out that it was on "the recommended shelf". Happily many goodreads readers have enjoyed it. Unhappily I didn't.
Absolutely beautiful book. A series of thoughtful writings on nature, life and how everything is linked and connect. But not in some hackeyed spiritual sense, but with a real insightfulness and honesty. Makes me want to go exploring in the Scottish highlands and maybe not come back.
I love Kathleen Jamie's essays. She has a fine poet's eye; makes you look at the world around you differently.
Sep 21, 2012
B0nnie
marked it as to-read
First chapter:
http://www.stpetershigh.org.uk/DEPART...
http://www.stpetershigh.org.uk/DEPART...
Beautifully written, completely captures the wildlife and landscape, makes me want to be back there.
Beautifully written although I didn't find all the essay subjects equally compelling.
Beautiful, poetic writing. A book to read when you're looking for inner peace.
Superb writing. One of the finest books I've read this year.
I think this is probably the best non-fiction book I've ever read.
26 FEB 2013 - a quiet book recommended by Bettie.
I really liked these essays. The first essay on darkness is beautiful. She goes on to write about birds, and landscape, and her husband's illness. All of them are both simple and beautiful and quite deep and meaningful. She pulls it off very, very well.
John Berger said it was his favorite book of 1995.
Could not get into this - not my cup of tea.
It was not at all what I had expected so I tried really hard to finish but continued to skip chapters. Few chapters were interesting.
I haven't finished this book. It's been put on the 'back-burner' for a while! Other books have come along...
Somehow, I suppose it's because it's a series of essays really, there is no storyline to keep you reading. The chapters are very well written however...
Somehow, I suppose it's because it's a series of essays really, there is no storyline to keep you reading. The chapters are very well written however...
Kathleen Jamie was one of my teachers at St Andrews. Dense, beautiful prose.
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“We couldn't see the real dark for the metaphorical dark. Because of the metaphorical dark, the death-dark, we were constantly concerned to banish the natural dark.”
—
1 person liked it
“We couldn't see the real dark for the
metaphorical dark. Because of the metaphorical dark, the death-dark, we were constantly concerned to banish
the natural dark.”
—
0 people liked it
More quotes…
metaphorical dark. Because of the metaphorical dark, the death-dark, we were constantly concerned to banish
the natural dark.”
