The Star Thrower

by Loren Eiseley

A collection of the author’s favorite essays and poems. This volume includes selections that span Eiseley’s entire writing career and provide a sampling of the author as naturalist, poet, scientist, and humanist. “Loren Eiseley’s work changed my life” (Ray Bradbury). Introduction by W. H. Auden.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Essays, Philosophy, Nature, Poetry, Anthropology

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Loren Corey Eiseley (September 3, 1907 – July 9, 1977) was a highly respected anthropologist, science writer, ecologist, and poet. He published books of essays, biography, and general science in the 1950s through the 1970s.

Eiseley is best known for the poetic essay style, called the "concealed essay". He used this to explain complex scientific ideas, such as human evolution, to the general public. He is also known for his writings about humanity's relationship with the natural world; these writings helped inspire the modern environmental movement.

Reviews

[Brittany]

OK, I'm very sorry. I'm throwing in the towel on this one. I love Eiseley's writing. It's wonderful and poetic and deep and lovely. The problem with the book, and this isn't even remotely his fault, is that ecology has grown and learned so much since when he wrote. So some of the "mysteries" he writes about, we've now know much more about, and many of the conclusions they thought they'd reached in the 70s we now know to be untrue. I kept trying to suspend my disbelief and go with the sense of what he was trying to say. Of course this didn't work.

I still love some of his stuff. It's just that the rest of it I can't make it through. I foresee me reading many of his essays, in isolation, but probably not tackling any more books wholesale.

I feel a bit like a traitor.

[Adriane]

I first read this many years ago and the evocative beauty of his prose, his simplicity and passion, his hunger, all wove a spell I've yet to shake off. A number of the stories made me cry, a few made me laugh out loud, and all made me think.

If you like it - also read The Unexpected Universe (probably my favorite Eisley book). I've gone through many copies of both books over the years - friends that "borrow" them usually can't help passing them them on to someone else.

[Paula Dembeck]

Eiseley is a naturalist, a scientist, a humanist and a writer. Before he died in 1977, he put together some of his favourite writing for this anthology.

The book is divided into three parts. In the first section, which was my favourite, he shares some of his experiences in life and with nature, which leads him to pose interesting questions and draw some thoughtful conclusions. The second section is shorter and contains some poetry. In the third section, which compromises most of the book, he explores a number of broad questions about the human species as life evolves against an unseen and an unknown future.

Eiseley is a solitary wanderer and his prose is tinged with melancholy. He is someone who is more comfortable with animals and rocks than human companions. He does not like noises or crowds, because he is at heart a listener, a man whose solitary approach allows him to reflect on the messages he receives from his surroundings. These lead naturally to deep thought and quiet revelations which he shares with his readers.

Although Eiseley is a trained biologist, his prose is not written in the cold, distinct and precise style of a scientist. His training is evident in that it leads him to write logically, providing historic background, moving from one known fact to the next, asking pertinent questions and drawing possible conclusions. But his narrative also includes beautiful descriptive passages filled with sentences that are masterfully constructed.

This is not a quick, easy read. It requires time, attention and a deep breath now and again. Yes, some of the information is dated, but there is still much food for thought.

[Yao MacLean]

This piece contains so much beauty and sorrow. A deeply moving attempt to grapple with the fundamental gap which haunts modern existence -- how to live in a world both explained and inexplicable?

"The stars," he said, "throw well. One can help them."

"We were part of the rainbow––an unexplained projection into the natural."

"I could feel the movement in my body. It was like a sowing––the sowing of life on an infinitely gigantic scale . . . I flung and flung again while all about us roared the insatiable waters of death."

"We had lost our way, I thought, but we had kept, some of us, the memory of the perfect circle of compassion from life to death and back again to life––the completion of the rainbow of existence."

[Painting]

Once I found myself throwing stars with my nephew who was too young to understand the story but we thoroughly enjoyed the process of being nature helpers.

[Christy]

Leaving Goodreads, don't want to be a volunteer content provider for Amazon. This review is now available on LibraryThing, username CSRodgers.

[John]

Consistently lifted me out of time to mind in space.

[Sandrine]

Mr Eiseley states having spent most of his life on his knees searching and investigating the past, bringing it to the present light so we might find a way to understand where we are “now”. Though his search was with the deep past, his eruditions are for the deep future. You don’t read this for the science but for the insights, the wonder, the mystery, the paradox of life.

[C. M. Kosemen]

Otiose, badly-written, pompous... Too bad, really wanted to like this book.

[Joseph Carrabis]

The Star Thrower is a posthumous collection of Eiseley's work. Somewhere around a third of the way through the book I considered giving it up. Eiseley may have been an outstanding scientist, naturalist, a modern contemplative - many call him "a modern Thoreau" - and the first part of the book bored me. His style was too contemplative. I kept on thinking "Come on. Make a decision or reach a conclusion."
Something kept me going (thank god for those inner voices). I read The Dance of the Frogs and it caught me completely off guard. It's one of the finest pieces of horror I've read (discussed as such on my blog). I finished the story before I recognized how chilled I was, what a sense of terror, horror, it gave me. Some of that is because I wasn't prepared for a horror story (I still don't know if he meant it as one). I've read it twice in two days and will read it again, I'm sure.
The I read The Fifth Planet. Another gem. What talented story telling!
I don't recommend getting a whole book for two short pieces (Remember the college prof who had you buy a textbook and only read twenty or so pages from it? Never liked those professors) and the rest of the book is a good enough read to keep you going.
Just make sure you get past the first third or so.

[Morgan]

When one chooses to be bold, and wild--when one chooses to believe all things are both utterly random and inextricably connected--when one is filled with desire--well, then there is Eisley. The pliable, starry-eyed, gazing, scientist/poet. A wanderer, a gatherer. A silly, silly man.

[Krista Stevens]

Probably my most favorite non-fiction writer - he has a lot more books - but this is the only one coming up here. I've read him over and over. Will be probably be the last author I'll read on my death bed. No, I'm not exaggerating - I take books far too seriously for that.

[Joe Ward]

Not sure what to make of Loren Eiseley. I like him, his heart's in the right place, he's well read, writes well, etc. He's a mystic with a well developed sense of the numinous. What surprises me is that he doesn't seem to understand the sciences very well. Doesn't understand the Milankovitch cycles or about human impact on climate, clueless as to kin selection and reciprocal altruism, and, most strangely of all, he doesn't seem to understand the Second Law. Emphasizes life's exquisite order with no mention of the tremendous amount of energy that goes into establishing and maintaining that order. Seems to exalt life as a enthalpic phenomenon while disregarding the entropic cost to the overall system. Seems like a professor of Anthropology would know better, even in the 1950s and '60s. In places his writing becomes esoteric and his meaning hard to follow. Found my mind wandering while reading. Didn't really hold my interest in places. Poetry struck me as mediocre. Some cool anecdotes, though. Can't strongly recommend but you might like him if you're inclined towards life's mysterium.

[Jess Long]

I very much enjoyed this book. I found at first I would enjoy this book more if I read the passages separately. However, after finishing the book there are some obvious overlap in some of the essays. It made it feel like he keep thinking about things consistently through his research. Finding depth in things but keeping consistent in his personal character. I found that some of the essays to be a bit pandering with larger words than necessary but still was a decent read. He often references Freud and Darwin. Which I find a bit arbitrary but he doesn't completely agree with either and keeps a semi-neutral view when bringing them up. Most of the stories shared made me think a little more and made me smile a little bigger than I thought. Good book and would recommend.
It is a product of it's time with some inaccurate descriptions.

[Carolyn]

Esch essay holds a message that strikes at the heart. The words are lyrical, in fact musical in thought. An ever present fit for nature, anthropology, history, and the surroundings imagined or not. These words cannot be taken lightly. You might read an essay another day and be rewarded in some new never before thought about way.

An absolute joy for those of us who are continually stopping as we meander the earth to find a treasure in the most remote spot. His tale about the fox has be reminded often of the feel, the passion, the evocation of nature in living things.

[Jen Cratsenberg]

I was intrigued by Eiseley’s suggestion of Thoreau as an early process philosopher. I think having some understanding of Whitehead is helpful while reading these essays to appreciate their relational qualities but by no means necessary (however, I think Eiseley is highly Influenced by Whitehead and much depth is added). I’ve read and reread “the star thrower” many times over the last couple of years.

[Read-with-Jane]

Books help readers find their literary soul mates, and Eiseley is one of mine. He had already died shortly before I discovered him in a college class, this anthology being the first book I read, after which i went out of my way to read everything he ever wrote. He published a lot of natural history which, even though some of the scientific concepts are now dated, still resonates because of his unique literary ability.

[Penny]

For those of you who have heard the story of the man on the beach throwing the starfish back into the ocean, this book is the origin of that story, and the story within is actually "The Star Thrower" but it contains much more than that. Eiseley writes deeply of our world. I need to read this again.

[Molly]

One of the most fantastic books I have read recently. Sometimes hard to follow and not because the writing was not excellent but because the author was so intelligent. Nature, man, nature and man, philosophy of nature, the mind of man, past and present, these are what Loren Eiseley discusses in a very beautiful and meaningful way.

[Dave Mills]

Elegant and only slightly dated by recent discoveries. I liked part I, Nature and Autobiography, over Part II, Early Poems, and Part III, Science and Humanism.

[Jackie DeVille]

Awesome essayist

[Penelope Swan]

He calls himself a loser because he never found what he was looking for. What he did find and shared with me is momentous. I ordered all of his books.

[Gordon Cooper]

Beautifully meditative book of essays by the late naturalist and scholar-poet from Nebraska. Haunting descriptions of his encounters with the natural and sometimes not so natural worlds.

[John]

Haunting. The essay, "The Star Thrower," in particular, keeps ringing in my brain, decades later.

[David Wilson]

A book to be savored and read slowly. Best to read excerpts and bits & pieces at a time.
It's NOT light reading. Yet, it's worthwhile to ponder upon and just think quietly as you read.

[Eddie]

His prose is incredible, absolutely one of my favorites of all time

[Sasha]

This was a bit long winded, but the message was gorgeous. I will never look at starfish quite the same. Do what you can, when you can, the best you can, as often as you can. Simple and beautiful.

[Beky Libby]

The star thrower STUCK WITH ME

[George]

Loren Eiseley is simply incredible, undoubtedly Thoreau’s heir. What a voice

[Diana Lillig]

I like Loren Eiseley, always gives good sublimity. I'd never heard of this book before today, when an online coach quoted it.