Baikal: Sacred Sea of Siberia

by Peter Matthiessen, Yevgeny Yevtushenko (Foreword), David Brower (Afterword)

In Baikal, Peter Matthiessen takes readers on a fascinating journey to ancient Lake Baikal in Siberia. The world's oldest and deepest lake, Baikal is a natural wonder: more than a mile deep, it contains one-fifth of the fresh water on Earth; its waters possess a clarity and purity beyond compare - a coin dropped into the water can be clearly seen at a depth of 100 feet; at the bottom of the lake are hydrothermal vents that support unique forms of life, among which is the reclusive nerpa, the world's only freshwater seal. But this legendary lake - revered throughout Russia - is now endangered by acid rain and pollution from industries on the lake shore. In the summer of 1990, Matthiessen was invited by musician-composer Paul Winter to join him on an expedition to explore the mysterious Baikal. Winter, whose visits to the lake over several years had inspired him to compose music celebrating the wonder of Baikal, hoped that Matthiessen would be so impressed by the lake's majesty - and so concerned by the loss of its biodiversity - that he would write on its behalf. Here, then, is the journal Matthiessen composed during their voyage from end to end of the great lake, accompanied by a fascinating group of Russian naturalists and intellectuals, including the controversial writer Valentin Rasputin, who has made Baikal one of the centerpieces of the emerging Russian environmental movement. Matthiessen's powerful tribute to this sacred and endangered landscape is enhanced by myths, folklore, and excerpts from historical texts about Baikal assembled by editor Chez Liley. Boyd Norton's striking photographs illustrate the lake's grandeur - from dawn light on the rugged peaks above the Brown Bear Coast to nerpa basking on rocks at Tonkii Island in Zabaikalsky National Park. A foreword by Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko introduces the book, and renowned environmentalist David Brower's afterword calls for the designation of Lake Baikal as a World Heritage Site.

Genres: Russia, Nonfiction, Travel, Nature

89 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Peter Matthiessen is the author of more than thirty books and the only writer to win the National Book Award for both non-fiction (The Snow Leopard, in two categories, in 1979 and 1980) and fiction (Shadow Country, in 2008). A co-founder of The Paris Review and a world-renowned naturalist, explorer and activist, he died in April 2014.

Reviews

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this is an account of Matthiessen's trip to Lake Baikal, it is no adventure story but shows how he came to admire and appreciate the nature and beauty of the surroundings. Here for instance we find the only freshwater seal. Wood pulp production is threatening to pollute the massive lake, which has so far managed to absorb all that was thrown at it, just because of its size. This is the largest and oldest lake in the world, with localised species, and is used by birds of passage. The local weathered-looking people also fish and live by the lake.

The photographs were taken by a specialist photographer who travelled with Matthiessen. I find that they all look rugged and curiously devoid of movement. Even the ones of people, who are staring into the lens. Maybe it's just that not a lot happens here, and it doesn't happen fast. About half the book is occupied by the handsome photos. This makes it hard to define as a cross between a natural world study, a travelogue and a coffee table book.

[Boyd Norton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps I'm prejudiced, but I was the photographer who collaborated with Peter on this book. He did a fine job with the writing and really captured the feeling of an amazing place and the people who live near Baikal.

[Margie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"'The sacred sea" "the sacred lake," "the sacred water'" -- that is what native inhabitants have called Baikal from the beginning of time." Lake Baikal is one of the world's wonders and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. How sad, shocking actually, that I had no knowledge of the oldest, deepest lake in the world before my husband and I traveled to Siberia in 1991. The curriculum in my K-12 schools didn't include geography, and world history was sadly lacking. Our trip was an education I won't forget.

Our journey took us by train from Khabarovsk to Irkutsk and ended with a boat tour of the astounding lake. Lake Baikal is the oldest lake in the world, twenty-five to thirty million years old and also the deepest lake in the world at over a mile deep. It is the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume and the seventh largest lake by surface area. Over three hundred rivers feed into Lake Baikal and only one river flows out of it, the Angara. Lake Baikal holds twenty percent of the world's fresh water, as much as all the North American Great Lakes combined:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Ba....

I recently found this beautiful book on Goodreads and was lucky enough to be able to order it. It was published in January of 1992 and is a chronicle of Peter Matthiessen's & Boyd Norton's journey to Lake Baikal in August of 1990. Both men were/are environmental activists and their journey chronicled the history, culture and conditions of Lake Baikal in 1990.

Lake Baikal in 1990 was having problems with pollution in certain areas because of factories discharging toxic chemicals and waste into the lake. Matthiessen interviewed fishermen in those areas whose livelihoods were greatly imperiled because of the pollution. The fishermen were astounded at the disappearance and deformity of several species of fish. I can only hope that being declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 has improved those conditions.

Nevertheless, the lake we saw was pristine, the water crystal clear for many feet down. Only parts of the lake had been polluted thus far. Matthiessen and Norton saw the same views a year earlier and Norton's stunning photographs reveal Baikal's beauty.

There are cultural, folklore and historical sidebars in the book going back as far as the 1600s when adventurous travelers first laid eyes on the lake. Here is one from traveler Archpriest Avvakum in 1662:

"High hills and exceedingly high rocky cliffs are all around it -- over twenty times one thousand versts and more have I dragged myself and nowhere seen any like of these. . . . Exceedingly many birds, geese, and swans swim upon the sea covering it like snow. It hath fishes -- sturgeon, and salmon, sterlet, and amul, and whitefish, and many other kinds. The water is fresh and hath great seals and sea lions in it: when I dwelt in Mezen, I saw nought like unto these in the big sea. . . . "

Yevgeny Yevtushenko, whose friendship with musician, Paul Winter, inspired Winter to visit Lake Baikal seven times, including with Matthiessen and Norton in 1990, wrote a beautiful forward. His last two sentences are: "Dostoyevsky once wrote: 'Beauty will save the world.' "But who will save beauty?"

Thank you to my husband who was an intrepid and enthusiastic traveler and to Peter Matthiessen and Boyd Norton for your lifelong environmental activism and your beautiful book which brought back many memories.

Please see photographer, Boyd Norton's review below:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baikal and Peter Matthiessen, what more could you ask for? What a combination.
Matthiessen, one of the best American writers from the last 50 years and definitely one of the best nature writers - anywhere (just check his awards), does not let us down here on this massive undertaking- a field trip to the oldest and deepest lake on Earth.
Situated in south-east Siberia, the 3.15-million-ha Lake Baikal is the oldest (25 million years) and deepest (1,700 m) lake in the world. It contains 20% of the world's total unfrozen freshwater reserve. Known as the 'Galapagos of Russia', its age and isolation have produced one of the world's richest and most unusual freshwater faunas, which is of exceptional value to science.
Of course, here Mathiessen gets by with the help of his friends-he is accompanied by a fascinating group of Russian naturalists and intellectuals, including the controversial writer Valentin Rasputin, Siberian woodsman Semyon Ustinov (who kept the group alive in the wilderness, they don't call it the "Brown Bear Coast" for nothing), Paul Winter, and photographer Boyd Norton.
This was an American funded mission, so most appropriately , a Russian context is set by the poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko as he introduces the book.
This book is a moment "frozen in time". The year 1992, what was happening in Russia at that time?
Remember? A lot of changes and a big financial crunch. Would Baikal suffer from greedy speculators who flew in to exploit her resources?
The afterward was written by renowned environmentalist David Brower, that calls for the designation of Lake Baikal as a World Heritage Site. So what happened?
Update: n 1996 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and that designation will do much to help protect this treasure.

[Terzah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thirty years after its publication, this book's beautiful writing and photos still kindle a longing to see the world's deepest, purest lake: Lake Baikal. It's heartening that the lake was indeed designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the late 1990s, as the writers of this book hoped. However, a quick bit of research into the state of the lake today reveals worrying developments, efforts by the Russian government to dismantle the protections that had been put in place. My fingers are crossed that Baikal's advocates both in and outside Russia can prevail for good in what seems like a recurring battle to preserve this jewel for all time.

[Kendra Lender · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somehow managed to evoke emotions about nature as well as the plight of local people. This was inspire of the information in it being fragmented and sparse. It felt that just as he was getting into a subject, it would be abruptly cut off and a new one started.

[John BrindAmour · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize this was more of a coffee table book. Some interesting notes on history and the ecological decline of the Baikal, but I would be interested in reading in much greater depth about this massive ancient lake.