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Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape

by Barry Holstun Lopez

Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape Cover

ISBN13: 9780375727481
ISBN10: 0375727485
All Product Details

 

Awards

Winner of the 1986 National Book Award.
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Barry Lopez's National Book Award-winning classic study of the Far North is widely considered his masterpiece.

Lopez offers a thorough examination of this obscure world-its terrain, its wildlife, its history of Eskimo natives and intrepid explorers who have arrived on their icy shores. But what turns this marvelous work of natural history into a breathtaking study of profound originality is his unique meditation on how the landscape can shape our imagination, desires, and dreams. Its prose as hauntingly pure as the land it describes, Arctic Dreams is nothing less than an indelible classic of modern literature.

Review:

"Jubilant....Barry Lopez lavishes his discoveries into a portfolio of delights." The New York Times Book Review

Review:

"Wonderfully informed and evocative....Keen observation given shape with language that is deft and vivid." Chicago Tribune

Review:

"Rich, abundant, vigorously composed." The Boston Globe

Review:

"[It is the earth's] synchronous wealth of life — of all life — that Barry Lopez is celebrating in his jubilant new book. Among contemporary nature writers Mr. Lopez is especially a rhapsodist, and what he has done in this passionate paean to the Arctic and its cycles of light and darkness, its species of ice, its creatures and waters, is to present a whole series of raptures and riffs on the subject of musk oxen, ivory gulls, white foxes, polar bears, icebergs and sea currents....Part-rhapsody, part-history, it is a bifurcated book,and displays a magnificently nonchalant assurance at times (as when he says at one point that Eskimos are not 'errorless in the eyes of God'). As in a labor of love, he couldn't really let go of it; he has added a separate author's note, preface and prologue, and filled it with footnotes that swing among his memories and afterthoughts." New York Times Book Review

Review:

"This is one of the finest books ever written about the Far North, warmly appreciative and understanding of the natural forces that shape life in an austere landscape....Today, he contends, an imaginative, emotional approach to the Arctic is as important as a rational, scientific one. Lopez has written a wonderful, compelling defense of the Arctic wilderness." Publishers Weekly

Review:

"For Lopez, how the Arctic is comprehended will determine its fate. Whether its land, peoples, and animals are honored or vitiated will depend upon the working out of this metaphorical analogy between mind and landscape. Highly recommended for most collections." Library Journal

Synopsis:

A season of transition in North Americaand#8217;s last great wilderness From Nunavut and the Barren Lands of Canada to the westernmost edge of Alaska and back to Churchill, Manitoba, Pete Dunneand#8217;s experiences in the Arctic comprise wilderness, laughter, and contemplation. Whether hunting caribou, examining the balance between the needs of molting geese and societyand#8217;s thirst for oil, or observing majestic but threatened polar bears, Dunne insightfully considers his own life, our interactions with the natural world, and the importance of the Arctic, the planetand#8217;s last frontier.
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About the Author

Barry Lopez lives in western Oregon.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
sswanso4, May 15, 2011 (view all comments by sswanso4)
Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez enlightens readers about the history, geography and the adventure that is the northern part of the earth, the Arctic. Prior to writing this book, Lopez travelled around all the different regions of the Northern Canadian Arctic for five years as a field biologist, exploring the habitat and nature that the Arctic has to offer.
Arctic Dreams was incredibly well written. The words that Barry Lopez chose to use, makes the reading flow beautifully. Every chapter is described down to the smallest detail, allowing the reader to feel as if they were actually in the Arctic, experiencing the events that Lopez narrates. However, the book is filled with so much data and information that is seems as if one is reading a text book. If it weren’t for the author’s ability to blend words and phrases into such bliss, I would have mistaken parts of the novel to be a text book. I did, however, like that Lopez was able to mix some history into the book. It took away the feeling of reading a science text book and gave the novel more depth, allowing readers to understand the area of the Arctic better.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is even slightly interested in the Arctic and what it has to offer. It is very interesting and extremely well written; however, some parts can be a bit slow to read. Also, the book is very long and at parts seemed repetitive. All-in-all, Barry Lopez did a wonderful job of researching prior to writing the novel and did an even better job of explaining his experiences and putting them into unique words.
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sswanso4, May 15, 2011 (view all comments by sswanso4)
Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez enlightens readers about the history, geography and the adventure that is the northern part of the earth, the Arctic. Prior to writing this book, Lopez travelled around all the different regions of the Northern Canadian Arctic for five years as a field biologist, exploring the habitat and nature that the Arctic has to offer.
Arctic Dreams was incredibly well written. The words that Barry Lopez chose to use, makes the reading flow beautifully. Every chapter is described down to the smallest detail, allowing the reader to feel as if they were actually in the Arctic, experiencing the events that Lopez narrates. However, the book is filled with so much data and information that is seems as if one is reading a text book. If it weren’t for the author’s ability to blend words and phrases into such bliss, I would have mistaken parts of the novel to be a text book. I did, however, like that Lopez was able to mix some history into the book. It took away the feeling of reading a science text book and gave the novel more depth, allowing readers to understand the area of the Arctic better.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is even slightly interested in the Arctic and what it has to offer. It is very interesting and extremely well written; however, some parts can be a bit slow to read. Also, the book is very long and at parts seemed repetitive. All-in-all, Barry Lopez did a wonderful job of researching prior to writing the novel and did an even better job of explaining his experiences and putting them into unique words.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780375727481
Author:
Lopez, Barry
Publisher:
Vintage Books USA
Author:
Lopez, Barry
Author:
Dunne, Pete
Location:
New York
Subject:
Description and travel
Subject:
Essays
Subject:
Arctic regions
Subject:
Natural history
Subject:
NATURE / Essays
Subject:
Arctic regions Discovery and exploration.
Subject:
Arctic regions Description and travel.
Subject:
Seasons
Subject:
Biology-Reference
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Series:
Vintage
Series Volume:
module A-8
Publication Date:
20011031
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
18 MAPS; 1 DIAGRAM
Pages:
496
Dimensions:
7 x 5 in 9.99 lb
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Related Aisles

Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape New Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$16.00 In Stock
Product details 496 pages Vintage Books USA - English 9780375727481 Reviews:
"Review" by , "Jubilant....Barry Lopez lavishes his discoveries into a portfolio of delights."
"Review" by , "Wonderfully informed and evocative....Keen observation given shape with language that is deft and vivid."
"Review" by , "Rich, abundant, vigorously composed."
"Review" by , "[It is the earth's] synchronous wealth of life — of all life — that Barry Lopez is celebrating in his jubilant new book. Among contemporary nature writers Mr. Lopez is especially a rhapsodist, and what he has done in this passionate paean to the Arctic and its cycles of light and darkness, its species of ice, its creatures and waters, is to present a whole series of raptures and riffs on the subject of musk oxen, ivory gulls, white foxes, polar bears, icebergs and sea currents....Part-rhapsody, part-history, it is a bifurcated book,and displays a magnificently nonchalant assurance at times (as when he says at one point that Eskimos are not 'errorless in the eyes of God'). As in a labor of love, he couldn't really let go of it; he has added a separate author's note, preface and prologue, and filled it with footnotes that swing among his memories and afterthoughts."
"Review" by , "This is one of the finest books ever written about the Far North, warmly appreciative and understanding of the natural forces that shape life in an austere landscape....Today, he contends, an imaginative, emotional approach to the Arctic is as important as a rational, scientific one. Lopez has written a wonderful, compelling defense of the Arctic wilderness."
"Review" by , "For Lopez, how the Arctic is comprehended will determine its fate. Whether its land, peoples, and animals are honored or vitiated will depend upon the working out of this metaphorical analogy between mind and landscape. Highly recommended for most collections."
"Synopsis" by ,
A season of transition in North Americaand#8217;s last great wilderness From Nunavut and the Barren Lands of Canada to the westernmost edge of Alaska and back to Churchill, Manitoba, Pete Dunneand#8217;s experiences in the Arctic comprise wilderness, laughter, and contemplation. Whether hunting caribou, examining the balance between the needs of molting geese and societyand#8217;s thirst for oil, or observing majestic but threatened polar bears, Dunne insightfully considers his own life, our interactions with the natural world, and the importance of the Arctic, the planetand#8217;s last frontier.
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