Synopses & Reviews
"Absoliutno blagopoluchnoe ozero Baikal!" the Russian scientist looking out over the great lake says. "Lake Baikal is Perfect!" And humans can never harm it.
For a man cut loose from his life in the U.S., Lake Baikal-Siberia's sacred inland sea-becomes a place of pilgrimage, the focal point of a 25,000-mile journey by land and sea in search of connection, permanence, restoration and hope.
Following a difficult divorce, veteran environmental journalist Peter Thomson sets off from Boston with his younger brother for one of nature's most remarkable creations, in one of the farthest corners of the planet. Lake Baikal, a gargantuan crack in the Siberian plateau, is the world's largest body of fresh water, its deepest and oldest lake, and a cauldron of evolution, home to hundreds of unique creatures, including the world's only freshwater seal. It's also among the most pristine lakes on earth, with a mythical ability to protect itself from the growing human impact a "perfect," self-cleansing ecosystem.
A trip halfway around the world by train, cargo ship and rubber raft brings the brothers to a place of sublime beauty, deep history and immense natural power. But at Baikal they also find ominous signs that this perfect piece of nature could yet succumb to the even more powerful forces of human hubris, carelessness and ignorance. They find that despite its isolation, Baikal is connected to everything else on Earth, and that it will need the love and devotion of people around the world to protect it.
On their trek to and from Siberia the author and his brother also encounter a stream of people who are also lonely, displaced and yearning for something beyond the limits of their own lives, but many of whom are also big-hearted and deeply connected to their own communities and the world around them. What begins as a search for restoration in nature becomes as well a discovery of the restorative power of trust, faith and human connection.
Features:
- Blends personal narrative, natural history, environmental science, and cultural studies to show Lake Baikal's impact on Russian people, and vice versa.
- Contains vivid descriptions of current environmental issues in Russia and by extension Eastern Europe, Japan, and Alaska.
- Though Lake Baikal is the largest and deepest body of fresh water in the world and one of natures most magnificent and singular creations it holds one-fifth of the worlds liquid fresh water in a basin more than a mile deep it is nearly unknown outside of Russia. Sacred Sea ,the first in-depth journalistic examination of Baikal from a major English-language publisher, introduces Baikal to a new audience.
Review
"Traveling through woods, streams, hills, mountains, and pristine lakes, they had quite a voyage, and this in-depth recapitulation is absorbing in its detail." Booklist
Review
"Sacred Sea tells the story of an unforgettable journey to an extraordinary place. More then a travelogue, the book is a meditation on faith and home and purity in a world marked by contamination and impermanence. For anyone who has ever though of ditching it all and heading for the middle of nowhere, Peter Thomson offers a lesson both unsettling and surprisingly hopeful: there is no escape from humanity." David Baron, Public Radio's The World
Review
"The book is beautifully written and his descriptions make the landscape come alive: I couldn't help shivering when he jumps into the lake. As you travel with him you'll be transported far, far away the perfect antidote to a dull day at the office." BBC Focus Magazine
Review
"Exhaustively researched and lyrically written a welcome addition to any library." Kirkus Review
Synopsis
Absoliutno blagopoluchnoe ozero Baikal the Russian scientist looking out over the great lake says. Lake Baikal is Perfect And humans can never harm it.
For a man cut loose from his life in the U.S., Lake Baikal-Siberia's sacred inland sea-becomes a place of pilgrimage, the focal point of a 25,000-mile journey by land and sea in search of connection, permanence, restoration and hope.
Following a difficult divorce, veteran environmental journalist Peter Thomson sets off from Boston with his younger brother for one of nature's most remarkable creations, in one of the farthest corners of the planet. Lake Baikal, a gargantuan crack in the Siberian plateau, is the world's largest
body of fresh water, its deepest and oldest lake, and a cauldron of evolution, home to hundreds of unique creatures, including the world's only freshwater seal. It's also among the most pristine lakes on earth, with a mythical ability to protect itself from the growing human impact-a perfect,
self-cleansing ecosystem.
A trip halfway around the world by train, cargo ship and rubber raft brings the brothers to a place of sublime beauty, deep history and immense natural power. But at Baikal they also find ominous signs that this perfect piece of nature could yet succumb to the even more powerful forces of human
hubris, carelessness and ignorance. They find that despite its isolation, Baikal is connected to everything else on Earth, and that it will need the love and devotion of people around the world to protect it.
On their trek to and from Siberia the author and his brother also encounter a stream of people who are also lonely, displaced and yearning for something beyond the limits oftheir own lives, but many of whom are also big-hearted and deeply connected to their own communities and the world around
them. What begins as a search for restoration in nature becomes as well a discovery of the restorative power of trust, faith and human connection.
About the Author
Peter Thomson is Founding Producer and Senior Editor of NPR's "Living on Earth" and recipient of 19 awards for excellence in broadcast journalism; currently freelance environmental journalist and member of Executive Committee of Society of Environmental Journalists.
Table of Contents
Author's Note
Prologue: Blagopoluchnoe
Part One: The Sacred Sea
1. A Flash of Blue Light
2. Songs and Whispers
3. The Earth Splits, Water Rushes In
4. Into the Lake-Shallow
5. Into the Lake-Deep
6. Buryatia, in Black and White and Color
7. On the Trail with Pod Boy and Monkey Mind
8. Bad Roads are Good for Baikal
9. Traveling and Staying Home
Part Two: 180@
10. The Long Way Home
11. The Great Circle
12. Zigzag to Russia
13. Power in the East
14. Across the Sleeping Land
15. Angels and Ghosts in Irkutsk
Part Three: Baikal, Too, Must Work
16. One of the Best Enterprises in Russia
17. Righteousness, Uncertainty and the Point of No Return
18. Connecting the Dots
19. Dr. Hope and Dr. Despair
20. Blind Love is a Dangerous Thing
21. 360°
Epilogue: The Great Baikal Chain
Acknowledgments
Illustration Credits
Source Notes and Further Reading