Landmarks
by Robert Macfarlane · first published 2015
6mentions
4recommended by
5HN commenters
2015–2023first – last mentioned
80% recommend20% neutral
"Landmarks is a book about the power of language - 'strong style, single words' - to shape our sense of place. It is both a field guide to the literature the author loves (Nan Shepherd, Roger Deakin and many more), and a 'word-hoard', gathering an astonishing archive of place-terms from old Norse to Anglo-Romani, living Norman to Hebridean Gaelic. Over the book's course, via its chapters, its glossaries and surprise of its postscript - we come to realize that words, well used, are not just a means to describe landscape, but also a way to know it, and to love it"--from publisher.
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If you are interested in the relationship between language and landscape/environment then I'd strongly recommend Robert Macfarlane's book Landmarks [1][2]. Definitely one of my reading highlights of the last year. [1] http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/27/robert-macfarla... [2] http://www.amazon.co.uk/Landmarks-Robert-Macfarlane/dp/02411...
on “Scots 'have 421 words' for snow” ↗A wonderful book about such things (and other "place words") is "Landmarks" by Robert Macfarlane. There does seem to be a richness that we're losing, in terms of our ability to describe nature. I often find myself struggling to describe places or to differentiate no-so-subtle…
on “A Man Collecting Fading Place Names” ↗I first heard about Claude Glass while reading "Landmarks"[0] by Robert Macfarlane. While Claude Glass was only briefly mentioned, "Landmarks" itself is one of those wonderfully deep books that invites slow reading. The richness of nature language (that we seem…
on “The Claude Glass Changed the Way People Saw Landscapes” ↗I've listened to a couple of Robert Macfarlane's books recently after a recommendation from someone on HN - "The Old Ways" and "Landmarks". Both very different to what I usually read but very enjoyable. I'm now reading Nan Shepherd's The Living Mountain - which is every bit as good as Macfarlane suggests. Also planning on reading The Peregrine…
on “What Lies Beneath” ↗We are loosing words to describe nature. I recommend reading "Landmarks" from Robert Macfarlane. The audiobook is excellent. https://www.cam.ac.uk/thelostwords
on “Ecological Amnesia: Life Without Wild Things (2019)” ↗…Existentialist Cafe by Sarah Bakewell 100 Diagrams That Changed The World by Scott Christianson Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire by Peter Wilson Alec "The Years Have Pants" by Eddie Campbell Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane
on “Ask HN: What Are You Reading?” ↗