Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape

Lopez, Barry Holstun

ISBN 10: 0684185784 / ISBN 13: 9780684185781

Published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1986

About this Item

SIGNED. 464pp. Large octavo [24 cm] 1/2 ivory colored cloth with navy blue paper covered boards. Spine ends gently bruised. Small scuff mark to foot of the text block. Light mark above author's signature. In the illustrated dust jacket, with rubbing and a couple of faint indentations to the surface. Lopez's celebration of the arctic landscape. Arctic Dreams won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, the Christopher Medal, a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, and an Oregon Book Award for literary nonfiction. Signed by Barry Lopez on the tipped-in half title page.

Seller Inventory # 67816

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape
• Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons, New York
• Publication Date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0684185784
• ISBN 13: 9780684185781
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Modern First Editions & Modern Literature

About this title

Synopsis

A portrait of the landscape, animals, and people of the Arctic captures the beauty and peril of this harsh region and explains what an understanding of this unknown land means to the modern, urbanized world

Reviews

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. The prize-winning author (Of Wolves and Men spent four years in Arctic regions: traveling between Davis Strait in the east and Bering Strait in the west, hunting with Eskimos and accompanying archeologists, biologists and geologists in the field. Lopez became enthralled by the power of the Arctic, a power he observes derives from "the tension between its beauty and its capacity to take life." This is a story of light, darkness and ice; of animal migrations and Eskimos; of the specter of development and the cultural perception of a region. Examining the literature of 19th century exploration, Lopez finds a disassociation from the actual landscape; explorers have tended to see the Arctic as an adversary. Peary and Stefansson left as a troubling legacy the attitude that the landscape could be labeled, then manipulated. 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. Illustrations. BOMC main selection.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The themes of this book are as vast as the landscape it encompasses. Having lived in the Arctic for long periods of time, Lopez authoritatively conveys an enormous breadth and variety of knowledge, including Arctic exploration, geography, weather, animal migration, and behavior. His portraits of animalsmuskox, polar bear, narwhale, and othersreflect a sensitive melding of facts and mystery. The work is suffused with philosophical and lyrical strains. Through the centuries the Arctic landscape has woven a "legacy of desire" in many a mind and heart, shaping imagination and knowledge. 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. Carol J. Lichtenberg, Washington State Univ. Lib., Pullman
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.