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Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
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Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (original 1974; edition 1998)

by Annie Dillard

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
5,4561051,886 (4.19)1 / 265
Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is the story of a dramatic year in Virginia's Roanoke Valley. Annie Dillard sets out to see what she can see. What she sees are astonishing incidents of "beauty tangled in a rapture with violence." Her personal narrative highlights one year's exploration on foot in the Virginia region through which Tinker Creek runs. In the summer, Dillard stalks muskrats in the creek and contemplates wave mechanics; in the fall, she watches a monarch butterfly migration and dreams of Arctic caribou. She tries to con a coot; she collects pond water and examines it under a microscope. She unties a snake skin, witnesses a flood, and plays King of the Meadow with a field of grasshoppers. The result is an exhilarating tale of nature and its seasons.… (more)
Member:rinard
Title:Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Authors:Annie Dillard
Info:Harper Perennial Modern Classics (1998), Edition: First, Paperback, 304 pages
Collections:Your library, Favorites
Rating:
Tags:Non-fiction, Biography/Memoir, Philosophy/Religion

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Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard (1974)

  1. 30
    Walden by Henry David Thoreau (emydid)
    emydid: Dillard was very much influenced by Thoreau (she did her master's thesis on Walden), and both Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and Walden have similar narrative structures. Both books follow their narrator through the course of a year, and both weave detailed observations of the natural world together with self-examination and statements of a personal worldview. Annie Dillard's concerns are more explicitly theological, while Thoreau tends to be more concerned with the relationship between the individual and society - but both of their books are beautifully-written, densely symbolic investigations into the relationship between the self, nature, and the spiritual. It's interesting to think about the links and contrasts between the two books - for example, between Dillard's idea of "seeing" and Thoreau's reflections on self-exploration and awareness.… (more)
  2. 00
    Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting by Michael Perry (Othemts)
  3. 00
    In Earshot of Water: Notes from the Columbia Plateau by Paul Lindholdt (bezoar44)
    bezoar44: These authors share some of the same fearless introspection; and while both study the natural world, it is in some ways just a (vital) context in which to explore what it means to live meaningfully.
  4. 00
    The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature by David George Haskell (danhammang)
    danhammang: Love of the land, celebration of the natural world written by one of the finest authors of this generation.
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» See also 265 mentions

Wonderful book. Something of a departure for me, as generally I like to read more science based nature books. This one was full of poetry, philosophy, Pliny quotes and particle physics. There are scenes that might haunt you for years to come ( a butterfly from her school days, a section on parasites) and other parts that might lift your spirit. There is very little straightforward narrative, so if you are looking for that , look elsewhere. ( )
  cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 |
One of the best books I ever read; it changed my life. It might have helped that Tinker Creek is just a few miles away from the place I spent my childhood summers - pretty much alone with the woods and apple trees and enchantment of the mountains near Roanoke, Virginia. ( )
  BethOwl | Jan 24, 2024 |
[Update (2020-05-04): You know what? I'm going to go ahead and raise this to 5 stars. I know I'm going to re-read this. It sticks with me to this day. So why wait?]

"Exuberant." "Extravagant." All through this book, I've been searching for the right adjective to describe Dillard's prose. I'm still not satisfied that I've found it. There is much here to treasure: heart-wrenching anecdotes; natural curiosities related as friend-to-friend; deep philosophical and spiritual issues probed. One thing I liked is that the book is entirely observational; as in, "here are things I've seen and my thoughts about them". It is never polemical; Dillard never tries to convince you there is a Creator. She just relates her thoughts, which implicitly include that idea.
It is perhaps worth noting that Dillard was 27 when she wrote Pilgrim. So it is very much a young author's book. Hence the exuberance, I suppose. Some may find that off-putting. But I found it refreshing.
I listened to the Audible audiobook version, read by Tavia Gilbert. I strongly suspect I enjoyed the book much more that way than I would have coming to it by text alone. Some writers' voices beg to be heard, not just read. So I strongly encourage newcomers to Tinker's Creek to go the audio route. But that said, before I was half-way done, I had ordered a hardcopy version that I could mark up and highlight favorite passages.
( )
  Treebeard_404 | Jan 23, 2024 |
This book grabbed me from the very beginning. I was astounded by Ms Dillard's descriptions of the nature around her on Tinker Creek in Virginia. Her observations along with her extrapolations to the bigger world of faith and the universe were thought provoking. The book is definitely split into two different sections, and I think the first part is the one I identified with more. This split is discussed in an afterward by the author on a later edition. I would advise getting the later edition.
This will go on my favorite list, since I definitely will be revisiting often for sections I want to read again and think about. ( )
  wvlibrarydude | Jan 14, 2024 |
I'm an outlier on this one.
I've had this on my TBR list for so long, and so many of the authors I love to read list it among their favorites - so I was exited to finally read it. I think Annie Dillard is too smart for me, she threw so much information out on every page that my mind became buried in it and I couldn't always sort through it. I loved many of her observations and the interesting facts she shared, but I couldn't get a flow going with the book. It probably would have been better to read it in small sections and contemplate each one, but I needed to finish and get on to my book club book. Overall, not what I was expecting (and I usually love these type of books). ( )
  carolfoisset | Jan 13, 2024 |
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» Add other authors (3 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Annie Dillardprimary authorall editionscalculated
Adams, RichardIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Conlin, GraceNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gilbert, TaviaNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
It ever was, and is, and shall be, ever-living Fire, in measures being kindled and in measures going out.
---Heraclitus
Dedication
for Richard
First words
I used to have a cat, an old fighting tom, who would jump through the open window by my bed in the middle of the night and land on my chest.
[Afterword] In October, 1972, camping in Acadia National Park on the Maine coast, I read a nature book.
[More Years Afterword] I was twenty-seven in 1972 when I began writing Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
Quotations
Not only does something come if you wait, but it pours over you like a waterfall, a tidal wave. You wait in all naturalness without expectation or hope, emptied, translucent, and that which comes rocks and topples you; it will shear, loose, launch, winnow, grind.
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Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is the story of a dramatic year in Virginia's Roanoke Valley. Annie Dillard sets out to see what she can see. What she sees are astonishing incidents of "beauty tangled in a rapture with violence." Her personal narrative highlights one year's exploration on foot in the Virginia region through which Tinker Creek runs. In the summer, Dillard stalks muskrats in the creek and contemplates wave mechanics; in the fall, she watches a monarch butterfly migration and dreams of Arctic caribou. She tries to con a coot; she collects pond water and examines it under a microscope. She unties a snake skin, witnesses a flood, and plays King of the Meadow with a field of grasshoppers. The result is an exhilarating tale of nature and its seasons.

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