Connemara. Listening to the Wind

When I first started reading, I admit to having the thought, "My, he does go on!" but very soon after that I grasped that the very going on of Robinson's method is what takes the reader deeply into the place where Robinson spent many years of his life, first Roundstone and that area and then branching out into the farther parts of the region, ending with the magnificent mountain collection known as 'The Twelve Pins" that help to separate Connemara from the rest of the island. The art is in how Robinson is so entirely present himself, stubbing his toe, so to speak, while expressing his wonder in the existence of a remote lichen found nowhere else but some alpine tundra thousands of miles away. Always his telling is balanced, from the show more recounting of the fortunes and misfortunes of the Martin family of Ballynahinch, to the various misguided projects to tame Connemara, to pausing to remember the unmarked graves of those who died of famine and dispossession, to climbing one of the 'Pins' to witness an annual event that has likely taken place in some form or another for thousands of years. If you are interested at all in Ireland, you will want to read his work (this is my first of his books, but will not be the last) deceptively simple seeming and humbly written and presented, a delight. Sadly, Robinson, in his eighties succumbed early on in the first wave of Covid so there will be no more stories and wisdom from him. ***** show less

The structure of this book was maddening to me. Because he is looking at various places which he approaches spatially, he often repeats references or stories, or he says "I'll tell you about that later" (not a direct quote, but if I weren't so lazy it would be easy to find one). So, when he tells you about it later, you feel like you've already heard about it.

I also find most nature writing uninteresting, which does not mean I find nature uninteresting. I just have trouble picturing the land the way he describes it and would get a lot more out of a nature documentary. I need to see it, or be there, because that's the way my brain works. Still, there are too many descriptions of rocks and plants and not enough of the people who live on show more this land. They're there, but they got lost in the landscape. If he were to make this two books, one on land, another on people, it would be much easier to process. I know he's trying to document all of Connemara, but the way this is structured doesn't work.

That said, I think most of this book is beautiful and a great deal of it is engaging, and it is often worth the read. show less

A beautifully written and intensive exploration of the geology, geography, ecology and history of a place. Not without its longeurs, but a wonderful enterprise nonetheless to preserve Connemara in paper and ink against the homogenisation of modern life.