Shadows in the Sun: Travels to Landscapes of Spirit and Desire

by Wade Davis

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Ranging from the British Columbian wilderness to the jungles of the Amazon and the polar ice of the Arctic Circle, Shadows in the Sun is a testament to a world where spirits still stalk the land and seize the human heart. Its essays and stories, though distilled from travels in widely separated parts of the world, are fundamentally about landscape and character, the wisdom of lives drawn directly from the land, the hunger of those who seek to rediscover such understanding, and the show more consequences of failure. show less

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2 reviews
Davis's passion for the well-being of the remaining wild places, especially the forests, of the earth is evident (understatement). I've had this on my shelf for far too long because while there are moments when the reader can marvel, there are far more where one cringes at the wasteful folly of humankind. The kernel essay for Wade's extraordinary book on Mallory and the attempts in the early 1920's to climb Everest, [Into the Silence] (surely a masterpiece of the adventure genre) is here, and tales of time spent in Amazon rain forests, the northwestern rainforest of North American and many others. Wade also waxes eloquent about the research aspects of these places and the practices and wisdom of shamans whose approach, combining the show more physical and spiritual (or if you prefer, body and mind) helps countless millions in real and often very practical ways. It's a tough read, but a rewarding one. **** show less
Human ecology > Cross-cultural studies/Landscape assessment > Cross-cultural studies/Philosophy of nature > Cross-cultural studies

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Davis is a sojourner in remote places. He tarries, hoping to get a taste of the intimate, deep reverence for the home place that indigenous people experience by staying put, to sample some of the mythopoetic associations and enigmatic happenings that spring like gifts from the land for those who sit still long enough to witness....Davis’s lovely, cubist, rich landscape portraits are also show more topographies of the spirit, conveying a sense of place, but perhaps even more, the music of place. show less
Oct 1, 1998
added by juniperSun

Author Information

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30+ Works 4,665 Members
Wade Davis is Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society. An ethnographer, photographer, filmmaker, and writer, he is the author of Light at the Edge of the World, One River, the international bestseller The Serpent and the Rainbow, and other books. His articles have appeared in Outside, Cond Nast Traveler, National Geographic, show more Scientific American, and many other publications. show less

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Common Knowledge

Original publication date
1992
Epigraph
...but now
That the forests are cut down, the rivers charted,
Where can you turn, where can you travel? Unless
Through the desperate wilderness behind your eyes,
So full of falls and glooms and desolations.... (show all)>---Douglas LePan "Coureurs de bois"
First words
One of the intense pleasures of travel is the opportunity to live among peoples who have not forgotten the old ways, who still feel their past in the wind, touch it in the stones polished by rain, recognize its taste in the b... (show all)itter leaves of plants. (Introduction)
Imagine yourself on the edge of a high plateau in the late afternoon sun.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)If we preserve these ancient forests they will stand apart for all generations and for all time as symbols of the geography of hope.
Publisher's editor
Kennedy, Shane

Classifications

Genres
Anthropology, Nonfiction, Travel, General Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Religion & Spirituality
DDC/MDS
304.2Society, Government, and CultureSocial sciences, sociology & anthropologyFactors affecting social behaviorHuman ecology
LCC
GF41Geography, Anthropology and RecreationHuman ecology. AnthropogeographyHuman ecology. Anthropogeography
BISAC

Statistics

Members
212
Popularity
152,078
Reviews
2
Rating
½ (3.63)
Languages
English, German
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
8
ASINs
4