Dawn Light: Dancing with Cranes and Other Ways to Start the Day
by Diane Ackerman
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In an eye-opening sequence of personal meditations through the cycle of seasons, Diane Ackerman awakens us to the world at dawn---drawing on sources as diverse as meteorology, world religion, etymology, art history, poetry, organic farming, and beekeeping. As a patient and learned observer of animal and human physiology and behavior, she introduces us to varieties of bird music and other signs of avian intelligence, while she herself "migrates" from winter in Florida to spring, summer, and show more fall in upstate New York.Humans might luxuriate in the idea of being "in" nature, Ackerman points out, but we often forget that we are nature---for "no facet of nature is as unlikely as we, the tiny bipeds with the giant dreams." Joining science's devotion to detail with religion's appreciation of the sublime, Dawn Light is an impassioned celebration of the miracles of evolution---especially human consciousness of our numbered days on a turning earth.
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I really wanted to like this. But I agree with my GR friend Diane's review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/346345132?book_show_action=false&from_...
I did skim most of it. But when I got to an interesting bit, lo, no notes. Something about no devil in Christian theology until the King James bible? And actually, the relevance of that to meditations on how light and dark affect us as we interact with nature (which is what I thought I was going to be reading)?
Maybe a decade or two ago, or a decade on from now, I'd find it more thought-provoking or charming. Maybe you'll love it. I just found it self-indulgent and snooze-inducing to read thoroughly. Too bad.
I did skim most of it. But when I got to an interesting bit, lo, no notes. Something about no devil in Christian theology until the King James bible? And actually, the relevance of that to meditations on how light and dark affect us as we interact with nature (which is what I thought I was going to be reading)?
Maybe a decade or two ago, or a decade on from now, I'd find it more thought-provoking or charming. Maybe you'll love it. I just found it self-indulgent and snooze-inducing to read thoroughly. Too bad.
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346 works; 180 members
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39+ Works 13,445 Members
Diane Ackerman was born on October 7, 1948 in Waukegan, Illinois. She received a B.A. in English from Pennsylvania State University and her M.A., M.F.A., and Ph.D. in English from Cornell University. Poet, author, educator, adventurer, and naturalist, she tries to bridge science and art in her writing, exploring questions of who we are, where we show more come from, and how we fit into the fabric of the world. She has written many books of poetry including The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral; Wife of Light; Jaguar of Sweet Laughter: New and Selected Poems; Origami Bridges: Poems of Psychoanalysis and Fire; and I Praise My Destroyer. Her nonfiction works include A Natural History of the Senses; A Natural History of Love; The Moon by Whale Light: And Other Adventures Among Bats, Crocodilians, Penguins, and Whales; An Alchemy of Mind; and On Extended Wings. She also writes nature books for children including Animal Sense; Monk Seal Hideaway; and Bats: Shadows in the Night. She is coeditor of a Norton anthology, The Book of Love. Her essays about nature and human nature have appeared in Parade, National Geographic, The New York Times, and The New Yorker magazines. She hosted a five-hour PBS television series inspired by A Natural History of the Senses. She received the Orion Book Award for The Zookeepers Wife. Her other awards include the Abbie Copps Poetry Prize, Black Warrior Poetry Prize, Pushcart Prize, Peter I. B. Lavan award, and the Wordsmith award. She has taught at a variety of universities, including Columbia and Cornell. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Original publication date
- 2009
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- 176
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- 185,119
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.94)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 4
