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    My First Summer in the Sierra
    My First Summer in the Sierra
    My First Summer in the Sierra
    Ebook219 pages4 hours

    My First Summer in the Sierra

    By John Muir and Kevin Dye

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    About this ebook

    Recovering from a factory accident that nearly claimed his eyesight, a young John Muir ventured into the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. The flowers, wildlife, and rock formations he saw during the summer of 1869 changed how he would look at nature forever. Recollected at the end of his life from early journals and sketches, this ecstatic personal narrative gives insight into the forward-looking nature lover who would become known as the father of the nation's parks system. To read this book is to become Muir's hiking partner, sharing in "a glorious botanical and geological excursion" that would blaze the trail for the modern-day environmental movement.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChemeketa Press
    Release dateApr 19, 2019
    ISBN9781943536849
    Author

    John Muir

    John Muir (21 April 1838 – 24 December 1914) was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States.

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    Reviews for My First Summer in the Sierra

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    • 4/5
      This is not my usual style of book. It is a diary, with no real story, and with long and detailed descriptions of plants. It takes a while to get into the book, and took me almost nine months to finish it. Yet there is a progression to the diary. Particularly once Muir gets to higher elevations, then still higher, his delight becomes infectious, and the story moves quickly. Although the prose can be terribly purple, Muir back it up and justifies it with a fine eye for detail. I regretted getting to the end of the Sierra summer.
    • 4/5
      My first summer in the Sierra by John MuirAlways enjoy the outside, walking discovering new things.Have watched many on the John Muir Trail in CA and watched shows but having it all described is like being there, doing it ourselves.Like listening to his journals and everything he sketches, plant, animal, etc.I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
    • 3/5
      I think some of the people who quote his "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe" phrase would be surprised to see it in the context of the rest of the paragraph (p87). He relates a lot of what he sees to God's presence. At times I felt his gushing enthusiastic words were a bit over the top, and wondered that he could have so much boundless enthusiasm day after day--but my reaction is doubtless a result of our comparative ages. There were sections where his imagery was strongly appealing, e.g. "some [raindrops]sift spray through the shining needles, whispering peace and good cheer to each one of them." (p 69)He does animate nature; I thought it was refreshing the way he would identify plants etc as people, in a manner we are used to only hearing from Native Americans. I wonder how much of our innate attraction to specific landscapes has to do with some genetic predisposition: he comes from a Scots family which I assume lived for centuries in highlands.I wonder what reference books he might have had with him. For example, in the beginning he wonders at the bird that walks under water in the streams but by the end he names it ouzel in his observations.
    • 3/5
      This was a very nice account of a summer in the Sierras. Full of detailed recordings of the flora, fauna, and natural beauty, Muir takes the reader on the journey with him.
    • 5/5
      John Muir came to live in the United States in 1849, when he was nine years old and his parents moved there. In his twenties he spent several years studying various subjects at university, including botany and geology, in an entirely eclectic fashion and without ever taking a degree. To avoid conscription he moved to Canada, where he spent time trekking through the wilderness. He spent the following several years wandering the woods in the good season and working to make money as it ran out, usually in the winter season, when collecting plants would be difficult.Between 1868 and 1871, Muir visited Yosemite several times, spending most of his time there. My first summer in the Sierra, although written and published many years later, in 1911, describes this period of his life.The descriptions in the book bespeak Muir's adoration of the wild nature he observed in the Yosemite. Muir's youthful vigor emblazons the his writing about the paradisaical nature he encountered in this place, including rich descriptions of the landscape, flora and fauna.My first summer in the Sierra is written in the form of a diary, describing the wanderings and daily occupations of Muir as a shepherd, and although Muir did spend a season in the Yosemite as a shepherd, My first summer in the Sierra is inspired by the many more years he spend there. However, the chosen structure and story tie the book together into an enticing story.The edition of Mariner Books is illustrated with prints of original photos, etchings and drawings by Muir.Indispensable reading for anyone with an interest in Natural History, botany and the ecological movement, particularly in the United States.

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    My First Summer in the Sierra - John Muir

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