Horizon
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Average rating4.7
'Horizon is magnificent; a contemporary epic' Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland From the author of the classic Arctic Dreams comes a vivid recollection of his travels around the world and the encounters that shaped an extraordinary life. Taking us nearly from pole to pole - from modern megacities to some of the earth's most remote regions - Barry Lopez gives us his most far-ranging and personal work. Spanning decades of travel, Horizon describes journeys to six regions of the world: from Western Oregon to the High Arctic; from the Galápagos to the Kenyan desert; from Botany Bay in Australia to finally, unforgettably, the ice shelves of Antarctica. Lopez also probes the history of humanity's quests and explorations, from prehistoric expeditions to today's ecotourism. He takes us to some of the hottest, coldest, and most desolate places on the globe, via friendships with scientists, archaeologists, artists and local residents, in a book that makes us see the world differently. It is the crowning achievement of one of the world's best travel writers. 'The greatest nature writer in the world ... He is also the greatest travel writer ... [an] astounding new memoir' Sunday Times
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Barry Lopez writes eloquently about issues every thoughtful traveler faces and, importantly, leaves many questions unanswered. I appreciate his approach to ways of knowing and his self-awareness when discussing injustice and inequality, but I wish he'd included more reflection about how his ability to visit, enjoy, and report back from these places is predicated on people like me not being able to visit these places in the same way. He's undoubtedly been blessed with institutional and financial support, and I wish he would have brought his characteristic self-awareness, as in his thoughts on class and exploration, to a discussion about who gets to travel the way he does. We're lucky that he does—his dispatches and observations are a gift to those of us who don't have the means or connections. But I would love to experience the peace of Antarctica, too, and I can't help but feel that, because that was such a sacred experience for him, Lopez would prefer instead to close the door behind him.
