World of Wonders

These short essays combine appreciation of the wonders of nature with reflections from the author's life and experiences. Often they were VERY short and fragmentary, leading to a wish for more depth and continuity. The author is a poet, and they were similar to lyric poems in prose, which gave them a quirky kind of originality, but also sometimes failed to satisfy.

Lovely, and entirely unlike anything I've read before. Part memoir, part bestiary. Prose, with poetic undertones and charming artwork. Scientific objectivity plus deeply personal reflections, thoroughly infused with wonder. Stir well; let simmer after reading.

Also, TBH, a bit of a stretch at times. Each short chapter is titled after an animal, or plant, or fruit, or a few wild cards (“Monsoon”). Nezhukumatathil riffs on each: she describes them with loving details, draws upon her own experiences with them, ... and then draws a parallel with other parts of her life. These parallels are typically insightful, but occasionally tenuous: I found myself loving the nature info, loving her personal stories, but going ohhhhh....kay..... at some of the connections. Funny thing, though, they ended up being memorable: I remember the touch-me-not and canyon wren and peacock and newt and cassowary, and remember her associations, and reflect back on the personal aspects, the racism and misogyny and insults she's suffered. Which makes the gimmick effective, doesn't it?

Poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil closely examines some of the wonders of nature that fascinate her including the corpse flower, the cactus wren, the axoloti, the catalpa tree, the flamingo, and fireflies, and, in her examination, she shares with us ways these wonders spoke to her in her life as well as how they can illuminate our own lives.

Maybe I'm just a sucker for nature writing. What we have here is a collection of essays using nature as a a springboard. Talk of peacocks, corpse flowers and fireflies are a useful jumping off point to discuss growing up a latchkey kid, reflecting on otherness and what love means. All with the thoughtful and reverent wonder of a poet. It is a deft exploration of our connected lives and how nature, when considered more closely, can frame our experiences without devolving into cloying bromides and crunchy platitudes.

Fumi Nakamura provides the accompanying illustrations that preface most of the stories — and while beautiful, they don't fully express the biting sharpness of her original artistic works that are certainly worth checking out.

This book was recommended on a FB group I follow and it sounded both intriguing and had lots of praise surrounding it, so I thought I'd give it a go. I don't usually read nature books, but I was promised that this one was different- and it is! This isn't a list of factual information about plants and animals, but rather a love letter to the wonders that surround us everyday and how they infuse everyday life, memories and life lessons if you're willing to look close enough. ‘Slow down and really LOOK at the world around you.' Aimee seems to say throughout the book with both interesting facts and how they related to her life experience and even might impart tidbits of wisdom into yours if you listen and watch closely. I learned a bit, but I also felt a profound sentimentality about the earth and all it's wonderful creatures and wonders that are really truly magical. She champions responsibility for looking after our planet without being preachy, but rather making you truly ‘feel' something for it and our relationship to it.
I meant to read this in small portions as an coffee table book aside to my giant fantasy tomb I'm also reading, but ended up finishing it over two evenings and a lunch hour, I just couldn't put it down. Wonderfully and beautifully written, with gorgeous illustrations, this is not one to miss!