Underland by Robert Macfarlane: A review

Robert Macfarlane is an acclaimed English Nature writer, winner of numerous awards for his intelligent and readable books on many subjects related to Nature. His latest book, Underland, certainly continues that string. In it, he takes us on various expeditions deep under the surface of our planet.

I found the descriptions of many of those explorations extremely hard to read. That's no criticism of the writing. In fact, it may be a compliment to the writing. It was so evocative of the dark and tight places that he was visiting that I found it very claustrophobic and oppressive. I have to admit I skimmed quickly through some of those sections.

The author visits a great variety of such underground features from sinkholes in Slovenia to a nuclear-waste containment site in Finland and sea caves in Norway. His explorations in Greenland document the effects of global warming, including the fact that some of the things that are being brought to the surface by melting ice are detrimental to the environment and to human life on the planet. 

One of the most depressing facts encountered by Macfarlane is that everywhere he goes he finds garbage about which he expresses his disgust.

"Among the relics of the Anthropocene, therefore, will be the fallout of our atomic age, the crushed foundations of our cities, the spines of millions of intensively farmed ungulates, and the faint outlines of some of the billions of plastic bottles we produce each year – the strata that contain them precisely dateable with reference to the product-design archives of multinationals. Philip Larkin famously proposed that what will survive of us is love. Wrong. What will survive of us is plastic, swine bones and lead-207, the stable isotope at the end of the uranium-235 decay chain."

Occasionally, Macfarlane's prose is a bit over the top, not to say purple, but for the most part, it is exceptional. He is extremely talented in describing scenes, events, and scientific concepts in ways that are easily understandable for laypeople.

My favorite part of the book was the discussion of the underland communication system of trees and other plants. It has long been known that plants do communicate but mostly it has been observed as an above-ground phenomenon. It turns out that there are a lot more complicated communications going on under the surface. Roots of trees, for example, communicate to each other specific information about the state of the tree's health and about the environment. They even are able to provide sustenance to a fellow tree through the root system. And all of this is facilitated with the help of fungi called mycorrhizae. 

“The term ‘mycorrhiza’ is made from the Greek words for ‘fungus’ and ‘root’. It is itself a collaboration or entanglement; and as such a reminder of how language has its own sunken system of roots and hyphae, through which meaning is shared and traded. The relationship between mycorrhizal fungi and the plants they connect is ancient – around 450 million years old – and largely one of mutualism. In the case of the tree–fungi mutualism, the fungi siphon off carbon that has been produced in the form of glucose by the trees during photosynthesis, by means of chlorophyll that the fungi do not possess. In turn, the trees obtain nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen that the fungi have acquired from the soil through which they grow, by means of enzymes that the trees lack.”

Fascinating! Macfarlane should write a book just about this subject. I'd certainly read it. 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My favorite reads of 2019

I have had a fabulous year of reading. Most of the books that I've read this year have been recent publications and, honestly, I find the quality and diversity of fiction being produced currently to be quite amazing. I do primarily read fiction, although I also manage to work in a few nonfiction books throughout the year.

Trying to come up with a list of my favorite reads of the year was a bit daunting because most of what I have read has been quite good. There have been no real stinkers in the mix. I've had a couple of two-star reads, no one-stars, but most have been three-stars or more.

I had thirty-seven five-star reads this year and I limited my selection process to those, even though I was strongly tempted by some of the four-stars. From that five-star group, I tried picking my favorite book from each month. In the end, I was able to identify a baker's dozen of books that were my absolute favorites of the year and here they are in the order that I read them with links to my reviews of them.

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

The Lost Man by Jane Harper

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell

Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Inland by Tea Obreht

The Islanders by Meg Mitchell Moore

Make Your Home Among Strangers by Jennine Capo Crucet

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarozuk

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

Wow! I have only just realized after listing them that twelve of my thirteen favorite reads of the year were written by women. I did have other five-star reads written by men besides Ocean Vuong, but I have to admit my list was heavily tilted toward female writers. Maybe I'll find more male writers to like in 2020! 

  

Poetry Sunday: To the New Year by W.S. Merwin

In just a few days we will welcome a shiny, new, unsullied New Year. What will that year bring? As of today, we can still hope for the best because...

    ...this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible

All things are still possible. 

To the New Year

by W.S. Merwin

With what stillness at last

you appear in the valley

your first sunlight reaching down

to touch the tips of a few

high leaves that do not stir

as though they had not noticed

and did not know you at all

then the voice of a dove calls

from far away in itself

to the hush of the morning

so this is the sound of you

here and now whether or not

anyone hears it this is

where we have come with our age

our knowledge such as it is

and our hopes such as they are

invisible before us

untouched and still possible

This week in birds - #383

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:

I haven't actually seen a Cedar Waxwing in my neighborhood yet this season. This picture is from a previous year. No doubt they are in the area even though I haven't seen them. They normally arrive around Christmastime or a little earlier some years. I expect to encounter them any day now.  

*~*~*~*

The New York City Council has implemented a landmark decision requiring high rise buildings in the city to employ bird-friendly construction using glass that will deter the birds from flying into it. The city joins cities like San Francisco and Oakland that already have such regulations in effect. It is hoped that others will follow suit.

*~*~*~*

There were at least 540 oil spills in Louisiana related to damage from Hurricane Katrina and so far the oil companies responsible have largely evaded accountability for the damage and cleanup.

*~*~*~*

A new poll by the Environmental Voter Project found that the climate and environment are the top priorities of 14% of registered voters. This represents a more than doubling of rating these concerns as number one. In the 2016 presidential election, these were the top priorities of 2% to 6% of voters. 

*~*~*~*

The endangered Florida Grasshopper Sparrow population has received a big boost with the release of 100 captive-reared sparrows into their natural environment.

*~*~*~*

A search in the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian hit has found that at least some of the endangered Bahama Parrots survived. The searchers also so found Bahama Mockingbirds, Smooth-billed Anis, Bahama Woodstars, and shorebirds, including Piping Plovers, among other expected species.

*~*~*~*

As coyotes continue to expand their range, they are expected to move into South America.

*~*~*~*

Can Island Scrub-Jays in California help to replant forests after recent fires? A research project there is studying the feasibility of such an undertaking.

*~*~*~*

Microplastic pollution is raining down on city dwellers. The health impacts of breathing or consuming the tiny plastic particles are unknown, and experts say urgent study is needed to assess the risks. Research has revealed that London has the highest levels yet recorded. 

*~*~*~*

Despite all efforts to protect them, a record number of manatees, a total of 129, were killed by boaters in Florida in 2019. This was four more than the previous record set in 2018.

*~*~*~*

Efforts to restore wetland habitats in Uganda are succeeding and that is good news for the country's national bird, the Gray-crowned Crane (also known as the Crested Crane). Moreover, local communities are being involved in efforts to protect and encourage the crane population with the result that the numbers which had fallen sharply now seem to have stabilized.

*~*~*~*

The brutal heat wave that has Australia in its grip is having a devastating effect on the wildlife there and also on domestic livestock.

*~*~*~*

The Chinese Crested Tern was long thought to be extinct, but in fact, it does still exist in the wild. However, it is critically endangered and little is known about its migratory habits. Researchers are tracking the birds by satellite in order to try to learn more about them and be able to better protect them. 

*~*~*~*

The delta smelt is a tiny fish that hovers on the brink of extinction. Now the loosening of regulations that protect it, as proposed by the current administration in Washington, may finally push it over that brink.

*~*~*~*

Western Ground Parrot

A wildfire in Western Australia threatened the last refuge of the critically endangered Western Ground Parrot but the prevailing weather has helped to spare it so far.

*~*~*~*

Finally, it is easy to become depressed by all the bad news about the state of the environment, but let us never forget the dedicated scientists, conservationists, and ordinary citizens who work tirelessly to stem the tide of destruction and extinction. And they have their successes! Here are ten success stories that are worth celebrating as we bid this year farewell.

One of those success stories is the beautiful little Kirtland's Warbler that was one of the first species to be added to the Endangered Species List. This year scientists deemed its population sufficiently recovered to be removed from the list. It is no longer endangered!

HOLIDAY GREETINGS

I AM TAKING A HOLIDAY BREAK FROM BLOGGING AS I PREPARE FOR NEXT WEEK'S VISITORS. I PLAN TO BE BACK BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR WITH MY LIST OF FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2019. 

MEANWHILE, WHATEVER HOLIDAY(S) YOU CELEBRATE AT THIS TIME OF YEAR - CHRISTMAS, HANUKKAH, KWANZAA, SATURNALIA, PANCHA GANAPATI, FESTIVUS - I HOPE THEY ARE MERRY, HAPPY, JOYFUL OR WHATEVER ADJECTIVE YOU FAVOR.

MOST OF ALL, I THANK YOU FOR SHARING PART OF THIS YEAR WITH ME AND I WISH YOU AND THOSE YOU LOVE GOOD HEALTH AND MUCH HAPPINESS IN THE COMING YEAR. 

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi: A review

Trust Exercise has won the National Book Award for fiction for the year, and, in my opinion, it is a well-deserved recognition of a remarkable work. It is a book that engages both emotions and intellect and I found it easy to lose myself in it.

The story is set in a sprawling southern city that is never named but sounds an awful lot like Houston to me. Moreover, the narrative tells the stories of a group of students attending an acclaimed high school for the performing arts unlike any other in the region and that would be Houston's High School for the Performing Arts.

Choi's students attend high school in the '80s and her description of the social environment of the period seems spot-on. These are theater students who are continually evolving and learning who they are in relationship to others. 

Part of their learning process takes place in the class of their charismatic teacher, Mr. Kingsley, during "trust exercises" in which two students sit knee to knee facing each other and repeat sentences while staring deeply into each other's eyes. At such times they can begin to feel as if they are the only two people in the world. But the trust exercise extends and expands into their lives.

The main focus of this part of the narrative is two students, Sarah and David, who become totally smitten and obsessed with each other. But in the way of teenage romances, this one unravels and completely upends Sarah's life. She loses not only her boyfriend but her best girlfriend and becomes something of an outcast in the unforgiving society of high school, making her vulnerable to be preyed upon by the unscrupulous. 

And that is what happens when a troupe of young British actors comes to town to put on a production of Candide. She becomes an easy sexual target for one of the creepy older members of the group.

The narrative builds slowly, piece by piece, experience by experience, in exquisite detail, and, although I was well past high school by the '80s, I was right there with Sarah and the other students as they transitioned through the period.

But that's only the first half of the book. 

Choi then upends her story entirely, moving it forward by a dozen or so years. We meet some of the students again as fully formed adults and find that maybe we totally misunderstood what was happening in that first half. Although it is a bit disorienting at first, we soon settle in with our enhanced understanding of the events of high school and of how they have influenced these characters' later lives.

I don't want to give too much away, but suffice to say that the author finds a way to address what has gone before, including the sexism and male privilege of certain adults and the duplicity of certain "friends". Revenge may be best served cold, but it can be very sweet indeed.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars      

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - December 2019/Poetry Sunday: When the Winter Chrysanthemums Go by Matsuo Basho

When the Winter Chrysanthemums Go 

by Matsuo Basho (Translated by Robert Hass)


When the winter chrysanthemums go,
there's nothing to write about
but radishes.

~~~

My winter chrysanthemums have gone and I have no radishes. But there are a few other things I can write about.

The Meyer lemons, for example. They are ripe and ready to be picked, along with the last of the Mandarin oranges.  

The bounteous flowers of the loquat tree are mostly spent now, but they promise a plentiful crop of the delicious fruits next year.

We had a couple of nights of freezing temperatures in November and I would have thought that would be the end of my cape honeysuckle for the year, but it surprised me by surviving that and continuing to bloom.

Likewise, I thought the jatropha would be gone but it, too, has thrived and continues to bloom.

The flowers of the blue plumbago are sparser now but some are still there.

And the purple oxalis loves the cooler weather of fall and winter.

The loropetalum, first cousin to witch hazel, has been in full bloom for a while and its blooms are beginning to fade.

Several of the plants that I bought for winter blooms are resting at the moment but the pansies are still going strong.

 And, in the pot by the front entry, so are the cyclamen.

The pink Knockout rose is beginning to offer up some winter blossoms.

And the Carolina jessamine that will be in its glory in late January and February gives us just a taste of what is to come with a few flowers.

I have not bought any holiday bloomers this year except for some waxed amaryllis bulbs. Have you tried them? Allegedly, they are completely carefree because the waxed bulbs contain all the nourishment and fluid that the bulb needs to bloom. Well, so far mine are a disappointment, but perhaps they will still perform for me in the new year.

I hope everything in your garden is performing well, even if that only means it is resting for winter. Happy gardening and happy holidays to you. May your next year be your best one yet!

Thank you, Carol of May Dreams Gardens, for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.