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Arctic Dreams [Paperback]

Barry Lopez
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)

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Book Description

October 2, 2001
Barry Lopez's National Book Award-winning classic study of the Far North is widely considered his masterpiece.

Lopez offers a thorough examination of this obscure world-its terrain, its wildlife, its history of Eskimo natives and intrepid explorers who have arrived on their icy shores. But what turns this marvelous work of natural history into a breathtaking study of profound originality is his unique meditation on how the landscape can shape our imagination, desires, and dreams. Its prose as hauntingly pure as the land it describes, Arctic Dreams is nothing less than an indelible classic of modern literature.

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Arctic Dreams + About This Life: Journeys on the Threshold of Memory + Of Wolves and Men
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Based on 15 extended trips to the Canadian far north over a five-year period, Arctic Dreams celebrates the mysteries of what documentarians fondly call "last frontiers." Such places are everywhere in danger of destruction in the interest of ever-elusive economic progress, but Lopez writes no jeremiads. Instead, he aims to foster a kind of learned understanding of wild places, in this case the vast, scarcely knowable northern landscape. Writing of the natural history of the Arctic and its inhabitants--narwhals, polar bears, beluga whales, musk oxen, and caribou among them--Lopez draws powerful lessons from the land and imparts them assuredly and gracefully. Arctic Dreams deservedly won a National Book Award in 1986 when it was first published. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

This is one of the finest books ever written about the Far North, warmly appreciative and understanding of the natural forces that shape life in an austere landscape. The prize-winning author (Of Wolves and Men spent four years in Arctic regions: traveling between Davis Strait in the east and Bering Strait in the west, hunting with Eskimos and accompanying archeologists, biologists and geologists in the field. Lopez became enthralled by the power of the Arctic, a power he observes derives from "the tension between its beauty and its capacity to take life." This is a story of light, darkness and ice; of animal migrations and Eskimos; of the specter of development and the cultural perception of a region. Examining the literature of 19th century exploration, Lopez finds a disassociation from the actual landscape; explorers have tended to see the Arctic as an adversary. Peary and Stefansson left as a troubling legacy the attitude that the landscape could be labeled, then manipulated. Today, he contends, an imaginative, emotional approach to the Arctic is as important as a rational, scientific one. Lopez has written a wonderful, compelling defense of the Arctic wilderness. Illustrations. BOMC main selection.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 496 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage (October 2, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0375727485
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375727481
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #102,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Arctic Dreams is the most extraordinary book I've ever read. Barbara S. Vesper  |  10 reviewers made a similar statement
You cannot read this book without imagining an intensely beautiful place. Jessica  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement
You will find that this is a book to read and re-read, and keep close to hand. Mr. Hamish Stuart Black  |  8 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The finest 'nature book' written May 28, 1998
Format:Paperback
I've read a lot of nature writing--from Thoreau, Muir, Dillard etc. Lopez is the keenest observer and the most lyrical writer. (not to slight Muir, incidentally, but 19th century lyricism is hard for some to get used to...).

I've been a backcountry ranger for 28 years and, I like to think, have an appreciation for wilderness and observation of the natural world. Lopez is able to describe what I see.

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50 of 53 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Desert Island book April 27, 2004
Format:Paperback
Funny that a book about the Arctic would be on my "Desert Island" list, but this is one of the most effecting things I've read in my life. It's one thing to write a book about a region that explains it to the reader. It's quite another thing to write a book about a region that truly makes you feel as if you are there, that you understand it, that you "get it". The Eskimos have something like 25 words for snow. They can draw incredibly detailed maps of coastlines, from memory. On and on, the people and places are introduced to you, like visitors to your home, and you really begin to understand what it is to live in such a cold, beautiful place. The story of one Eskimo hunter will never leave me: he was hunting, and somehow became stranded on a broken off piece of ice. It floated away, with him on it, into the mist. All he had was his knife, made of bone. His friends searched for him, to no avail, and he was given up for dead. But he came back, years later, in a kayak he'd made, fully outfitted with warm clothes he'd also made, fat and happy and completely in tune with his environment, absolutely as at home there as the polar bear. He could make everything he needed, just from what this supposedly "barren" wasteland provided. That may not sound like much, but put yourself in his shoes (or mukluks) and you'll begin to feel the cold and the quiet close in around you.

That's what this book does for you. It puts you there.

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34 of 37 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Celebration Of The Arctic Landscape & Man's Dreams! September 27, 2003
Format:Paperback
"Arctic Dreams" was recommended to me by a friend before I went on an Alaskan adventure a few years ago. This book expanded my vision of nature, and turned me on to the exquisite writing of Barry Lopez, who won the 1986 National Book Award for this classic work on the wild regions of the far north. "Arctic Dreams" is an extraordinary celebration of Arctic life and landscape which takes the reader on a journey to places rarely visited by man. Lopez' narrative does have a dreamlike quality, not only in its descriptions of nature at its most surreal, but in the absolute beauty of the writing itself. He does indeed capture the foreign reality of Arctic life, and death, with the loving care of an artist who places each brushstroke carefully on a canvas, bent on bringing the vision before him to others.

Mr. Lopez made a number of extended trips to Siberia, Greenland, and northern Canada, including Baffin Island, to observe the flora and fauna of the region - polar bears, killer whales, caribou, narwhals - as well as the spectacular Arctic landscape. He experienced eerie encounters with the aurora borealis, massive migrating icebergs, solar and lunar light, halos and coronas. And he experienced both the potential for catastrophic danger and the remarkable beauty that the Arctic land and sea offers. "Spring storms can sweep hundreds of thousands of helpless infant harp seals into the sea" - juxtaposed with, "A tiny flower blooms in a field of snow touched by the sun's benevolent light." Through Mr. Lopez' eyes the breathtaking experience of the Arctic landscape and the people who inhabit it become palpably real. I was particularly moved by his intimate and compassionate descriptions of the indigenous people of this region, who so aptly illustrate how mankind is capable of living in harmony with his surroundings. Lopez' prose and his conclusions make the strongest argument possible to work for the ecological health of our planet, for the sake of life itself, and for the health of our imagination and sense of wonder at the magnificent.

As mankind grows closer to conquering the earth's last frontiers, the issue of exploitation and encroachment becomes greater. For anyone who advocates preserving the few remaining wild areas on our planet, "Arctic Dreams" is a welcome gift and a source of motivation. It also provides an extraordinary read, and, perhaps, an awakening to those who have shown little interest in earth's most mysterious places.

This is a magical book that will enchant and awe the reader. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Bravo, Barry Lopez!
JANA

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Another powerful book on nature from Lopez!
Barry Lopez's prose is incredible no matter what landscape he's discussing, he's so passionate about the landscapes he travels in and learns so much about the cultures that they... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Jennifer Wilkerson
4.0 out of 5 stars good arctic dreams
Excellent description of the Arctic polar region. Not exactly light reading material but excellent for those who have some scientific interest in this area. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Kal
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding writing.
One of the definitive books for anyone interested in the Last Frontier under assault by the forces of the Oil Monopoly. Tremendous writing and story-telling from a master.
Published 3 months ago by RICHARD L. MORGAN
4.0 out of 5 stars good prep for travels
This book was overly 'wordy' at times, but a great read in preparation for traveling in the arctic. It covered the geography, wildlife, peoples, history, and current challenges.
Published 3 months ago by Wanda Spitzer
4.0 out of 5 stars Arctic Dreams- a long read but worth it
Barry Lopez's Arctic Dreams may be a long read but it is worth it. Sometimes the language is a little over the top, and the authors personal ideas are interjected a little too much... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Rudi
5.0 out of 5 stars Cold Contemplations
This autobiographical exploration of the inner and outer weather, the flora and fauna, of the Northern climes is truly haunting as well as seemingly endlessly informative... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Daniel Myers
5.0 out of 5 stars Arctic Dreams
Arctic Dreams is one of the finest and scientifically reliable works on wildlife and human presence in the Northern Hemisphere that I have ever read. Read more
Published 21 months ago by clemmer
4.0 out of 5 stars Environmental respect
Very thoughtful person, providing an understandable basis for protecting the far north. Drags toward the end when it gets quite philosophical.
Published on April 9, 2011 by Sandra Rennie
2.0 out of 5 stars unexpected
when i ordered arctic dreams i thought it would include the european arctic. i am going to svalbard this summer. so it doesn't meet my needs. Read more
Published on March 16, 2010 by Janice Leinani Lind
2.0 out of 5 stars It's ok as long as you accept.....
Some passages in this book are beautifully written. I will agree there's not much of an arc to the whole thing and if you wanted to you could skip about the middle third and not... Read more
Published on August 27, 2009 by DC
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