Deep Immersion: The Experience of Water [Paperback]

Robert L. France (Author), Laura Sewall (Foreword), Herbert Dreiseitl (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2003

This book provides an overview of how to establish water-human relationships by anchoring readers to a deeper understanding of the important cultural and psychological roles played by water in all our lives in terms of history, architecture, nature writing, art, environmental science and engineering, etc. By learning about how to deeply experience water through adventure, joy, contact and contemplation, readers gain wisdom about how to preserve untainted water in their own lives.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A sweeping frame of reference . . . a wonderful book."  —Lewis McAdams, author of The River: Books 1 & 2

"Tells me more about my aquatic obsession than any other book I've ever read."  —Lawrence Millman, author of Lost in the Artic

"Offers a deep well for thirsty minds."  —Sandra Postel, author of Last Oasis

"A wonderful and inspirational book . . . everyone should read it!"  —Carolyn Adams, director of the NRCS Watershed Science Institute

"Offers an exuberant aquaphilia for those who are or might become lovers of water."  —James L. Wescoat, Jr., author of Water for Life: Water Management and Environmental Policy

"A comprehensive and fully integrated synthesis . . . will expand your experience of the world."  —Mark Chandler, conversation director at Earthwatch Institute

"Evokes all things ever said or thought or written about water."  —Verne Huser, editor of River Reflections: A Collection of River Writings

From the Publisher

This is a book about water; not so much about what it is, though there is some of that present, but rather, what it does. Specifically, what water does to those individuals who allow themselves to enter into a close relationship with it. Deep Immersion: The Experience of Water provides an overview of how to establish water-human connections by anchoring readers to a deeper understanding of the important roles played by water in all our lives. The idea, always swirling just beneath the surface throughout the book, is that the more we learn about and experience water, the more we are moved to give ourselves over to it - to deeply and profoundly immerse ourselves in its physcial essence and spiritual nature, and in so doing, reciprocate by preserving its presence in our enriched lives, untainted.

This seminal book is one of the most informative works to ever address how water permeates all of human existence, and is worthy of placement on the shelf beside such other notable volumes as Gaston Bachelard's Water and Dreams, Theodor Schwenk's Water, the Element of Life, Ivan Illich's H2O and the Waters of Forgetfulness and Charles Sprawson's Haunts of the Black Masseur: The Swimmer as Hero.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Green Frigate Books (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971746818
• ISBN-13: 978-0971746817
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,566,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Requires Imagination and Willingness to Take the Journey, November 24, 2005

By 

Anne Shirley "Malagawatch" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deep Immersion: The Experience of Water (Paperback)

A fascinating book that makes you rethink water and its role as essential to our existence -- physically, spiritually and aesthetically. A wonderful study of ways in which we think about water while taking it for granted. When I tell my students now that buying bottles of water would have been unthinkable when I was a child, they are astonished. France makes us think deeply about our relationship to water as a right or a commodity. Read it if you have patience with or affection for that which is not always linear.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Romance and Tragedy Water, March 23, 2004

By 

Carol Steinfeld "eco-vixen" (u.s. & mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deep Immersion: The Experience of Water (Paperback)

If you are looking for a reference on the romance of water, as well as figures on its abuse, this is the book. It's a great book for water quotes and a review of its treatment through history but not one of the plethora of environmental alarmist books in doctoral thesis format that shout "something needs to be done by someone" without offering tools and ideas for positive change. Get this book for the water lovers in your life. It's also good for the bathroom. Restores our appreciation and reminds us of the sensuality of this basic element that we take for granted.

Chuck Harris, a landscape architect and Harvard professor emeritus who doesn't use the Web, wrote this note to me about it.
This is a remarkable, even awesome, little book. It contains so much rich references to the role of water in all of our lives, whether in the "deep past" or the "post-modern" era.

I read it entirely over the rest of the weekend. It offers a deep sense of the value and love of water in its many forms
and as it impacts all aspects of our lives from biological survival, to parts of functional systems, and, finally, to the very essence of all human's senses including BEAUTY, LOVE, and SPIRIT..

I remain in awe of the sweep of its efforts to illustrate the diverse experiences of water with almost overwhelming numbers of examples -- in quotes and paraphrases -- from all types of experiences and expressions of the remarkable qualities of WATER.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Immensely moving, thoughtful, and thought-provoking, April 6, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deep Immersion: The Experience of Water (Paperback)

Deep Immersion: The Experience Of Water by environmental studies respected academician and water management expert Robert Lawrence France (Harvard Design School) is a meditation on the power and profundity of water, and what it means for those individuals who embrace a close relationship with it. A spiritual reflection that is both informed and informative, Deep Immersion is an immensely moving, thoughtful, and thought-provoking postulation on the human condition and connection to the essential substance that brings life to our planet. Deep Immersion is enthusiastically recommended reading for academia as well as the non-specialist general reader with an interest in nature, the environment, and the contribution of water to diverse forms of outdoor recreations.