The Rediscovery of North America (Clark Lectures) [Hardcover]

Barry Lopez (Author)

Book Description

Series: Clark Lectures | Publication Date: June 18, 1991

" The Spanish incursion into the New World, with its brutal destruction of indigenous peoples and their cultures and its material exploitation of much of two continents, reverberates in our history down to the present century. So contends prize-winning writer Barry Lopez in this beautifully written book. "The quest for personal possessions," he observes, "was to be, from the outset, a series of raids, irresponsible and criminal, a spree, in which an end to it was never visible... in which an end to it had no meaning." In this luminous essay, written five hundred years after the Spanish conquest, Lopez reexamines the attitudes that informed that event and that have underlain the entire European settlement of America. "The assumption of an imperial right conferred by God, sanctioned by the state, and enforced by the militia, the assumption that one is due wealth in North America," he writes, is apparent in the journals of people on the Oregon Trail, in the pronouncements of nineteenth-century industrialists, and in the political rhetoric of our own day. But, for Lopez, coming to grips with this terrible legacy opens new possibilities. "This violent corruption needn't define us. We can take the measure of the horror and assert that we will not be bound by it." We can "rediscover" our continent -- not as a source of income but as a home, a place in which we are to find our strength and character, and in which certain moral courtesies and obligations obtain. We can develop a philosophy of place will enable us, finally, to take up a true residence in our homeland. Here is a voice for our time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A National Book Award winner for Arctic Dreams, Lopez here offers a polemical assessment of the legacy of Columbus.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

"An eloquent, deep-reaching little book on the subject. But he goes far beyond the inquiry into Columbus' character, motives, and legacy. He also uses the occasion to turn our thoughts to hope: the hope that comes with both a frank acceptance of our past and a resolution to break ways with its shameful legacy." -- Bloomsbury Review

"Assets that we must go beyond an obsession with the material wealth of the continent that began with Columbus and begin to appreciate North America for its spiritual wealth if we are ever to feel at home here." -- Commonweal

"Eloquently proffers a philosophy of limits that we cannot afford to ignore in this era of global warning and overpopulation." -- Los Angeles Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky (June 18, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813117429
• ISBN-13: 978-0813117423
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #778,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very poignant in today's world of rapid development, August 3, 1998

By 

Cheron L. Ferland - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rediscovery of North America (Paperback)

Extremely good prose. A poignant testimony to the loss of the Earth's resources in the face of historical and current development. Highly recommend adding this to your book collection if you have any affinity to the natural world.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the rediscovery of north america, June 7, 2010

By 

William J. Dowling Jr. (CLEVELAND, OHIO, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rediscovery of North America (Paperback)

Delivery time was quick and the book was well packaged and not damaged. The content of the book was thought provoking and well written.

5 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Speaks to our times..., February 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Rediscovery of North America (Clark Lectures) (Hardcover)

As eloquent as it is insightful. Barry Lopez moves us to see and question. A true gift from writer to reader.