The Star Thrower [Paperback]

Loren Eiseley (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harvest/HBJ Book | Publication Date: September 26, 1979

A collection of the author’s favorite essays and poems. This volume includes selections that span Eiseley’s entire writing career and provide a sampling of the author as naturalist, poet, scientist, and humanist. “Loren Eiseley’s work changed my life” (Ray Bradbury). Introduction by W. H. Auden.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Loren Eiseley’s many works include The Night Country, The Invisible Pyramid, The Immense Journey and The Firmament of Time, all available in Bison Books editions. He worked at the University of Pennsylvania until his death.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; First Harvest Edition edition (September 26, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156849097
• ISBN-13: 978-0156849098
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #381,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gem from a truly complex writer, November 26, 2000

By 

Adam (California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Star Thrower (Paperback)

Loren Eisley has been described as the 20th century's answer to Henry David Thoreau, and when reading this book it's hard to doubt the description. Eisley writes in a thought-provoking, almost mystical style unlike few authors I've ever read...he has a gift for seeing both the heights and limits of science like no other scientist I have known of. He is a naturalist, poet, realist, existentialist, haunted mystic, evolutionary anthropologist, environmental advocate, historian, and human being, 200 proof. Few have lived their lives so fully; few have left us such a legacy of poetry and prose. This book is an anthology of his best work, selected from several past publications including "The Immense Journey" and others, as well as including a few rare gems like his poetry. His reflections upon humankind, time, evolution, the Earth, the natural world, the unknown, and even the very nature of existence itself are more powerful than the most dense scientific formulae or the most sacred tomes of Scripture. He looks at our mysterious universe with the eyes of a human being, and he looks at his own soul in the process...and along the way, he helps us to find our own. Make no mistake; this is not the work of a theologian or a secularist; if one is looking for affirmations of either God's glory or dry theses of a devout Darwinist, look elsewhere. These are the stories of a complex human being who, first to himself and then to the rest of us, admits that there is far more in heaven and earth than is dreamed of in our philosophy.

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "the mundane world gives way to quite another dimension...", August 30, 1998

By 

charlene (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Star Thrower (Paperback)

I was sitting in a coffeeshop, when a guy I had been talking to earlier placed Loren Eiseley's "The Star Thrower" in front of me. "Read it," he said.

And so I did.

The title initially intrigued me, but my interest was held by the poetic quality to Eiseley's stories. Seeing the natural world through his eyes is a departure into another realm. His words cast new light onto seemingly simple ideas in nature. He sees a moth pass by while watching an outdoor opera and wonders, "whose is the real play?" Eiseley's writings capture the sheer beauty and innocence of nature. Only he can turn a chance encounter in the woods with a fox into a spiritual event. Only he can gain confidence by coming across a web-spinning spider: "the mind, it came to me as I slowly descended the ladder, is a very remarkable thing; it has gotten a kind of courage by looking at a spider in a street lamp."

So I shall give the simple advice I have been given: read it.

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a unique read for any deep thinkers, January 26, 2003

By 

Crystal C. Loh (London, ON Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Star Thrower (Paperback)

I first encountered this book when I was looking for an author to do a high school english project on, and I was immediately drawn to this little-known author through the expressive style of his writing and the deeply unique philosophy inherent in every piece of work. Eiseley was not just a talented writer but a deeply emotional naturalist and his profound respect for all things living is apparent throughout his works. As he walks us through his close brushes with nature we are allowed a glimpse of the vast poetic world that we so often ignore.

Eiseley writes intimately of his natural encounters, and we get a feeling that he is a rare man who felt somewhat out of place in the busy, fallible human world, and dwelled more along the indistinct boundary whose edges blur first into the natural world and then into the world we have made our own. An old adage has often gone "Every minute is precious" and Eiseley holds to this with an energy that turns every second, be it spent on a balcony bathed in early morning sunlight, or watching the jeweled webs of a spider into an infinitely precious memory never to be forgotten.

This is without a doubt one of the most lyrical and insightful works on nature that you will ever read. If you are an avid naturalist you will be even more appreciative of all things that grow when you have finished reading this book. With a flourish of his pen, Eiseley reminds us that there is another life we may live, one where money, which has come to be central to our societies, and the essential human weakness, has no place beside the whisper of leaves drifting to the forest floor and the silken flow of crystal waters.