There's nothing like open sea to send the mind off on meditative musings. Arms has done a lot of sailing?and a lot of musing. Here, the author of Riddle of the Ice offers 20 philosophical essays that reflect both the interior and exterior voyages he has taken over the years. Arms treats the sea as a cathedral, a place that inspires reverence for the natural world, a place in which it is appropriate to let the mind and soul chase after the big questions. And chase he does, speculating on people, life lessons, the planet and the future. In "Charts and Other Fiction," he writes of learning, as a boy, that it is as important to be aware of what nautical charts do not show as what they do?the uncharted rocks and shoals knowable only by self-discovery. Variations of this lesson appear throughout these thoughtful essays as Arms emphasizes that wisdom is obtainable only through experience and that, no matter how expert we are and no matter how thoroughly we plan (or chart a course), we must always leave room for intuition and an openness to the moment (or the prevailing wind). "What is a cathedral after all," he asks, "but a place to go as we seek to understand how the cosmos works, and what our proper place is in it?" Brief as these essays are, they are pungent and, at their best, as refreshing as a blast of sea spray.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Arms is a dedicated and experienced sailor and author of Riddle of the Ice (LJ 1/15/98), but readers expecting accounts of his voyages will not find them in this collection of essays. His new book is a philosophical commentary on "the primal spaces" and the present and future of life on earth, based on his four decades on the water. Readers are exposed to his musings not only as a sailor but also as a boatbuilder and an observer of nature and what humans have wrought upon it: pollution, waste of natural resources, and so on. Arms's philosophical bent may disappoint readers in search of stories of the sea; this will appeal to a rather limited audience and should be purchased only by those libraries with a good handle on their clientele.?Robert F. Greenfield, formerly with Baltimore Cty. P.L., MD
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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