Have you ever danced a folk waltz? With someone who knows how? Floating, flying, fleeting—fantastic. Opening The Lost Spells is like stepping into a room of flannel-clad strangers who dance like gods. It is a book of what was once called poetry: words that conjure meaning through our ears’ encounter with their sounds. These new “spells to be spoken aloud,” urge us to wonder at real, half-forgotten things, like egrets and oaks, swifts and silver birches, and the sound of spoken rhymes. They invite us to stray into a fading world that is steeped in the spirituality of physical experience.
Naturalist-writer Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris crafted their 2017 The Lost Words in response to the removal of such terms as “acorn,” “wren,” and “dandelion” from a popular juvenile dictionary. The astonishingly beautiful, oversized volume weaves watercolor with verse to protest our blindness to the wild things around us. A diminutive companion to The Lost Words, The Lost Spells continues to plumb what Macfarlane calls “loss—of language, species, loved places—[which] is the tune of the times.”
Knowing and naming nature demands physical presence. Yet, identifying the exquisite order of a moth wing or beech leaf is not merely sensorial, but spiritual. It reveals something of ourselves: our own vitality, fragility, and design. When nature is displaced, whether from our surroundings or our lexicon, we lose a thread of connection with our own being. As simulated experiences increasingly supplant physical ones, we find ourselves aliens to our own metaphysics. Like spoken poetry and social dance, nature study has become an activity of small children and eccentric subcultures. Can books like The Lost Spells renew our ability to marvel at our landscapes and ourselves? As the virus accelerates our virtual interactions, our need for physical contact and spiritual solace grows more urgent. Macfarlane’s and Morris’ work could not be more timely.
My only fear is that the book is too beautiful. I responded with reflexive horror when my five-year-old pulled it from its package by one cover. To see its satiny dust jacket torn or its silken ribbon frayed would pain any aesthetic sensibility. However, his enthusiasm gives hope that The Lost Spells will grow lustrous with wear as it enchants us into abandoning our avatars for authentic marvel and mystery.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2020
Naturalist-writer Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris crafted their 2017 The Lost Words in response to the removal of such terms as “acorn,” “wren,” and “dandelion” from a popular juvenile dictionary. The astonishingly beautiful, oversized volume weaves watercolor with verse to protest our blindness to the wild things around us. A diminutive companion to The Lost Words, The Lost Spells continues to plumb what Macfarlane calls “loss—of language, species, loved places—[which] is the tune of the times.”
Knowing and naming nature demands physical presence. Yet, identifying the exquisite order of a moth wing or beech leaf is not merely sensorial, but spiritual. It reveals something of ourselves: our own vitality, fragility, and design. When nature is displaced, whether from our surroundings or our lexicon, we lose a thread of connection with our own being. As simulated experiences increasingly supplant physical ones, we find ourselves aliens to our own metaphysics. Like spoken poetry and social dance, nature study has become an activity of small children and eccentric subcultures. Can books like The Lost Spells renew our ability to marvel at our landscapes and ourselves? As the virus accelerates our virtual interactions, our need for physical contact and spiritual solace grows more urgent. Macfarlane’s and Morris’ work could not be more timely.
My only fear is that the book is too beautiful. I responded with reflexive horror when my five-year-old pulled it from its package by one cover. To see its satiny dust jacket torn or its silken ribbon frayed would pain any aesthetic sensibility. However, his enthusiasm gives hope that The Lost Spells will grow lustrous with wear as it enchants us into abandoning our avatars for authentic marvel and mystery.
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My only fear is that the book is too beautiful.
By Elise Matich on November 4, 2020
Have you ever danced a folk waltz? With someone who knows how? Floating, flying, fleeting—fantastic. Opening The Lost Spells is like stepping into a room of flannel-clad strangers who dance like gods. It is a book of what was once called poetry: words that conjure meaning through our ears’ encounter with their sounds. These new “spells to be spoken aloud,” urge us to wonder at real, half-forgotten things, like egrets and oaks, swifts and silver birches, and the sound of spoken rhymes. They invite us to stray into a fading world that is steeped in the spirituality of physical experience.By Elise Matich on November 4, 2020
Naturalist-writer Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris crafted their 2017 The Lost Words in response to the removal of such terms as “acorn,” “wren,” and “dandelion” from a popular juvenile dictionary. The astonishingly beautiful, oversized volume weaves watercolor with verse to protest our blindness to the wild things around us. A diminutive companion to The Lost Words, The Lost Spells continues to plumb what Macfarlane calls “loss—of language, species, loved places—[which] is the tune of the times.”
Knowing and naming nature demands physical presence. Yet, identifying the exquisite order of a moth wing or beech leaf is not merely sensorial, but spiritual. It reveals something of ourselves: our own vitality, fragility, and design. When nature is displaced, whether from our surroundings or our lexicon, we lose a thread of connection with our own being. As simulated experiences increasingly supplant physical ones, we find ourselves aliens to our own metaphysics. Like spoken poetry and social dance, nature study has become an activity of small children and eccentric subcultures. Can books like The Lost Spells renew our ability to marvel at our landscapes and ourselves? As the virus accelerates our virtual interactions, our need for physical contact and spiritual solace grows more urgent. Macfarlane’s and Morris’ work could not be more timely.
My only fear is that the book is too beautiful. I responded with reflexive horror when my five-year-old pulled it from its package by one cover. To see its satiny dust jacket torn or its silken ribbon frayed would pain any aesthetic sensibility. However, his enthusiasm gives hope that The Lost Spells will grow lustrous with wear as it enchants us into abandoning our avatars for authentic marvel and mystery.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2020
“The Lost Spells” teaches us to listen, to watch, and to feel the nature; it reaches out to our hearts with a call to preserve our true treasure – the nature and the wildlife.
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A stunning tandem of gentle watercolors and melodic poetry
By Viktoria on November 2, 2020
This is a magical book, a piece of art for those who love poetry and nature. Just open this book on any page and be ready to get lost among Jackie's watercolor landscapes. Immersed in the magic of the pages, you can feel the flight of a swift and hear the sounds of the forest as an owl hears them, get lost in a silver birch grove and meet a red fox, frolic with a seal in the sea waves and learn the history of an ancient oak tree.By Viktoria on November 2, 2020
“The Lost Spells” teaches us to listen, to watch, and to feel the nature; it reaches out to our hearts with a call to preserve our true treasure – the nature and the wildlife.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2020
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Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2020
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Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2021
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Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2021
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Top reviews from other countries
H Johnson
Overwhelming!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 6, 2020Verified Purchase
Samwiseflangee
Absolutely stunning book, the illustrations are stunning as are the words too
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 3, 2020Verified Purchase
Musical Fan
A lovely book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 13, 2020Verified Purchase
Eli K
Not worth the money.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 20, 2020Verified Purchase
Mary Jarrett
The Lost Spells Lost Me !
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2021Verified Purchase
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