An extraordinary exploration of wilderness and its meaning that takes us from the ocean floor to volcanic peaks ... A wondrous personal journey to locate and understand wilderness. It’s a work of extraordinary physical and narrative movement that takes us from the depths of the ocean to volcanoes and icebergs, but is also a journey into our own psyches, and the stories we tell ourselves about 'wild' landscapes. Above all, it is a reminder that the places we might conceive of as empty or barren are no such thing; that within wildernesses there is abundant life, both human and nonhuman.
In no small part the book is an investigation of fear as much as delight. As she explains, horror has always been a necessary part of the original experience of the sublime, alongside delight. Where many contemporary nature writers emphasise joy, Flyn leans into discomfort — physical, intellectual, moral. The result is so much richer and more serious ... And where other nature writers spatter wildlife facts behind them like scat, Flyn offers insight more often than information.
Our efforts to conserve the wild are shot through with tensions and contradictions that she thoughtfully examines here. By blending it with equal parts travel reportage and nature writing, she helps the reader to digest what is frequently discomfiting and confrontational subject matter ... This book boils over with thought-provoking observations, and one that excels at clarifying why these provocations are urgently needed. Rather than cynical polemic, Flyn relies on the power of poetic language to deliver the message, and some of it resonated long after I finished reading.
The writing can be a little overworked at times, too, as when she writes of evidences of human activity on the ice, 'Each a blot on the landscape, a pinprick of humanity, a data point of doubt.' Such moments are few compared to her close observations of the world, though, including a fine, self-effacing moment of being alone on a Scottish crag under decidedly bad conditions and living to tell the tale ... A thoughtful account of journeys to wild places that, one hopes, will remain that way.
