Desert, Further Studies in Natural Appearances, The

By Van Dyke, John Charles

Book Id: WPLBN0002952544
Format Type:
File Size: 171.05 MB
Reproduction Date: 2011

Title:	Desert, Further Studies in Natural Appearances, The
Author:	Van Dyke, John Charles
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Non-fiction, Nature, Travel
Collections:	Audio Books Collection, Desert, Further Studies in Natural Appearances, The
Historic Publication Date:	1901
Publisher:	LibriVox Audio Books


Citation APA MLA Chicago Charles Van Dyke, B. J. (1901). Desert, Further Studies in Natural Appearances, The. Retrieved from http://www.self.gutenberg.org/

Description
The Desert by John Charles Van Dyke, published in 1901, is a lush, poetic description of the natural beauty of the American Southwest. What land can equal the desert with its wide plains, its grim mountains, and its expanding canopy of sky! Van Dyke, a cultivated art historian, saw sublimity in the desert's lonely desolation, which previous generations had perceived only as a wasteland, and his book has a conservationist flavor which seems distinctly modern. The deserts should never be reclaimed, he writes. They are the breathing spaces of the west and should be preserved for ever. The changing colors of the sky, hills, and sand impress Van Dyke, as do the mirages. He celebrates the long overlooked commonplace things of nature-- cactus and grease wood, desert animals, and winged life, the birds and insects. His writing has a philosophical undertone. Not in vain these wastes of sand ... simply because they are beautiful in themselves and good to look upon whether they be life or death. Anyone who views with equal awe fiery sunrises and weeds growing out of pavement cracks will enjoy this reading of Van Dyke's The Desert. (Summary by Sue Anderson)

Summary
Electronic recorded live performance of a reading

Excerpt
Nature, Travel