Book Review:
Kooser, Ted. Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2002.
Pgs. 1-153.
When I went to the book store in search of an eco art book, I was not quite sure what I was looking for. Would I pick a book focused on a plethora facts meant to make me want to change how I go about my daily existence or would I be drawn to something more descriptive about nature’s power and beauty. The book I stumbled upon I feel is a little mix of both, Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps by Ted Kooser.
The book is set in a small rural village of Garland, Nebraska host to only about two hundred people, and the area is known as the Bohemian Alps because of all the hills. One thing that I really liked about this author is that I felt like he invited me into his life, mostly set in rural Nebraska. The book is a collection of memories and stories about the world around him and the little things in his everyday life. Through out the whole book it is his collections of little stories and memories from his life. While not everything he talks about is related to nature, he reminisces about things in everyday life. It made me reflect on the quieter days I have spend just being outside in the fresh air and with my family. Since his style is down to earth it was an easy read that I enjoyed and could picture the rolling hills of the Bohemian Alps for myself. It also made me long even more for spring, this is a book that I would love to take on a walk and sit under the shade of a big old oak tree and read.
Another thing that I loved about this book is how it is set up. It only has four chapters and they are the four seasons. It goes from spring, to summer, to autumn, and then finally ends with winter. I think it complemented the style and easy the author was trying to go for. This idea that nature can lead us through life and that nature is a sign of life. My favorite passage in the book was at the beginning on page four. It was basically his memory of a rich man’s daughter who got married. The father of the bride had ordered every white tulip in the Untied States for the wedding. At the end of this little story he says, “Can we remember the bride or the groom? No, we remember the tulips. They were the story.” I just loved this ending statement, because people get so wrapped up in their own lives, but nature, nature will always be here, people may not stand the test of time but nature’s beauty and power seemingly effortlessly is self sustaining.
It just made me reflect about how everyone thinks the world revolves around them at one point in their life. I think we take nature for granted it, but nature to me seems so resilient even though at times people abuse it. Kooser continually refers to his dog Alice, and how she is delighted with all the things she finds in nature. I felt as if Kooser was pointing out that the dog and animals appreciate the little simplicities of nature.
On the ecological end of the spectrum Ted Kooser did address his feelings and observations of the damage done to the environment in the small area in which he lives. Specifically he spent a lot of time talking about plum thickets, which are basically weeds that grow on the side of the road. Well, the government road maintenance crews do not like the plum thicket and so they spray them with herbicides. They claimed that their men were too old to climb in the roadside ditches and cut them down, so Roundup, Tordon, and 24D were their solutions. The part to this story that made me laugh was although they used all these sprays Kooser says, “But the plums, thriving on the red sap of their wilderness, survive even the government.” It is so true, nature I think at times is still beyond us and like I said earlier so resilient. Besides the government wanting to put pesticides on everything he also talked about developers coming in and how people don’t realize they should take nature for what it is not try to be selfish and have the best of everything, it may back fire. Another story he told was about how a developer came and acres near them were broken up and sold to build these expensive homes. A family built a house for the view and of course out there the space, but then a year later another family had brought land and built a house right next to them. Instead of nature by itself, “the two families will have to draw their blinds at night and listen to each other’s screen doors slam just as they did in the city.” It seems like people keep trying to find nature and beauty, but when they do find it they feel the need o change it or improve it. I think that in the end that comes back to bite them in the butt.
In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. It is a light read and at times with out you realizing it Kooser makes you think about how you interact with nature and memories from the past. After you’re done you will feel like a stroll in wood and want to take nature at its face value. Nature’s beauty is all around us and Kooser shows us that stopping to smell the roses can be done right on your front door step not a distance place.
Kooser, Ted. Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2002.
Pgs. 1-153.
When I went to the book store in search of an eco art book, I was not quite sure what I was looking for. Would I pick a book focused on a plethora facts meant to make me want to change how I go about my daily existence or would I be drawn to something more descriptive about nature’s power and beauty. The book I stumbled upon I feel is a little mix of both, Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps by Ted Kooser.
The book is set in a small rural village of Garland, Nebraska host to only about two hundred people, and the area is known as the Bohemian Alps because of all the hills. One thing that I really liked about this author is that I felt like he invited me into his life, mostly set in rural Nebraska. The book is a collection of memories and stories about the world around him and the little things in his everyday life. Through out the whole book it is his collections of little stories and memories from his life. While not everything he talks about is related to nature, he reminisces about things in everyday life. It made me reflect on the quieter days I have spend just being outside in the fresh air and with my family. Since his style is down to earth it was an easy read that I enjoyed and could picture the rolling hills of the Bohemian Alps for myself. It also made me long even more for spring, this is a book that I would love to take on a walk and sit under the shade of a big old oak tree and read.
Another thing that I loved about this book is how it is set up. It only has four chapters and they are the four seasons. It goes from spring, to summer, to autumn, and then finally ends with winter. I think it complemented the style and easy the author was trying to go for. This idea that nature can lead us through life and that nature is a sign of life. My favorite passage in the book was at the beginning on page four. It was basically his memory of a rich man’s daughter who got married. The father of the bride had ordered every white tulip in the Untied States for the wedding. At the end of this little story he says, “Can we remember the bride or the groom? No, we remember the tulips. They were the story.” I just loved this ending statement, because people get so wrapped up in their own lives, but nature, nature will always be here, people may not stand the test of time but nature’s beauty and power seemingly effortlessly is self sustaining.
It just made me reflect about how everyone thinks the world revolves around them at one point in their life. I think we take nature for granted it, but nature to me seems so resilient even though at times people abuse it. Kooser continually refers to his dog Alice, and how she is delighted with all the things she finds in nature. I felt as if Kooser was pointing out that the dog and animals appreciate the little simplicities of nature.
On the ecological end of the spectrum Ted Kooser did address his feelings and observations of the damage done to the environment in the small area in which he lives. Specifically he spent a lot of time talking about plum thickets, which are basically weeds that grow on the side of the road. Well, the government road maintenance crews do not like the plum thicket and so they spray them with herbicides. They claimed that their men were too old to climb in the roadside ditches and cut them down, so Roundup, Tordon, and 24D were their solutions. The part to this story that made me laugh was although they used all these sprays Kooser says, “But the plums, thriving on the red sap of their wilderness, survive even the government.” It is so true, nature I think at times is still beyond us and like I said earlier so resilient. Besides the government wanting to put pesticides on everything he also talked about developers coming in and how people don’t realize they should take nature for what it is not try to be selfish and have the best of everything, it may back fire. Another story he told was about how a developer came and acres near them were broken up and sold to build these expensive homes. A family built a house for the view and of course out there the space, but then a year later another family had brought land and built a house right next to them. Instead of nature by itself, “the two families will have to draw their blinds at night and listen to each other’s screen doors slam just as they did in the city.” It seems like people keep trying to find nature and beauty, but when they do find it they feel the need o change it or improve it. I think that in the end that comes back to bite them in the butt.
In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. It is a light read and at times with out you realizing it Kooser makes you think about how you interact with nature and memories from the past. After you’re done you will feel like a stroll in wood and want to take nature at its face value. Nature’s beauty is all around us and Kooser shows us that stopping to smell the roses can be done right on your front door step not a distance place.
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