Scan barcode
mattbeatty's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed every word of Austin's. It's a short book, and I was slow-moving to get through it. But I don't regret that. I feel like part of her eyeopening awareness of the natural world speaks to being slow-moving. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm a desert tortoise.
colin_cox's review against another edition
5.0
I only read "The Scavengers" and "The Land of Little Rain."
***
Mary Austin's The Land of Little Rain is an extraordinary example of literary naturalism. Specifically, Austin antagonizes sentimental, regional writing about the West of the 19th and early 20th centuries. In doing so, Austin produces an affectionate, reverent, but tonally detached narrative that argues, "Desert is a loose term to indicate land that supports no man."
***
Mary Austin's The Land of Little Rain is an extraordinary example of literary naturalism. Specifically, Austin antagonizes sentimental, regional writing about the West of the 19th and early 20th centuries. In doing so, Austin produces an affectionate, reverent, but tonally detached narrative that argues, "Desert is a loose term to indicate land that supports no man."
simlish's review against another edition
5.0
Do you like glowing nature writing with absolutely no plot whatsoever? Do you long to have someone talk at you about the various beautiful aspects of the West for a hundred pages? Do you like the kind of overwrought writing that was popular around the turn of the century? If yes, you'll like The Land of Little Rain. It does what it sets out to do, and it does it skillfully. It made me want to walk around in the desert and look at flowers really closely, which is what I'm looking for out of a book like this. Loved it. Would only recommend it to people who are into this exact niche, because otherwise you will be bored.