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frenchfrybri's review against another edition
5.0
here’s a long collection of my thoughts about this book: it is dated, published in 1955 and obviously marine biology and ocean sciences and even the edge of the sea itself has changed a lot since then. it’s not terribly accurate if you’re looking for updated facts about the different habitats of the east coast, go pick up a recently published field guide if you want that. rachel carson wrote in the preface, “For the convenience of those who like to pigeonhole their findings neatly in the classification schemes the human mind has devised, an appendix presents the conventional groups, or phyla, of plants and animals and describes typical examples” - so this book isn’t (to me) really a science book despite carson being a scientist writing about her coastal observations.
i loved this book for two main reasons: in it, the sea is not divided in plants/animals, vertebrates/invertebrates, or really classified at all. every single organism described is not neatly placed in its taxonomical place but rather neatly shown to have adapted to its precise environment and its tethers to all the life around it. as someone who works a lot with the natural sciences it’s easy to forget that the way we (humans) view things isn’t necessarily how they work; this was a portrait of The Sea itself as it’s own living entity that’s part of a deeply intricate web that we may see parts of if we stop and look hard enough.
my second reason for giving this 5 stars was because i love the ocean and most current writings about it are about how we’re destroying it. (these books are all right and they should be talking about this.) but i love the sea and it was nice to take a brief respite from the doom and gloom and listen to someone talk about their joy in how beautiful ocean life is without spending the entire time also reading about how it’s disappearing. a lot of nature books right now are sad, because what’s happening out there is sad and we need to know what’s going on if we’re going to do something about it. but it was nice to have a small break from all that.
info isn’t completely outdated; i read this while road-tripping down the east coast and after reading every section went out to walk on the beach to find what she was talking about and was able to. but to me, that’s not the main draw of the book.
in summary, you should read this book not necessarily to learn about the ocean but to learn how to love the ocean.
i loved this book for two main reasons: in it, the sea is not divided in plants/animals, vertebrates/invertebrates, or really classified at all. every single organism described is not neatly placed in its taxonomical place but rather neatly shown to have adapted to its precise environment and its tethers to all the life around it. as someone who works a lot with the natural sciences it’s easy to forget that the way we (humans) view things isn’t necessarily how they work; this was a portrait of The Sea itself as it’s own living entity that’s part of a deeply intricate web that we may see parts of if we stop and look hard enough.
my second reason for giving this 5 stars was because i love the ocean and most current writings about it are about how we’re destroying it. (these books are all right and they should be talking about this.) but i love the sea and it was nice to take a brief respite from the doom and gloom and listen to someone talk about their joy in how beautiful ocean life is without spending the entire time also reading about how it’s disappearing. a lot of nature books right now are sad, because what’s happening out there is sad and we need to know what’s going on if we’re going to do something about it. but it was nice to have a small break from all that.
info isn’t completely outdated; i read this while road-tripping down the east coast and after reading every section went out to walk on the beach to find what she was talking about and was able to. but to me, that’s not the main draw of the book.
in summary, you should read this book not necessarily to learn about the ocean but to learn how to love the ocean.
unladylike's review
4.0
I'm positive I would give this 5 stars if I had more of a personal connection with the coast (specifically the North American Atlantic coast) or if I had paid closer attention. Rachel Carson's writing is like poetry; like a soothing breeze. In audiobook form, it was easy to let it play in the background as pleasant guided meditations. I have a feeling I'll be more into her other books; I'm just not *that* interested in grains of sand and the microscopic creatures that live on the shore, but I admit Carson makes their stories into a thing of awe.
bupdaddy's review
2.0
The Dewey Decimal system puts this in the 500's - hard science. Sure, yeah, I guess. It struck me more as Carson's love letter to the several ecosystems on the American Atlantic coast.
And Carson shows her love by enumerating and describing in grad-student field-notes-level detail all the species found there.
It's all important, and good, stuff, but came across as several laundry lists to me.
And Carson shows her love by enumerating and describing in grad-student field-notes-level detail all the species found there.
It's all important, and good, stuff, but came across as several laundry lists to me.
leavingsealevel's review against another edition
5.0
I think if Rachel Carson and Muriel Wylie Blanchet had lived at the same time on the same side of the continent, they would have been friends.
This is like Pagoo for grownups :) My other favorite book about sea creatures.
This is like Pagoo for grownups :) My other favorite book about sea creatures.
graywacke's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
Carson's 3rd book. Early on she writes:
"<i>There is a common thread that links these scenes and memories—the spectacle of life in all its varied manifestations as it has appeared, evolved, and sometimes died out. Underlying the beauty of the spectacle there is meaning and significance. It is the elusiveness of that meaning that haunts us, that sends us again and again into the natural world where the key to the riddle is hidden. It sends us back to the edge of the sea, where the drama of life played its first scene on earth and perhaps even its prelude; where the forces of evolution are at work today, as they have been since the appearance of what we know as life; and where the spectacle of living creatures faced by the cosmic realities of their world is crystal clear. </i>"
And she follows up, going again and again to different details along the North American Atlantic cost, from rocks and massive tides to Florida's keys and ten-thousand islands. I found it tough on my little attention span, to listen and stay on top of each detail. It's a lot. : )
"<i>There is a common thread that links these scenes and memories—the spectacle of life in all its varied manifestations as it has appeared, evolved, and sometimes died out. Underlying the beauty of the spectacle there is meaning and significance. It is the elusiveness of that meaning that haunts us, that sends us again and again into the natural world where the key to the riddle is hidden. It sends us back to the edge of the sea, where the drama of life played its first scene on earth and perhaps even its prelude; where the forces of evolution are at work today, as they have been since the appearance of what we know as life; and where the spectacle of living creatures faced by the cosmic realities of their world is crystal clear. </i>"
And she follows up, going again and again to different details along the North American Atlantic cost, from rocks and massive tides to Florida's keys and ten-thousand islands. I found it tough on my little attention span, to listen and stay on top of each detail. It's a lot. : )