The Book of a Naturalist

W. H. Hudson

Raised on the Argentine pampas, Hudson observed with a scientist precision and wrote with a poet attachment. This 1919 collection ranges across birds, snakes and memory.

Hudson grew up on the Argentine pampas and became one of the finest observers in English, a field-naturalist who wrote with a scientist’s precision and a poet’s attachment. This 1919 collection ranges across birds, snakes, memory, and the losses that accumulate over a long life spent outdoors.

View on Amazon

Recommended by 1 Person

Maria Popova

Although he called himself a field-naturalist, Hudson wrote about what he observed with a scientist’s thirst for truth, a philosopher’s hunger for meaning, and a poet’s tenderness for the complicated miracle of being alive. In his moving 1919 memoir The Book of a Naturalist (public domain), he looks back on what he gained by giving up his era’s givens:

Website

As an Amazon Associate, bookstoread.org earns from qualifying purchases. Links to Amazon on this page may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Spotted an error on this page? Tell us and we will fix it.