The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks by Terry Tempest Williams is one writer's personal exploration of a public and shared landscape, and of what, if anything, separates wilderness from civilization.
Williams wrote these twelve essays about twelve parks of interest to her as a commemoration of the National Park Service's centennial year, 2015. They are part memoir, part natural history, and part social critique. She says, "This is a book about relationships inside America's national parks, and as is always the case with relations, the bonds formed, severed, and renewed within these federal lands are complicated. They are also fundamental to who we are as a country. Whether historical or ecological, political or personal, the connective tissue that holds together or tears apart our public lands begins with 'We, the People.'" Williams does more than memorialize America's National Parks; she also asks us to consider, "What is the relevance of our national parks in the twenty-first century--and how might these public commons bring us back home to a united state of humility?"
What do you think? Williams told the Los Angeles Review of Books that "Choosing the 12 [parks] was like creating a dinner party. I asked myself: 'Who would I like to invite to dinner for a rich and varied conversation?'" Have you visited any of these twelve national parks or any others? Are there any that you would especially like to visit? Which of Williams' essays most interested or affected you? Williams acknowledges that she is "writing out of her limitations"--not as a historian, not as a scientist, not as a government employee--but as a concerned citizen sharing her thoughts and feelings. What does she contribute to the conversation about our national parks? Williams openly shares her own opinions in her essays. How does she include differing points of view? Williams told the Los Angeles Review of Books that "With The Hour of Land each of the 12 national parks is a unique landscape. It made sense that each one deserved its own form, one that mirrored the story I was trying to tell." Which essays did you find most successful in terms of form? Does the book work as a whole? What holds it together? Williams says the photographs in the book "create an emotional landscape alongside the physical one explored through each park in this book." How do the images and text work together to create a conversation and affect your reading of the book? Perhaps the most important questions Williams raises in The Hour of Land look into the future. How would you answer them: "What is the relevance of our national parks in the twenty-first century--and how might these public commons bring us back home to a united state of humility?" She notes that with the national parks there is a constant search for balance between the missions of education and preservation. How do we determine which mission should guide our National Park Service for its next 100 years?
Williams wrote these twelve essays about twelve parks of interest to her as a commemoration of the National Park Service's centennial year, 2015. They are part memoir, part natural history, and part social critique. She says, "This is a book about relationships inside America's national parks, and as is always the case with relations, the bonds formed, severed, and renewed within these federal lands are complicated. They are also fundamental to who we are as a country. Whether historical or ecological, political or personal, the connective tissue that holds together or tears apart our public lands begins with 'We, the People.'" Williams does more than memorialize America's National Parks; she also asks us to consider, "What is the relevance of our national parks in the twenty-first century--and how might these public commons bring us back home to a united state of humility?"
What do you think? Williams told the Los Angeles Review of Books that "Choosing the 12 [parks] was like creating a dinner party. I asked myself: 'Who would I like to invite to dinner for a rich and varied conversation?'" Have you visited any of these twelve national parks or any others? Are there any that you would especially like to visit? Which of Williams' essays most interested or affected you? Williams acknowledges that she is "writing out of her limitations"--not as a historian, not as a scientist, not as a government employee--but as a concerned citizen sharing her thoughts and feelings. What does she contribute to the conversation about our national parks? Williams openly shares her own opinions in her essays. How does she include differing points of view? Williams told the Los Angeles Review of Books that "With The Hour of Land each of the 12 national parks is a unique landscape. It made sense that each one deserved its own form, one that mirrored the story I was trying to tell." Which essays did you find most successful in terms of form? Does the book work as a whole? What holds it together? Williams says the photographs in the book "create an emotional landscape alongside the physical one explored through each park in this book." How do the images and text work together to create a conversation and affect your reading of the book? Perhaps the most important questions Williams raises in The Hour of Land look into the future. How would you answer them: "What is the relevance of our national parks in the twenty-first century--and how might these public commons bring us back home to a united state of humility?" She notes that with the national parks there is a constant search for balance between the missions of education and preservation. How do we determine which mission should guide our National Park Service for its next 100 years?
We hope you will join the discussion: Tuesday, February 6, at 6:30 p.m. at Main Library; Thursday, February 15, at 11:00 a.m. at West Ashley Branch Library; and here on the blog.
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