The Snow Geese - Softcover

Fiennes, William

3.56

764 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330375792 ISBN 13: 9780330375795

Publisher: Picador, 2010

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WINNER OF THE HAWTHORNDEN PRIZE

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE

SUNDAY TIMES YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR

One winter, after an enforced period of quiet, William Fiennes finds himself restless and yearning for adventure. Inspired by his reading about the migratory patterns of birds, he flies to Texas to find the million-strong flocks of snow geese and to follow them on their spring flight thousands of miles north to breeding grounds on the Arctic tundra. This mesmerizing book, already a classic, captures their journey with wisdom, humility and endless curiosity. It is a meditation on freedom of movement, on seeing the world anew, and on the joy of returning – indefinably changed.

‘Why are we drawn to birds, to landscape, to nature? It is for the sense of wonder – and in capturing that sense of wonder, Fiennes reminds us how desperately we all need it’ Sunday Telegraph

‘The Snow Geese moved me as have few other recent books. No one who reads it is likely to continue to look at the world in the same way’ Times Literary Supplement

‘A beautifully solitary and beautifully reflective book’ Evening Standard

‘The descriptions of the geese and their environment are jaw-droppingly beautiful. But Fiennes’ most remarkable talent is for describing the quotidian with such freshness that it is like seeing the world for the first time’ Mail on Sunday

‘An inspired work of natural history and travel. A classic’ Irish Independent

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Review:

Even without the unbridled enthusiasm of such writers as Peter Carey and Marina Warner that emblazon the jacket, a few pages of William Fiennes’ The Snow Geese would instantly alert the reader that this is something very special indeed. A remarkable piece of natural history and a striking book about the very notion of wandering, this is considerably more than travel writing; it is, in fact, a poetic vision that evokes the splendours and terrors of the Canadian Arctic in a fashion that goes beyond mere description. Perfectly judged prose gives a vision of the natural world that transports the reader utterly.

Snow geese spend each summer in the Canadian Arctic on the Tundra. Every autumn they migrate south to Delaware, California and the Gulf of Mexico, and in the spring they wing northwards again. Fascinated by this, William Fiennes made the decision to go with them and write about his travels. But the result turned out to be about so much more than the migration of geese. This synthesis of autobiography and reportage settles into its real subject swiftly: homecoming, and the powerful pull of the concept of home that motivates us all. The author’s daunting physical adventure is also a meditation on the philosophy of natural science and even the act of autobiography. The sheer energy of the book is mesmerising, and however subtle the writing, we read on transfixed--always relating these strange odysseys to our own travels in the world. The Snow Geese may change your very perception of what home means to you. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

'With this beautiful, haunting debut Fiennes joins that small, very special band of writer-explorers - Emerson and Thoreau, Annie Dilard and Bruce Chatwin - who give us another pair of eyes: he has renewed the variety and wonder of the world' Marina Warner 'Fiennes is a very fine writer and this book is pure delight' Peter Carey, winner of the Booker Prize 2001

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