This month we're reading the book The Wild Places by Robert McFarlane
The Wild Places is both an intellectual and a physical journey, and Macfarlane travels in time as well as space. Guided by monks, questers, scientists, philosophers, poets and artists, both living and dead, he explores our changing ideas of the wild...his journeys become the conductors of people and cultures, past and present, who have had intense relationships with these places.
It also tells the story of a friendship, and of a loss. It mixes history, memory and landscape in a strange and beautiful evocation of wildness and its vital importance.
Reading Group Discussion Questions:
The question that keeps popping up during Macfarlane’s short journeys is this: What do we mean by wild? Do we mean remote and unforgiving or can the wild exist near at hand?
What themes does the author explore in this book?
How does Macfarlane’s writing style transport you to the places he visited?
Do you have favorite passages that particularly resonated with you?
Did you gain any insights about yourself, writing, or travel from this book?
Does The Wild Places remind you of any places you’ve been or stories you wish to tell?
Any thoughts on this review from Kathleen Jamie (London Book Review):
“All of this is preliminary to the admission of a huge and unpleasant prejudice, and here it is: when a bright, healthy and highly educated young man jumps on the sleeper train and heads this way, with the declared intention of seeking ‘wild places’, my first reaction is to groan. It brings out in me a horrible mix of class, gender, and ethnic tension. What’s that coming over the hill? A white, middle-class Englishman! A Lone Enraptured Male! From Cambridge! Here to boldly go, ‘discovering’, then quelling our harsh and lovely and sometimes difficult land with his civilized lyrical words. When he compounds this by declaring that ‘to reach a wild place was, for me, to step outside human history,’ I’m not just groaning, but banging my head on the table.”
You're invited to participate in the IPWA Reading Group! We'll delve into the topics of wilderness, preservation, and conservation through reading, contemplation, and discussion.
This group meets in-person in Boulder, Colorado every other month. All are welcome (IPWA and the general public). We'll gain a deeper understanding of wilderness through fiction and non-fiction selections, including works by renowned authors such as Aldo Leopold, Timothy Egan, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Wallace Stegner, Terry Tempest Williams, Edward Abbey, E.O. Wilson, and others.
Past readings included:
January 2024: A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
March 2024: The Big Burn by Timothy Egan
May 2024: Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer
July 2024: On Trails by Robert Moor
These books are widely available at local libraries, bookstores (such as our local favorite, Boulder Bookstore), and online retailers.
Please consider joining us for an upcoming Reading Group gathering at the Rayback Collective, in Boulder, CO! We'll share our reflections about the book and our own experiences. All are welcome (IPWA and the general public). If the weather is good, we'll be at one of the picnic tables in the courtyard. Beverages and food are available from the Rayback Collection and various rotating food trucks.
September 19, 2024 - The Wild Places by Robert McFarlane, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. at the Rayback Collective in Boulder, Colorado - RSVP here
November 7, 2024 - Losing Eden: Our Fundamental Need for the Natural World and Its Ability to Heal Body and Soul by Lucy Jones, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. at the Rayback Collective in Boulder, Colorado - RSVP here
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