August NYRB: Heaven's Breath

Every year I say this is going to be the last year (for a while) and rather than renew my NYRB Classics subscription I will instead read some of those books I didn't get to in the previous years.  I have been a subscriber since 2013!  So that is a year's worth of classics for 7 (or nearly so) years.  A total of 84 books by the end of this year, which I am happy to have, but I won't even count how many I have actually managed to read.  It is always a dilemma as the books are so good, but as much as I hope and tell myself I will keep up with my reading, I never do.  Case in point--the last NYRB I even mentioned here was back in March and I gave up on Max Havelaar.  Wrong book at the wrong time.  And being such a mood reader I have to usually feel inspired to pick up a book and then really engaged to keep reading.  More so these days when it comes to classics, though I would love to get out of my classics reading rut.

So it is surprising that this month's selection, a book about natural history, on of all things--the wind--that I am finding quite compelling.  I took it to the gym yesterday thinking I would read a few pages before moving on to one of my current novels, but ended up spending nearly my entire work out reading about weather patterns.  Who knew it could be so very interesting.  Of course I am a firm believer that in the right hands, with the right author, almost any topic can be made not only wholly accessible, but downright entertaining. 

Lyall Watson's Heaven's Breath: A Natural History of the Wind was originally published in 1984.  The back jacket blurb calls it encyclopedic and enchanting and if all nature and science books were like this one I would be an enthusiastic reader of all things science.  It brings to mind the books of Diane Ackerman (and now I kind of want to revisit my shelves and pull a book or two of hers off and add them to my reading pile).

Although this is only about 329 pages (not including 14 pages making up the Dictionary of Winds in the back of the book), it feels like a hefty tome, which is a little bit intimidating.  I admit that reading this is like having a cartload of information wash over me--it is a sensory overload almost.  Reading it is like being inundated with facts since he starts with the broader picture, the start of the world, and then works his way in.  I am enjoying what I am reading and penciling little bits that I would like to remember (and there are lots of pencil marks so far), but I know I am only absorbing a small portion of what I am reading.  It begins with the big bang and the arrival of the universe.  He describes the solar system and the planets and their natural satellites and what their atmospheres are like and then he begins to focus on Earth/Gaia.  It is so very fascinating.  At the moment I am reading about the physics of the wind--it is like building the framework and then he'll move on to specifics.  

This feels like a journey and in the introduction that is what this book is likened to.  Since I have no idea what to share from the text (though I might have to share bits and pieces as I go), let me give a teaser--the first couple of paragraphs of the introduction to give you a sense of what this is all about.

"Sailing back from the Trojan War, Odysseus and his men land on the island of Aeolia, the domain of Aeolus, the Keeper of the Winds.  Aeolus gives them an oxhide sack that contains the captive winds of the world--apart from a gentle westerly to waft them safely home--with strict instructions not to open it.  Believing there is treasure inside, the greedy crew do just that.  The opening of the sack unleashes a chaotic gale that hurls their ship upon the waves, out across the wine-dark sea, blowing Odysseus madly off course.  His adventures last ten years."

"[This book] is that oxxhide sack.  All the winds of the world are inside.  If you open it, you will be blown to places you never expected."

"Lyall Watson is a modern-day Keeper of the Winds.  His natural history of the great invisible forces that shape our planet--from the sand dunes of the Sahara to the serotonin inside our brains--twists and turns, uplifts and surprises like the subject it describes.  'Wind is defined as air in motion,' he tells us early on, then explodes this apparently simple statement in every conceivable way.  The reader is propelled back through recorded history into deep time, from the formation of the universe, through physics and mythology, biology and psychology, religion and sociology, in and out of an extraordinary diversity of cultures."

I was thought the most interesting parts (mythology and religion and psychology and . . .) were going to be the best bits, but he has me on an area that feels quite foreign--the physics.  It can only get better.  At this rate a book about wind might well be one of my best reads of the year.  See, it is books like this that make me waver.  Maybe I will renew my subscription after all.  What other gems might I miss otherwise?

Comments

[Amanda]

I am also a NYRB member, and one this arrived last week I just stared at it for several moments because it struck me as so strange. But, like you, I have dipped in and found it compelling. I may just do bits and pieces at a time, but I think it will turn out to be one of those interesting gems I never would have discovered on my own.

[Jeane]

How intriguing. Of all the nonfiction and natural history books I've read, never has one been just about weather patterns. I'm curious!

[Danielle]

I would never have picked this one up had I come across it elsewhere, but it is actually really very interesting. There is so much detail to take in, I am enjoying what I read, but I am not sure whether I will ever be able to explain how winds work to anyone. I think I will remember all the more curious bits and pieces, however. I agree--it is going to be one of those unexpected gems!

[Danielle]

I think you would like it! Who knew wind could be so very interesting. I know some things from watching the weather reports--or at least am a little familiar with the terminology but it is cool to have it explained. It is packed with information--definitely worth checking out!

[iliana]

I think you need to take a picture of your NYRB collection and post it for us to ooh and aah over! :)
What a fascinating book. I must read more non-fiction!

[Danielle]

Hmm. Maybe I need to do that! :) I have a stack in my bedroom and another in my bookroom....I would need to tidy them first, however!

[Kathy Johnson]

What a wonderful surprise! I often feel the way you do, that I'm only absorbing a portion of what I'm reading. But I figure a portion is better than nothing, and once I have a little information, it tends to open me up to finding more information on the same subject(s) and gradually my understanding grows.

[BuriedInPrint]

This sounds fascinating! And I do appreciate your dilemma. But what about all the equally fascinating ones that you've already received but haven't read - aren't they as worthy as the ones that you don't even know about yet? (Always an advocate for the books who can't talk back. *LOL*)

[Simon T (StuckinaBook)]

"in the right hands, with the right author, almost any topic can be made not only wholly accessible, but downright entertaining." - agreed! This topic would never strike me as one to read about, but I'll now keep an eye out. I certainly know nothing about it now!

[Danielle]

This is a book that calls for complete attention so I like to pick it up when I know I have a little extra time to devote to it. Definite sensory overload of facts, but I hope some of it sticks with me.

[Danielle]

Oh, yes, they are absolutely all very worthy and I am sure when I get around to the next one (whichever I pull from the pile) I will wonder why I waited so long to start it. They sit so patiently-see, this is why I always end up with so many partially started books on my night stand! :)

[Danielle]

When I first saw this was the upcoming book selection I was not all that impressed to be honest. I like nature books, but this seemed just a little too specific, but I swear--it pretty much just grabbed me from the first and I can't wait to get to the parts that are more literary in reference (to myths and legends, etc). So I think it will even get better!!