Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)In birdwatching slang, a Big Year is a year in which one sets oneself the goal of seeing as many distinct species of birds as one can. Naturalist and author Robert M. Pyle, a butterfly fancier from way back, got the idea of doing a Big Year for butterflies, and in 2008 he did it. Mariposa Road is the story of Pyle's Butterfly Big Year, in which he travels the United States (including Hawaii and Alaska) with the goal of seeing at least 500 different species of butterflies. On the way he is assisted by numerous butterfly lovers who support his goals, and by any number of regular citizens whose many kindnesses he documents. Does he succeed in reaching the magic 500? You'll have to read the book to find out, but if you care, you're missing the point -- Pyle's real goal is to celebrate the love of nature and butterflies: his own, and in general.
This book recalls Pyle's picaresque classic Chasing Monarchs: Migrating with the Butterflies of Passage, in which Pyle wrote of his adventures trailing the monarch butterfly's annual migration from north to south. There as here, his gentle observations about the people and places along the way and his low-budget travel (mostly with the same decades-old Honda Civic) blend with enthusiastic descriptions of his time in the field and the lovely insects he finds there. But at over 500 pages, Mariposa Road is a lot longer than Chasing Monarchs. While both books are basically chronological accounts of various events that happen until the end point is reached, but Chasing Monarchs seemed pleasingly digressive and as Mariposa Road goes on, the same charming style begins to make the book seem shapeless. My suggestion, therefore, is not to skip the book -- it'd be a hell of a shame to miss Pyle's quietly poetic language, clever observation, and infectious enthusiasm -- but to break it up a bit. Pyle himself separates the book into "rays" -- sections based on individual expeditions he makes during the Big Year -- anywhere from ten to fifty pages long. I think I'd have enjoyed this book more if I'd followed his example and read one "ray" at a time in between other short books.
Of course, I'm not really the intended audience for this book, as I am not a butterfly fancier and read Pyle's work mostly for the travelogue aspect. My enjoyment of his work -- and I've never found a Pyle book that wasn't worth reading; the man's a wonderful writer -- would probably triple or quadruple if I were a naturalist or lepidopterist. Those of you who read his work more for that than for the travelogue, and I hope you know who you are, will be as absorbed reading this book as Pyle clearly was when he experienced it, and you'll likely be able to read it straight through and love it. For the rest of us, time spent with Pyle is always worthwhile, but I suggest taking his book in small bites.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Mariposa Road: The First Butterfly Big Year
Part road-trip tale, part travelogue of lost and found landscapes, all good-natured natural history, Mariposa Road tracks Bob Pyle’s journey across the United States as he races against the calendarin his search for as many of the 800 American butterflies as he can find.
Get 34% OFF
Click here for more information about Mariposa Road: The First Butterfly Big Year
No comments:
Post a Comment