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| Sand County Almanac (Outdoor Essays & Reflections) | 
| Author: Aldo Leopold
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $7.98 (100%)
New (50) Collectible (3) from $3.77
Avg. Customer Rating:  74 reviews
Sales Rank: 53162
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.1 x 1
ISBN: 0345345053
Dewey Decimal Number: 508.73
EAN: 9780345345059
ASIN: 0345345053
Publication Date: December 12, 1986
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Mild warping; spine okay. Book is ACCEPTABLE with noted wear to cover and pages. Binding intact. May contain highlighting, inscriptions or notations. We offer a no-hassle guarantee on all our items. Orders generally ship by the next business day. Default Text
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| Customer Reviews:
 A classic only recently read January 6, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The short essays in this subtly powerful environmental classic are filled with poetic images and personal perspectives, some of which have become mantras for the ecologically-minded: Thinking Like A Mountain; The Ecological Conscience; and Defenders of Wilderness.
"When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect," Leopold wrote....
May we all see, belong, and love.
A sublime experience, but not for everyone December 21, 2004
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
I keep this book on my nightstand and read an essay or two after my pj's are on and before going to bed. My bookmark is a pencil for making notes in the margin when particularly wonderful passages are encountered. The margins are very full.
Aldo opens our eyes to worlds in our own backyards which have always existed but which have remained undiscovered due to our own dull-sightedness. I considered myself an avid nature-watcher, but the extent to which Mr. Leopold carries this hobby is humbling. He inspires any true fan to learn the names and habits of every tree, shrub, weed, thistle, bird, insect, and critter native to one's home county, and to hone one's journaling skills and master the talent of imagery and metaphor.
But, this book is not for everyone. I've read favorite passages to friends only to watch their eyes glaze with disinterest. If you're the outgoing, life-of-the-party, must-always-be the-center-of-attention type, then perhaps The DaVinci Code would be of interest. But if you enjoy solitary walks in the woods, canoe paddles on distant foggy lakes, or reading prose with your pj's on, then this is required reading.
The first of its kind, and still the best September 4, 2004
11 out of 15 found this review helpful
"Thus always does history, whether of marsh or market place, end in paradox. The ultimate value in these marshes is wildness, and the crane is wildness incarnate. But all conservation of wildness is self-defeating, for to cherish we must see and fondle, and when enough have seen and fondled, there is no wilderness left to cherish." (from "Marshland Elegy")
"It must be poor life that achieves freedom from fear." This, from reflections on being caught on horseback during a lightning storm, is a comment on the "civilized" mindset that wanted all to be safe, and so feared and destroyed wildness.
These essays were written mostly in the 1940's, although some of them are about earlier times in the author's life. In a way, reading Aldo Leopold is like watching Humphrey Bogart in those old movies, with his smoking and tough-guy sexism. We understand these as disreputable today, but can put them in context. Likewise, Aldo Leopold was in many ways a typical countryman of his time and place. He loved to hunt and fish, and even reflexively shot wolves, like everyone else. He came to regret that, and in fact to realize that in the new era, where hunting and fishing have become mass recreations, that the old ways just don't work anymore. But they did in his day, and he does not retrospectively apologize for having been, in a sense, just another predator.
But he was also a college professor, and an expert naturalist and ecologist. In this book he is a poetic writer about nature and a loving reporter of all things wild. No matter where I lived I would love this book, but having lived not too far from his sand counties and walked his restored prairies makes it the sweeter.
This book may change your life August 31, 2004
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is as original as its author. The format is one that follows the seasons of a year, and is driven by a collection of essays that implore the reader to look within for that deep connection to the land that shaped us as a species.
Aldo Leopold may have influenced the modern environmental movement, but what he really gave birth to was the common man conservation movement. An avid hunter and student of the land, he believed that the key to any successful conservation movement depended on the cooperation of the small landowner.
His "land ethic" philosophy branched out to many other relevant topics; such as his argument that wilderness was a valuable cultural resource, as well as being vital to scientific study. At one point, he asks, "Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"
The most striking thing about Aldo Leopold to me is that his words only become more relevant and more pressing as time goes on. This man has some important things to say. Please listen.
Wonderful March 25, 2004
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
Read Walden, then read Sand County Almanac. They might just change the way you think about the world.
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Wildlife, nature and the Environment
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