Based on 15 extended trips to the Canadian far north over a five-year period, Arctic Dreams celebrates the mysteries of what documentarians fondly call "last frontiers." Such places are everywhere in danger of destruction in the interest of ever-elusive economic progress, but Lopez writes no jeremiads. Instead, he aims to foster a kind of learned understanding of wild places, in this case the vast, scarcely knowable northern landscape. Writing of the natural history of the Arctic and its inhabitants--narwhals, polar bears, beluga whales, musk oxen, and caribou among them--Lopez draws powerful lessons from the land and imparts them assuredly and gracefully. Arctic Dreams deservedly won a National Book Award in 1986 when it was first published.


From Publishers Weekly
This is one of the finest books ever written about the Far North, warmly appreciative and understanding of the natural forces that shape life in an austere landscape. The prize-winning author (Of Wolves and Men spent four years in Arctic regions: traveling between Davis Strait in the east and Bering Strait in the west, hunting with Eskimos and accompanying archeologists, biologists and geologists in the field. Lopez became enthralled by the power of the Arctic, a power he observes derives from "the tension between its beauty and its capacity to take life." This is a story of light, darkness and ice; of animal migrations and Eskimos; of the specter of development and the cultural perception of a region. Examining the literature of 19th century exploration, Lopez finds a disassociation from the actual landscape; explorers have tended to see the Arctic as an adversary. Peary and Stefansson left as a troubling legacy the attitude that the landscape could be labeled, then manipulated. Today, he contends, an imaginative, emotional approach to the Arctic is as important as a rational, scientific one. Lopez has written a wonderful, compelling defense of the Arctic wilderness. Illustrations. BOMC main selection. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
The themes of this book are as vast as the landscape it encompasses. Having lived in the Arctic for long periods of time, Lopez authoritatively conveys an enormous breadth and variety of knowledge, including Arctic exploration, geography, weather, animal migration, and behavior. His portraits of animalsmuskox, polar bear, narwhale, and othersreflect a sensitive melding of facts and mystery. The work is suffused with philosophical and lyrical strains. Through the centuries the Arctic landscape has woven a "legacy of desire" in many a mind and heart, shaping imagination and knowledge. For Lopez, how the Arctic is comprehended will determine its fate. Whether its land, peoples, and animals are honored or vitiated will depend upon the working out of this metaphorical analogy between mind and landscape. Highly recommended for most collections. Carol J. Lichtenberg, Washington State Univ. Lib., PullmanCopyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"Jubilant... Barry Lopez lavishes his discoveries into a portfolio of delights."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Wonderfully informed and evocative... Keen observation given shape with language that is deft and vivid."
--Chicago Tribune

"Rich, abundant, vigorously composed."
--The Boston Globe


Review
"Jubilant... Barry Lopez lavishes his discoveries into a portfolio of delights."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Wonderfully informed and evocative... Keen observation given shape with language that is deft and vivid."
--Chicago Tribune

"Rich, abundant, vigorously composed."
--The Boston Globe


Book Description
Barry Lopez's National Book Award-winning classic study of the Far North is widely considered his masterpiece.

Lopez offers a thorough examination of this obscure world-its terrain, its wildlife, its history of Eskimo natives and intrepid explorers who have arrived on their icy shores. But what turns this marvelous work of natural history into a breathtaking study of profound originality is his unique meditation on how the landscape can shape our imagination, desires, and dreams. Its prose as hauntingly pure as the land it describes, Arctic Dreams is nothing less than an indelible classic of modern literature.



From the Inside Flap
Barry Lopez's National Book Award-winning classic study of the Far North is widely considered his masterpiece.

Lopez offers a thorough examination of this obscure world-its terrain, its wildlife, its history of Eskimo natives and intrepid explorers who have arrived on their icy shores. But what turns this marvelous work of natural history into a breathtaking study of profound originality is his unique meditation on how the landscape can shape our imagination, desires, and dreams. Its prose as hauntingly pure as the land it describes, Arctic Dreams is nothing less than an indelible classic of modern literature.


From the Back Cover
"Jubilant... Barry Lopez lavishes his discoveries into a portfolio of delights."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Wonderfully informed and evocative... Keen observation given shape with language that is deft and vivid."
--Chicago Tribune

"Rich, abundant, vigorously composed."
--The Boston Globe


About the Author
Barry Lopez is the author of six works of nonfiction and eight works of fiction. His writing appears regularly in Harper's, The Paris Review, DoubleTake, and The Georgia Review. He is the recipient of a National Book Award, an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and other honors. He lives in western Oregon.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The masterpiece of one of the most widely acclaimed writers working today, Arctic Dreams is an unforgettable study of the Far North, the marvelous and mysterious land of stunted forests and frozen seas, of muskox and narwhal, where sunrise and dusk are seasonal rather than daily phenomena. Lopez offers a thorough examination of this obscure world -- its terrain, its wildlife, and the history of the Eskimo natives and intrepid explorers who have arrived on its icy shores.

What turns this inimitable compendium of biology, anthropology, and history into a breathtaking study of profound originality is Lopez's unique meditation on how the landscape can shape our imagination, desires, and dreams. In prose as hauntingly pure as the land it describes, Arctic Dreams is nothing less than an indelible classic of modern literature.

FROM THE CRITICS

William Fiennes - London Review of Books

...[W]ritten after 'four or five' years of traveling in the Arctic; its cargo of observation and research is colossal....[I]n part a series of dispatches on despoliation, the consequences of 'the sudden arrival of a foreign technology'...where Lopez discovers 'some of the saddest human lives I have ever seen.'

Publishers Weekly

This is one of the finest books ever written about the Far North, warmly appreciative and understanding of the natural forces that shape life in an austere landscape. The prize-winning author (Of Wolves and Men spent four years in Arctic regions: traveling between Davis Strait in the east and Bering Strait in the west, hunting with Eskimos and accompanying archeologists, biologists and geologists in the field. Lopez became enthralled by the power of the Arctic, a power he observes derives from ``the tension between its beauty and its capacity to take life.'' This is a story of light, darkness and ice; of animal migrations and Eskimos; of the specter of development and the cultural perception of a region. Examining the literature of 19th century exploration, Lopez finds a disassociation from the actual landscape; explorers have tended to see the Arctic as an adversary. Peary and Stefansson left as a troubling legacy the attitude that the landscape could be labeled, then manipulated. Today, he contends, an imaginative, emotional approach to the Arctic is as important as a rational, scientific one. Lopez has written a wonderful, compelling defense of the Arctic wilderness. Illustrations. BOMC main selection. (March 11)

Library Journal

The themes of this book are as vast as the landscape it encompasses. Having lived in the Arctic for long periods of time, Lopez authoritatively conveys an enormous breadth and variety of knowledge, including Arctic exploration, geography, weather, animal migration, and behavior. His portraits of animalsmuskox, polar bear, narwhale, and othersreflect a sensitive melding of facts and mystery. The work is suffused with philosophical and lyrical strains. Through the centuries the Arctic landscape has woven a ``legacy of desire'' in many a mind and heart, shaping imagination and knowledge. For Lopez, how the Arctic is comprehended will determine its fate. Whether its land, peoples, and animals are honored or vitiated will depend upon the working out of this metaphorical analogy between mind and landscape. Highly recommended for most collections. Carol J. Lichtenberg, Washington State Univ. Lib., Pullman

William Fiennes - London Review of Books