A beautiful, affecting and haunting book, with probably the finest descriptive prose I've ever read. It's non-fiction so there's little more to say beyond the wealth of emotion it evokes in this boy who grew up in the country. Few books will stay with me quite the way this one has, if anyone persuades Macfarlane to write a fantasy novel I'll immediately start throwing money at the publisher for the most beautiful edition possible. I loved immersing myself in MacFarlane's descriptions of the wild places he visited around Britain and Ireland, finding this book even more inspirational that the previous one of his I read, The Old Ways. While I don't think I'm personally up to sleeping out on iced over tarns, I would love to discover for myself some of the places he so eloquently describes. My only real disappointment with this book, which may be more true in the Kindle version I read than for a paper version, is that the text suddenly ends at around 77% to be followed by an extensive bibliography and index. I've now several further titles to search out, but I mistakenly thought I still had hours more MacFarlane reading first!
What do You think about The Wild Places (2007)?
Clear-eyed, lyrical, and evocative nature writing, nature in all of its senses, human and wild.
—JoDreamer
Gorgeous nature writing, with photos at each chapter heading.
—pinklimon
