AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
Sept. 2003. 288p. illus. index. National Geographic, $26 (0-7922-5059-1). 508.98.
The grand master of the purposeful and philosophical nature-oriented travelogue, Matthiessen chronicles the attainment of a lifelong dream in his eighteenth work of nonfiction: two voyages to Antarctica. The first time out, Matthiessen and company explore the coast of South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula, where he is enthralled by the grace and fortitude of albatrosses and petrels, stalwart chin-strap penguins, and stoic seals. Contemplation of these amazing creatures leads to ruminations over our species' crimes against them, just as his poetic marveling over the majestic beauty of icebergs and their enshrinement of "bubbles of pure ancient air" and "the last uncontaminated water on the planet's surface" ...