The Land of Little Rain (Classic, Nature, Penguin)

Book Description

Beautiful, poetic study of the Southwestern desert. Fourteen sketches describe plants, animals, mountains, birds, skies, Indians, prospectors, towns, other features in serene, beautifully modulated prose. Desert seen as a place of rare, austere beauty that weaves a lasting spell over its inhabitants. Preface.

Customer Reviews:

Land of Little Rain.......2007-05-10

This book was about the desert and desert people which Austin knows well. Her language is beautiful. I purchased as a gift book for people who love the Southwest and the people.

Overlooked Masterpiece of Nature Writing.......2007-03-23

Mary Austin's work is roughly contemporary with John Muir's, although "The Land of Little Rain" comes after the publication of Muir's best work. It's been said that Mary Austin's work is the finest nature writing between John Muir's and Aldo Leopold's. I dearly love John Muir's writing, but Mary Austin is the better writer. There is a haunting, mystical quality in this book. At times it reads like beautifully stark poetry, like the landscape she describes. For me it reads like music. I read this after visiting Owens Valley, Death Valley and the valleys and mountains between. For me it was an affirmation of what I felt and sensed there. If you let it, the landscape has a way of burning itself into you, and she describes that very well.

Ho Hum.......2006-02-05

Land of Little Interest would be a better title; it looks like even old Cactus Ed didn't read beyond the first chapter. All the references he makes in his introduction are from the beginning of the book, and he seems to ignore the rest of the book, as I wish I had. Boring, unless you want to know about what grows next to irrigating ditches. And I still don't know what the hell a "campoodie" is (a term used over and over), but, who cares?

Makes me want to go to Death Valley.......2005-10-07

It's pretty easy to write a book that makes people want to go somewhere that already looks appealing to them--Manhattan, Yellowstone, other places where tourists flock to--but to write a book that makes one of the most desolate, bleak, inhospitable places on the entire planet seem like somewhere you have to see for yourself as soon as possible...well, that takes some skill.
That's what Mary Austin has done however, in "The Land of Little Rain." This book examines the wildlife, plants, terrain, weather, and people of Death Valley and the surrounding area, and it does so with the eye and the pen of a true poet.
Mary Austin lavishes her words on this area in sparse, measured prose, and distills the essence of this harsh California desert into sentences and paragraphs. She finds a handful of words that perfectly suit this terrain and the life it supports--words like white, slant, tilt, sessile, and winey--and bends and twists these words every way possible to serve her every purpose.
As a result, the land she describes comes across vividly. She writes of how the desert and the wilderness "uncramps our souls," of "the days too hot and white," of slant-winged scavengers," of wandering hopelessly through the desert trodding on vultures' shadows, of "the westering sun," "the late slant light," of "a stream that knows its purpose and reflects the sky," and of the sun dancing up the slope of a mountain.
Her prose is KILLER.
She also tells firsthand accounts of Death Valley's craziest miners, of little towns that could (kind of, sometimes), and of such sad sights as a cougar lamenting the destruction of its lair and family that had been destroyed by a torrential rainstorm, "crying a very human woe." In another such rainstorm she talks of "a bobcat mother mouthing her drowned kittens in the ruined lair built in the wash...."
I highly recommend this book. It's very brief, and is plotless, but the insights and descriptions are invaluable. I've never been to Death Valley, but I'm already planning on going there.
If the book has faults though, it's in some of the generalizations it makes about the area's people (All Spanish people dance and sing every evening? Really?), and in how abruptly it ends. It's a bit like taking a long, beautiful scenic drive and then ending up in a parking lot.
"This is so great, look at that--oh. Oh, we're there."

Intimate & Beautiful Appraisal of Life In a Harsh Land.......2005-04-11

The famous American-West landscape photographer, Ansel Adams and friend of M.H.A., said of The Land of Little Rain: "The sharp beauty of The Land of Little Rain is finely etched in the distinguished prose of Mary Austin. Many books and articles have probed the factual aspects of this amazing land, but no writing to my knowledge conveys so much of the spirit of earth and sky, of plants and people, of storm and the desolation of majestic wastes, of tender, intimate beauty, as does The Land of Little Rain." (Re: "A Note on the Land and on the Photographs", from "The Land of Little Rain"- Houghton-Mifflin Co. 1950).

Indeed, M.H.A. displayed an uncanny sensitivity and understanding of the desert lands in the Owens Valley, California. Death Valley is, indeed, harsh and unforgiving, but to the astute observer who has learned how to live within the limits of sparse resources, it is an unequaled Paradise. She writes so eloquently and poetically of how the desert people and flora/fauna survive. The interaction of desert botany, biology, hydrology, geography, meteorology, and ecology come across vividly and often humorously with such lines as:

"Once at Red Rock, in a year of green pasture (a wet year), which is a bad time for the scavengers, we saw two buzzards, five ravens, and a coyote feeding on the same carrion, and only the coyote seemed ashamed of the company". (chapter 3- "The Scavengers")

M.H.A. studied the land, the flora/fauna, the weather (her "2" basic desert seasons- summer and winter) and she learned from her neighbors the Shoshone and Paiute Indians (she preferred to call the American Indians "Amerinds") , the Mexicans, the white settlers, and many colorful desert loners such as the "Pocket Hunter" (for seeker of pockets of gold)- her name for an old prospector friend. She learned much wisdom and practical knowledge from her Indian friends like "The Basket Maker", Seyavi, whose life story is so eloquently told. The Indians shared with her their survival knowledge of how to find water from signs displayed by plants, how to read the activities of animals for food, how to "know" which plants are medicinal and/or edible and which plants to stay away from:

"Live long enough with an Indian, and he or the wild things will show you a use for everything that grows in these borders". (Chapter- "Shoshone Land")

This beautiful little book finishes with: "Come away, you who are obsessed with your own importance in the scheme of things, and have got nothing you did not sweat for, come away by the brown valleys and full-bosomed hills to the even-breathing days, to the kindliness, earthliness, ease of Pueblo de Las Uvas."

According to Ansel Adam's notes, Las Uvas is Grape Canyon or Creek and is part of the Tejon area south of Bakersfield, Ca.

After reading this fine book, one will come to understand why so many people have referred to M.H.A. as the "Henry David Thoreau
of the American West". Thoreau is the author of the renown classic, "Walden".

There are many different publications of The Land of Little Rain and many have variations from the original format, ie., different introductions, preface, illustrations, etc. The text is all that really matters, of course, but I have checked-out a few of the different copies from regional libraries so I could copy the intros by such notables as "Cactus Ed" (Edward Abbey- "The Monkey Wrench Gang", et al.). Abbey's Forward is in the 1988 Penguin Books edition. My copy is a reproduction of the original 1903 edition complete with line drawings by E. Boyd Smith who knew M.H.A. and the regions she wrote about.

Ansel Adams teamed-up with Houghton-Mifflin Co. in 1950 to give tribute to this outstanding classic by publishing a version her book with 48 of his photos taken in the Owens Valley, California region where the book was written and M.H.A. lived for sometime.

In describing the various areas and geographical locations in her book, M.H.A. cloaked many of the popular modern regional names with original Indian or old nicknames known only to a few to protect the privacy of those she wrote about. Adams and the editors used several resources to decipher the pseudonyms so he could match them to his photographs with the current regional names for accurate descriptions. They published an interesting glossary of all the names that could be deciphered in this 1950 edition.

More information including photographs of M.H.A. and her life can be seen at the Owens Valley Historical Society website:
www.owensvalleyhistory.com/mary_austin/page49.html

The Land of Little Rain (Modern Library Classics)

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The Land of Little Rain (Modern Library Classics)
Mary Austin
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Desert Solitaire

ASIN: 0812968522
Release Date: 2003-07-08

Book Description

“Between the high Sierras south from Yosemite—east and south over a very great assemblage of broken ranges beyond Death Valley, and on illimitably into the Mojave Desert” is the territory that Mary Austin calls the Land of Little Rain. In this classic collection of meditations on the wonders of this region, Austin generously shares “such news of the land, of its trails and what is astir in them, as one lover of it can give to another.” Her vivid writings capture the landscape—from burnt hills to sun-baked mesas—as well as the rich variety of plant and animal life, and the few human beings who inhabit the land, including cattlemen, miners, and Paiute Indians. This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the original 1903 edition.

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The Land Of Little Rain
Mary Hunter Austin
Manufacturer: Echo Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1406806781

Book Description

An account of life and geography in the desert areas that lie 'between the high Sierras south from Yosemite'

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The Land of Little Rain
Mary Hunter Austin
Manufacturer: Dodo Press
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1406500917

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The Land Of Little Rain
Mary Hunter Austin
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1419168541

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Whatever goes up or comes down the streets of the mountains, water has the right of way; it takes the lowest ground and the shortest passage. Where the rifts are narrow, and some of the Sierra canons are not a stone's throw from wall to wall, the best trail for foot or horse winds considerably above the watercourses; but in a country of cone-bearers there is usually a good strip of swardy sod along the canon floor.

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The Land Of Little Rain
Mary Hunter Austin
Manufacturer: 1st World Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1595406794

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The Land of Little Rain
Mary Austin
Manufacturer: A Zia Book/ University of New Mexico Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NPPLL0

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The Land of Little Rain
Mary Hunter Austin
Manufacturer: IndyPublish.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 140431282X

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Intimate & Beautiful Appraisal of Life In a Harsh Land

The Land of Little Rain

Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000CMI5K8

Customer Reviews:

Intimate & Beautiful Appraisal of Life In a Harsh Land.......2006-11-10

The famous American-West landscape photographer, Ansel Adams and friend of M.H.A., said of The Land of Little Rain: "The sharp beauty of The Land of Little Rain is finely etched in the distinguished prose of Mary Austin. Many books and articles have probed the factual aspects of this amazing land, but no writing to my knowledge conveys so much of the spirit of earth and sky, of plants and people, of storm and the desolation of majestic wastes, of tender, intimate beauty, as does The Land of Little Rain." (Re: "A Note on the Land and on the Photographs", from "The Land of Little Rain"- Houghton-Mifflin Co. 1950).

Indeed, M.H.A. displayed an uncanny sensitivity and understanding of the desert lands in the Owens Valley, California. Death Valley is, indeed, harsh and unforgiving, but to the astute observer who has learned how to live within the limits of sparse resources, it is an unequaled Paradise. She writes so eloquently and poetically of how the desert people and flora/fauna survive. The interaction of desert botany, biology, hydrology, geography, meteorology, and ecology come across vividly and often humorously with such lines as:

"Once at Red Rock, in a year of green pasture [a wet year], which is a bad time for the scavengers, we saw two buzzards, five ravens, and a coyote feeding on the same carrion, and only the coyote seemed ashamed of the company". (chapter- "The Scavengers")

M.H.A. studied the land, the flora/fauna, the weather (her "2" basic desert seasons- summer and winter) and she learned from her neighbors the Shoshone and Paiute Indians (she preferred to call the American Indians "Amerinds") , the Mexicans, the white settlers, and many colorful desert loners such as the "Pocket Hunter" (for seeker of pockets of gold)- her name for an old prospector friend. She learned much wisdom and practical knowledge from her Indian friends like "The Basket Maker", Seyavi, whose life story is so eloquently told. The Indians shared with her their survival knowledge of how to find water from signs displayed by plants, how to read the activities of animals for food, how to "know" which plants are medicinal and/or edible and which plants to stay away from:

"Live long enough with an Indian, and he or the wild things will show you a use for everything that grows in these borders". (Chapter- "Shoshone Land")

This beautiful little book finishes with: "Come away, you who are obsessed with your own importance in the scheme of things, and have got nothing you did not sweat for, come away by the brown valleys and full-bosomed hills to the even-breathing days, to the kindliness, earthliness, ease of Pueblo de Las Uvas."

After reading this fine book, one will come to understand why so many people have referred to M.H.A. as the "Henry David Thoreau of the American West" ("Walden").

There are many different publications of The Land of Little Rain and many have variations from the original format, ie., different introductions, preface, illustrations, etc. The text is all that really matters, of course, but I have checked-out a few of the different copies from regional libraries so I could copy the intros by such notables as "Cactus Ed" (Edward Abbey- "The Monkey Wrench Gang", et al.). Abbey's Forward is in the 1988 Penguin Books edition. My copies are a reproduction of the original 1903 edition complete with line drawings by E. Boyd Smith who knew M.H.A. and the regions she wrote about and this 1950 Ansel Adams edition.

Ansel Adams teamed-up with Houghton-Mifflin Co. in 1950 to give tribute to this outstanding classic by M.H.A. by publishing a version her book with 48 of his photos taken in the Owens Valley, California region where the book was written and M.H.A. lived for sometime.

In describing the various areas and geographical locations in her book, M.H.A. cloaked many of the popular modern regional names with original Indian or old nicknames known only to a few to protect the privacy of those she wrote about. Adams and the editors used several resources to decipher the pseudonyms so he could match them to his photographs with the current regional names for accurate descriptions. They published an interesting glossary of all the names that could be deciphered in this 1950 edition.

More information including photographs of M.H.A. and her life can be seen at the Owens Valley Historical Society website (google it)

Average customer rating:

The Land of Little Rain
Mary Austin
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OVFUMI

Book Description

This lovely land of hills, moors and beaches is bounded by the Atlantic coast and the Solway. Steeped in history and legend, still unspoiled, it is a land whose peace and grandeur are at least comparable to the Highlands -- and yet it is hardly known. Legends, history and loving description by a local author make this an essential book for all who visit or live in the country of Robert Burns.

Average customer rating:

Falls short in terms of romance. Vapid History Lesson throughout.
It's ok, but I wouldn't recommend it
I LOVED IT!!!
Nothing Can Compare...
predictable

A Year and a Day
Virginia Henley
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385318170
Release Date: 1998-02-09

Amazon.com

Set in Scotland during the time of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, A Year and Day features Englishman Lynx de Warenne and Celtic heroine Jane Leslie. Lynx is a powerful yet cynical knight who is delighted to lay claim to Scotland's Dumfries Castle as commanded by the king. In Dumfries, Lynx enjoys his steward, Jock Leslie, and Leslie's enormous family of 10 children and 31 grandchildren. Lynx, at age 30, is desperate for an heir and proposes that he marry the youngest Leslie daughter, despite that she is a commoner and has no interest in marriage. Lynx believes that the Leslies are so fertile that he is willing to marry beneath himself just for the sake of a child. Jane Leslie, a proud Celtic healer, is a sensitive creature who communes with wild animals and paints lodestones. Although Jane has strong wishes to the contrary, the two engage in a handfast: they will be together as husband and wife for a year and day; after that time, they will be able to choose whether to stay together. The love affair that ensues is tempestuous and passionate and pure Virginia Henley!

Book Description

From New York Times bestselling author Virginia Henley, whose romantic novels have enchanted readers worldwide, comes her most tempestuous and emotional love story to date, the tale of an innocent Scottish maiden and a battle-scarred English baron who is desperate to have a child.

As Edward Plantagenet's armies invade Scotland, Lynx de Warenne, one of the king's most prized warriors, is ordered to secure the royal castle at Dumfries in the crucial borderlands. There he encounters Jock Leslie, the castle's steward, a man with ten children and thirty-one grandchildren, who might have the means of fulfilling Lynx's greatest desire.

A thirty-year-old childless widower, Lynx wants more than anything a child who will brighten his life, carry on the de Warenne name, and maintain the family's landholdings. Yet he is a man who is afraid to love and is haunted by the possibility that he is unable to sire a child. When Jock learns of Lynx's desire to become a father, he suggests a handfasting, a Scottish custom whereby a man and a woman can lawfully sleep together for a year and a day, at the end of which time the couple decides either to wed or to part. If the union produces a child, the child is deemed legitimate even if no marriage takes place.

When Jock offers Lynx his youngest, most strong-willed daughter, Jane, so desperate is Lynx to mate with a member of the fertile family that he engages Jane in a handfasting--no matter that she is a commoner, no matter that she is terrified of him and attempts to make herself unattractive to him in the extreme, no matter that she is completely inexperienced with men.
With incomparable erotic tension, humor, and narrative verve, Virginia Henley brings together these two unlikely romantic partners in an unforgettable story about the power of love and family.

Customer Reviews:

Falls short in terms of romance. Vapid History Lesson throughout........2007-09-23

Sorry, but I can't believe all the gushing about this lackluster romance. I personally enjoy a well written historical piece with actual people, places, and events woven in, however, this author does not do a good job of making 'history come alive' through this couple. She drones on and on like a poorly written textbook, paragraph after paragraph listing names, dates and places. Where is the connection? I think she was trying to show off either her interest or knowledge of the time period, but it wasn't done in an interesting way. If you want to learn a little history while immersed in a good romance, try Danielle Steele.

Let's get to the bones of this book, though. Aside from her vapid recount of history during the reign of Edward Plantagenet, the couple in this book (already forgot their names and it's only been a few days) leave something to be desired. The first 120 pages of the book, they interact for about three pages total. The other 117 pages is about the Scottish/English war. When we finally get into the Hero/Heroine, the chemistry wasn't strong enough, nor the romantic tension. The plot was lacking, incomplete character development, stilted dialogue, etc. etc. Overall, a very BLAH novel. Don't waste your time. This is the first and last book, I'll read by this particular author. BLECH.

It's ok, but I wouldn't recommend it.......2007-03-10

I found myself wishing the story would move along a little faster. The conversations among warlords and details of war movements were dull. . I didn't like that Lynx was so selfish sexually during his first two nights with her. Lynx didn't trust women. He thought they were deceitful. Jane became that way too. I didn't like that she was purposely playing hard to get with Lynx. It worked to create more lust, but that is not the kind of story I like to read. Lynx's former mistress and sister were also game playing and/or deceitful. On the positive side, two scenes come to mind that surprised me, one was with the lynx animal at the beginning. The other was the nourishment she gave to Lynx during his healing. Other than those, nothing else surprised or delighted me. I didn't laugh at anything. I was annoyed at a few things. I didn't respect, like or admire the main characters enough.

I LOVED IT!!!.......2004-10-06

THIS IS A REAL TEAR JERKER. IT FELT LIKE YOU WERE RIGHT THERE AND OH LA LA ROBERT THE BRUCE.....

Nothing Can Compare..........2004-09-02

5 stars was as high as I could rate, unfortunate because this is the (for lack of a better word) BEST book I've ever read. And I've read alot. This was my first Henley book - and where the love affair began. I read A Year and A Day and didn't stop until I had read everything she had ever written. I cannot praise it high enough. Her talent is Beyond compare. Everything about this book screams love, romace, trust, compassion. One page I was crying like a child and the next had me fanning my face from the heat. I felt as if I were there, and here is when you know you are reading from the best. I felt thier passion in the pit of my stomach and their pain stung the back of my eyes and heart. This is a read that you will never forget you've read and never forgive yourself if you don't.

predictable.......2003-04-18

sorry, ms. henley but i did'nt really enjoyed this story very much. the story mostly revolves on getting an heir and nothing much, especially romance. you can almost predict the story right from the begining. the only interesting part are around the bruce's era which is quite good to read. hope in future you can write more interesting story. addios......

Bog-myrtle and peat;: Being tales, chiefly of Galloway, gathered from the years MDCCCLXXXIX-MDCCCXCV (Short story index reprint series)

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Bog-myrtle and peat;: Being tales, chiefly of Galloway, gathered from the years MDCCCLXXXIX-MDCCCXCV (Short story index reprint series)
S. R Crockett
Manufacturer: Books for Libraries Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 083694206X

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Burns Country (Official Tourist Map)
Estate Publications (Firm)
Manufacturer: Estate Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Map

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Burns Lore of Dumfries & Galloway
M. MacKay
Manufacturer: Hyperion Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0907526365

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Further adventures of the Gorbals Die-Hards

Castle Gay (Pocket Classics)
John Buchan
Manufacturer: Alan Sutton Publishing,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0750904836

Customer Reviews:

Further adventures of the Gorbals Die-Hards.......2006-07-07

The sequel to Huntingtower features the lovable Scottish grocer Dickson McCunn together with the now all-grown-up Gorbals Die-Hards--or some of 'em anyway. A newspaper magnate is kidnapped...by young divinity students, for a joke. Yes, you heard that right. The disappearence causes quite a splash in international circles, however, and when Die-Hards Dougal and Jaikie come across the magnate at a lonely farmhouse and agree to carry a message for him, Stuff Happens. Not the usual kind of thing one might expect from a book about conspiracies, revolutions, and the fast world of journalism, but enough to keep the pages turning.

Chinese Spare Ribs: Young Poets of Dumfries and Galloway

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Chinese Spare Ribs: Young Poets of Dumfries and Galloway
Douglas Lipton
Manufacturer: Dumfries and Galloway Libraries, Information and Archives
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0946280355

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Dumfries & Galloway's Smuggling Story
Frances Wilkins
Manufacturer: Wyre Forest Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Dumfries and Galloway
Patricia Dingwall
Manufacturer: Discovery Group of Publishing & Marketing Companies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 086309063X

Dumfries and Galloway (Exploring Scotland's Heritage)

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Dumfries and Galloway (Exploring Scotland's Heritage)
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland
Manufacturer: Stationery Office Books
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Binding: Paperback

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