Well I can't discuss Agee anymore. Love him but let's move on. I am really feeling the Sand County Almanac though. First impressions (before actually opening it)... an almanac really? I always thought almanacs were just dressed-up calendars. Marking off seasons, talking about when to plant your green beans, et cetera. I have to tell you I was blown away. I think the only thing Leopold really got wrong is the title. Probably draws a lot of people away from the book.
Things I really like about the almanac:
1. It's really accessible. The stories are like small anecdotes that can be read separately but fit like a dream when you read them together. (I hate when books don't have chapters... some place to put your bookmark.) A good example of this is the way Leopold weaves Wisconsin's ecological history into the story of the oak struck by lightning. I find history boring at least sixty percent of the time but I basically forgot I was getting the whole run down due to Leopold's masterful dispersal of factual tidbits with meaty prose.
2. I can't decide if it's because we just came off Agee's style or what but I love Leopold's straight-forward-ness. Talk about a guy that knows what I want to read. Killed it. And it's not to say that the writing isn't complex, it is...just more periods, less commas.
3. The chronology. Again... maybe it's Agee. I've had a craving for a point by point timeline ever since stepping on Porch One. I like knowing where I start and (at least some idea/concept) of where I finish.
All in all I dig a Sand County Almanac. I was surprised in a good way.
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