Amy Seidl

[a:Amy Seidl|2055249|Amy Seidl|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s book "Early Spring" is probably best described as a large set of beautifully descriptive vignettes grouped into subjects forming full chapters. The vignettes come together well forming a good blend of literature and science education.

The vignettes are mostly set within the author's Vermont home, neighborhood, and family making them personal and accessible. Through her writing the reader is able to, in part, experience the world, understand her thoughts, and see how climate change is affecting life.… (más)

I liked this book for what it was, but I think it suffered somewhat from being neither memoir nor straight science writing. Some writers are able to effortlessly meld their lives and their science, with Annie Dillard and Gerald Durrell being my own personal gold standards. I found the transitions in Early Spring awkward and forced, and many of the memoir-ish bits had no resolution. Seidl is a keen observer of her environment, an interesting and interested participant in the life of her land, but I just couldn't climb inside this book and feel what she's aiming for me to feel. The fact that it took me more than a month to read is perhaps indicative of my struggle.… (más)

I was rather disappointed with this book and I have to admit it's not really the books fault. It is after all a 'nice' read, competently done but I was expecting more. What was I expecting? "The Natural History of Selbourne", "A Sand County Almanac" done from the perspective of climate change I guess. Someone intimately involved in one area of the country that can record the changes they see in an elegiac manner. There is some local info but the author is not settled in one place long enough to make it intimate.
I should have guessed from the title that the author was using Rachel Carson as a framework but even there the book falls down. The warning's too mild, the book too 'nice'.… (más)