Water and What We Know: Following the Roots of a Northern Life
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.19 (817 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0816696780 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 240 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-02-15 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
What is the effect of place on character? Of our birth landscape on how we see the world? This wonderful, meditative book asks all the right questions.—Will Weaver
How, she asks, does land determine what kind of people grow in that soil? And through it all runs water, carrying a birch bark canoe with a bullet hole and a bloodstain, roaring over the Edmund Fitzgerald, flooding the Red River Valley, carving the glaciated land along with historical memory.As she searches out the stories that water has written upon human consciousness, Babine reveals again and again what their poignancy tells us about our place and what it means to be here.. Consider your place, the place where you feel the most at home: a tree-lined lake, a bean field planted on stolen land, a rig drilling the golden prairie, city streets alive with energy. From the Mississippi’s Headwaters in Itasca State Park—its name from veritas caput, or “true head”—she explores the desire that drives the idea of the North. She takes us from moments of reflection, through the pages of her Minnesota family’s history, t
Constance Stennes said A Beautiful Read. This collection of essays brings us to our roots as Minnesotans, of living in Northern Minnesota and how we are connected in this way of life. I have had the privilege of knowing the author since she was a child and knew many of the 'characters' in this book. Karen observes her surroundings and has the unique ability to put those events into words that evoke the feelings of home, of distant memory, and current happening. She knows who we are.a beautiful read.. A great essay collection! Karen Babine's Water and What We Know is a fantastic collection of essays ranging from the academic to the highly personal memoir, all spun into a thoroughly enjoyable and thought provoking read! Even for those not local to the places described, I highly recommend this book!. As a Minnesotan I thoroughly enjoyed this read As a Minnesotan I thoroughly enjoyed this read, but I could have been from anywhere and still appreciate Babines writing about 'place' and how we spend out lives connected so resolutely to certain places on the earth.