The special mystery and beauty of the sea is the setting for Rachel Carson’s memorable portrait of the sea birds and sea creatures that inhabit the eastern coasts of North America. In a sequence of riveting adventures along the shore, within the open sea, and down in the twilight depths, Rachel Carson introduces us to the winds and currents of the ocean as revealed in the lives of Scomber the mackerel and Anguilla the eel. Life for them is a continuous miracle, a series of life-and-death victories played out among strange and often terrifying life forms far below the surface of the sea.
Under the Sea Wind is a classic wilderness adventure to which all nature writing is compared. The hero of Under the Sea Wind is soon seen to be life itself, that quicksilver prize granted, for a brief time only, to the clever and the fortunate.
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"Unbelievably beautiful. Its another of those books which demand to be read out loud. An extraordinary description of the life of rivers and seas. A prose love poem, you might say, to mother nature. If you love being inspired, then read this one."
— Mark (5 out of 5 stars)
“Rachel Carson was one of the reasons why I became so conscious of the environment and so involved with environmental issues….Her picture hangs on my office wall among those of political leaders, presidents, and prime ministers. It has been there for years—and it belongs there. Carson has had as much or more an effect on me than any of them and perhaps all of them together.”
— Al Gore, praise for the author“Sets a high standard for nature writing.”
— BirdNote.org“Carson’s peaceful prose is masterfully read in Hébert’s velvet voice.”
— Booklist“Carson knows the names of species, calls parts of animals by their correct names, and brings behaviors as vividly to life as would a video sequence….Hébert draws listeners into the natural world with accurately produced animal sounds and a clear sense of wonder.”
— Kliatt“Rachel Carson was a wondrous thing that happened to us in the twentieth century…She set a standard for nature writing for all time to come.”
— Roger Caras, wildlife photographer, writer, and television personality" A wonderful way to read about science; Carson makes the lives of birds and sea creatures very accessible in this book. "
— Valerie, 11/17/2011" this is a natural classic; should be read by everyone who loves nature "
— Larry, 12/13/2010" I learned so much from reading this book. I look and listen much more. Beautifully written and inspiring. "
— Michele, 4/17/2010Rachel Carson (1907–1964) was an American marine biologist, conservationist, and author. After pursuing writing full-time, she was awarded the US National Book Award and helped to inspire a reversal of national pesticide policy, leading to the ban of DDT and other pesticides. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Jimmy Carter and is credited with beginning the environmental movement that led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
C. M. Hébert is an Earphones Award winner and Audie Award nominee. She is the recording studio director for the Talking Books Program at the Library of Congress’ National Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her husband, daughter, cat, and assorted fish.