"Dazzling. . . . In glittering prose, Momaday recalls stories passed down through generations, illuminating the earth as a sacrosanct place of wonder and abundance. At once a celebration and a warning, Earth Keeper is an impassioned defense of all that our endangered planet stands to lose." â?? Esquire
A magnificent testament to the earth, from Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet N. Scott Momaday.
One of the most distinguished voices in American letters, N. Scott Momaday has devoted much of his life to celebrating and preserving Native American culture, especially its oral tradition. A member of the Kiowa tribe, Momaday was born in Lawton, Oklahoma and grew up on Navajo, Apache, and Peublo reservations throughout the Southwest. It is a part of the earth he knows well and loves deeply.
In Earth Keeper, he reflects on his native ground and its influence on his people. "When I think about my life and the lives of my ancestors," he writes, "I am inevitably led to the conviction that I, and they, belong to the American land. This is a declaration of belonging. And it is an offering to the earth."
In this wise and wonderous work, Momaday shares stories and memories throughout his life, stories that have been passed down through generations, stories that reveal a profound spiritual connection to the American landscape and reverence for the natural world. He offers an homage and a warning. He shows us that the earth is a sacred place of wonder and beauty, a source of strength and healing that must be honored and protected before it's too late. As he so eloquently and simply reminds us, we must all be keepers of the earth.… (plus d'informations)
i can see why i had such trouble with house made of dawn when i read it ages ago, but found much more to connect with in this one. it helped me that it was small bits and a very short book, and i know that if it were long i probably would have had trouble with this one as well. breaking it up into small tastes like he did, made this much more digestible for me, and enabled me, i think, to better focus on what he wanted me to. his poetic language also worked better generally, for me, in these tiny vignettes, than in long chapters.
the idea here, of protecting the earth, and being someone who chooses to do that, is a powerful one. he writes with such beauty. sometimes it's not a long detailed lecture with all the statistics and information that can be most impactful, but a few sentences of story or of remembrance.
"The grasses glistened with dew, and a bird sang from the dawn. This happened a long time ago. I was not there. My father was there when he was a boy. He told me of it. And I was there."
"We measure time by the flow of water as it passes us by. But in truth it is we who pass through time."
"Will I give my children an inheritance of the earth? Or will I give them less than I was given?"
"At night, he said, we could hear the howls of prairie wolves. They are gone now. I would like to have seen them. Your grandfather told me that they were handsome, with long legs and beautiful yellow eyes, wild and searching. I try to see the wolves in my mind's eye, but I can only imagine them. I wish I could describe them to you. My father's voice had trailed off. Will I tell my grandchildren, I wonder, of animals they will never see?"
"The forests are diminished and waste piles upon us. Thousands of species have been destroyed. Our own is an imminent risk. The earth and its inhabitants are in crisis, and at the center it is a moral crisis. Man stands to repudiate his humanity."
"It is appropriate that we lay our words upon the earth. And so: Great Mystery, you who dwell in the endless beyond, you who spoke the first word and made of your breath the mountains and the waters, the trees and the grasses, the man and the woman and the child, hear me in my small voice. I am your thankful creature. My people and all the birds and animals are your thankful creatures. Hold us! Hold us in your hands, and make us worthy of your blessing. Tell us the old stories of your greatness, that our minds and our hearts may be nourished with wonder and delight. Let us see your likeness in the stars, and let us hear your voice in rolling thunder and in the wind and rain. Be with us forever in the sacred smoke of your being. These are my words, my offering to you, Great Mystery." ( )
Who would know and wonderfully convey the specialness of our Earth, more than a native. A member of the Kiowa tribe, Momaday reflects on the many ways we are connected to all things that inhabit with us, this amazing world. In short vignettes his musings contains thoughts on grasshoppers, horses, dogs, eagles, among others. Their oral tradition in how they first appeared on this earth and other creation stories. A special read.
"All things are taken back by the earth, for all things belong to it. And all things can be container in a story."
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais.Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
Once in his life a man ought to concentrate his mind upon the remembered earth, I believe. He ought to give himself up to a particular landscape in his experience, to look at it from as many angles as he can, to wonder about it, to dwell upon it. He ought to imagine that he touches it with his hands at every season and listens to the sounds that are made upon it. He ought to imagine the creatures there and all the faintest motions of the wind. He ought to recollect the glare of noon and all the colors of the dawn and dusk.
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais.Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
To the remembered earth
Premiers mots
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais.Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
Prologue: Many years ago a young woman came to the American West in a covered wagon.
I am an elder, and I keep the earth.
Citations
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais.Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
The horse is a gift, an offering from the earth. We must live up to the horse; we must be worthy of it. When I see a horse grazing on the skyline it seems a spirit. I think of it ascending to the sun. (p. 17)
They [dogs] have no need of names. We know who they are, and they know who we are. We are in good understanding. They keep the earth. (p. 20)
All things are taken back by the earth, for all things belong to it. And all things can be contained in a story. (p. 21)
The earth is at rest. (p. 28)
Ours is a damaged world. We humans have done the damage, and we must be held to account. We have suffered a poverty of the imagination, a lost of innocence. There was a time when "man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent," this New World, "commensurate to his capacity for wonder." I would strive with all my strength to give that sense of wonder to those who will come after me. (p. 57)
It is in human nature to pray. It is appropriate that we lay our words upon the earth. And so: Great Mystery, you who dwell in the endless beyond, you who spoke the first word and made of your breath the mountains and the waters, the trees and the grasses, the man and the woman and the child, hear me in my small voice. I am your thankful creature. My people and all the birds and animals are your thankful creatures. Holds us! Hold us in your hands, and make us worthy of your blessing. Tell us the old stories of your greatness, that our minds and our hearts may be nourished with wonder and delight. Let us see your likeness in the stars, and let us hear your voice in rolling thunder and in the wind and rain. Be with us forever in the sacred smoke of your being. These are my words, my offering to you, Great Mystery. (p. 63)
Derniers mots
Informations provenant du Partage des connaissances anglais.Modifiez pour passer à votre langue.
"Dazzling. . . . In glittering prose, Momaday recalls stories passed down through generations, illuminating the earth as a sacrosanct place of wonder and abundance. At once a celebration and a warning, Earth Keeper is an impassioned defense of all that our endangered planet stands to lose." â?? Esquire
A magnificent testament to the earth, from Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet N. Scott Momaday.
One of the most distinguished voices in American letters, N. Scott Momaday has devoted much of his life to celebrating and preserving Native American culture, especially its oral tradition. A member of the Kiowa tribe, Momaday was born in Lawton, Oklahoma and grew up on Navajo, Apache, and Peublo reservations throughout the Southwest. It is a part of the earth he knows well and loves deeply.
In Earth Keeper, he reflects on his native ground and its influence on his people. "When I think about my life and the lives of my ancestors," he writes, "I am inevitably led to the conviction that I, and they, belong to the American land. This is a declaration of belonging. And it is an offering to the earth."
In this wise and wonderous work, Momaday shares stories and memories throughout his life, stories that have been passed down through generations, stories that reveal a profound spiritual connection to the American landscape and reverence for the natural world. He offers an homage and a warning. He shows us that the earth is a sacred place of wonder and beauty, a source of strength and healing that must be honored and protected before it's too late. As he so eloquently and simply reminds us, we must all be keepers of the earth.
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the idea here, of protecting the earth, and being someone who chooses to do that, is a powerful one. he writes with such beauty. sometimes it's not a long detailed lecture with all the statistics and information that can be most impactful, but a few sentences of story or of remembrance.
"The grasses glistened with dew, and a bird sang from the dawn. This happened a long time ago. I was not there. My father was there when he was a boy. He told me of it. And I was there."
"We measure time by the flow of water as it passes us by. But in truth it is we who pass through time."
"Will I give my children an inheritance of the earth? Or will I give them less than I was given?"
"At night, he said, we could hear the howls of prairie wolves. They are gone now. I would like to have seen them. Your grandfather told me that they were handsome, with long legs and beautiful yellow eyes, wild and searching. I try to see the wolves in my mind's eye, but I can only imagine them. I wish I could describe them to you. My father's voice had trailed off. Will I tell my grandchildren, I wonder, of animals they will never see?"
"The forests are diminished and waste piles upon us. Thousands of species have been destroyed. Our own is an imminent risk. The earth and its inhabitants are in crisis, and at the center it is a moral crisis. Man stands to repudiate his humanity."
"It is appropriate that we lay our words upon the earth. And so: Great Mystery, you who dwell in the endless beyond, you who spoke the first word and made of your breath the mountains and the waters, the trees and the grasses, the man and the woman and the child, hear me in my small voice. I am your thankful creature. My people and all the birds and animals are your thankful creatures. Hold us! Hold us in your hands, and make us worthy of your blessing. Tell us the old stories of your greatness, that our minds and our hearts may be nourished with wonder and delight. Let us see your likeness in the stars, and let us hear your voice in rolling thunder and in the wind and rain. Be with us forever in the sacred smoke of your being. These are my words, my offering to you, Great Mystery." (