Status
Available
Collection
Publication
New York : Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1989.
Description
"The Control of Nature" is John McPhee's bestselling account of places where people are locked in combat with nature. Taking us deep into these contested territories, McPhee details the strageties and tactics through which people attempt to control nature. Most striking is his depiction of the main contestants: nature in complex and awesome guises, and those attempting to wrest control from her - stubborn, sometimes foolhardy, more often ingenious, and always arresting characters.
User reviews
LibraryThing member kukulaj
This is the second book of McPhee's that I have read - the first was _The Curve of Binding Energy_. It's pretty clear that McPhee has a formula and sticks to it. The great thing is, the formula really works. Of course he has a consistent style too, and that is part of his well-deserved success. But
My Mom grew up in Los Angeles and would go skiing and camping in the San Gabriel Mountains, back in the 1930s and 1940s. I read the third chapter of _Control_ staying with her, which gave us a lot to talk about. She pulled out her map of Los Angeles, which gave me a visual aid to understand the placement of all the towns McPhee mentions. The general shape of the area was just how I envisioned it from the book, but the order of towns wasn't made clear in the book - not that it really made a difference.
The first chapter, on the Lower Mississippi levees etc., is much the longest of the three. The second chapter is on the pumping of sea water onto a lava flow in Iceland, to save a key fishing harbor.
I love to learn. McPhee makes learning a great joy. What a gift!
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the formula: reading these books, I learn an enormous amount about some facet of the world, and I learn it through a steady stream of factual narrative; a lot of that story is first person, McPhee's investigative trail.My Mom grew up in Los Angeles and would go skiing and camping in the San Gabriel Mountains, back in the 1930s and 1940s. I read the third chapter of _Control_ staying with her, which gave us a lot to talk about. She pulled out her map of Los Angeles, which gave me a visual aid to understand the placement of all the towns McPhee mentions. The general shape of the area was just how I envisioned it from the book, but the order of towns wasn't made clear in the book - not that it really made a difference.
The first chapter, on the Lower Mississippi levees etc., is much the longest of the three. The second chapter is on the pumping of sea water onto a lava flow in Iceland, to save a key fishing harbor.
I love to learn. McPhee makes learning a great joy. What a gift!
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LibraryThing member ABVR
McPhee is one of my favorite authors, and this set of three long essays is one of my very favorite works by him. "Atchafalaya" deals with the monumental efforts of the Army Corps of Engineers to keep the Mississippi River from changing course. "Cooling the Lava" is about a group of Icelanders who
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try to save their town from an oncoming lava flow by the seemingly outlandish scheme of pumping water onto it. "Los Angeles Against the Mountains" looks at the system of debris catch-basins designed to protect Angelenos' homes during landslide season. All three have McPhee's trademark blend of crystal-clear writing, detailed description of (often) very complex things, and portraits of fascinating people. McPhee's underlying theme (the simultaneous nobility and futility of human attempts to control nature) is artfully handled in all three essays. Show Less
LibraryThing member name99
I read this based on frequent recommendation on blogs after Hurricane Katrina.
It's interesting stuff, the discussion of three attempts by humanity to freeze geology into a certain shape:
* the flow of the Mississippi,
* the lava flow of some volcanoes in Iceland, and
* the flow of rocks down from
Unfortunately the book really could have done with tighter editing.
About a third of it is random filler, stuff he noticed while interviewing and walking around the relevant areas. (For example the description of a few days spent with the crew of a crawfish boat in the Louisiana bayou added
absolutely nothing to the description of the Mississippi control.)
Apart from the writing, I found the book ultimately deeply unsatisfying.
The author repeatedly throws his hands in the air and says "Silly people, how can you control nature", but what does he propose as an alternative?
In the first place people have to live somewhere, and there are precious few places to live that don't suffer from some natural disaster or other.
In the second place, the issue is not some sort of perpetual control till the end of time. A better interpretation would be that people are trying, on a case by case basis, to ameliorate the situation and the fact is that, in spite of his carping, they've largely succeeded.
Rather than simply saying that building near the Mississippi is dumb because the river is inevitably going to change its course, I'd prefer a cost-benefit analysis that runs the numbers. Of course there is a risk, and of course controlling the river costs money, but there are also benefits. It's not a priori obvious to me that the risks are so extreme and the benefits so marginal that the project makes no sense.
Finally I should add that I did find the section on rocks flowing into Los Angeles from the mountains very interesting. As someone who lives in the shadows of these mountains but who'd never heard of this before, I was naturally fascinated to learn about this. Any Angeleno should definitely read this essay, even if the other two are ignored.
It's interesting stuff, the discussion of three attempts by humanity to freeze geology into a certain shape:
* the flow of the Mississippi,
* the lava flow of some volcanoes in Iceland, and
* the flow of rocks down from
Show More
the San Gabriel mountains in Los Angeles. Unfortunately the book really could have done with tighter editing.
About a third of it is random filler, stuff he noticed while interviewing and walking around the relevant areas. (For example the description of a few days spent with the crew of a crawfish boat in the Louisiana bayou added
absolutely nothing to the description of the Mississippi control.)
Apart from the writing, I found the book ultimately deeply unsatisfying.
The author repeatedly throws his hands in the air and says "Silly people, how can you control nature", but what does he propose as an alternative?
In the first place people have to live somewhere, and there are precious few places to live that don't suffer from some natural disaster or other.
In the second place, the issue is not some sort of perpetual control till the end of time. A better interpretation would be that people are trying, on a case by case basis, to ameliorate the situation and the fact is that, in spite of his carping, they've largely succeeded.
Rather than simply saying that building near the Mississippi is dumb because the river is inevitably going to change its course, I'd prefer a cost-benefit analysis that runs the numbers. Of course there is a risk, and of course controlling the river costs money, but there are also benefits. It's not a priori obvious to me that the risks are so extreme and the benefits so marginal that the project makes no sense.
Finally I should add that I did find the section on rocks flowing into Los Angeles from the mountains very interesting. As someone who lives in the shadows of these mountains but who'd never heard of this before, I was naturally fascinated to learn about this. Any Angeleno should definitely read this essay, even if the other two are ignored.
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LibraryThing member keywestnan
I like almost all of McPhee's books that I've read but this one is my favorite. It's about human attempts to control nature (duh) in cases like the Mississippi River Delta (even more compelling after Katrina), Iceland and California.
LibraryThing member livingsin
Nothing about environmental protection here....
LibraryThing member nmele
Reading a 20 year old discussion of the lower Mississippi levees and the Atchafalaya flood basin as the crest of this year's flood slowly moved south along the Mississippi gave the first essay in this collection an eerie relevance. McPhee's second essay, about lava flows and eruptions in Iceland
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and Hawaii, also caught my attention, since we live in sight of Mt. Baker, an active volcano. The final essay explores erosion, ecology and Los Angeles. Very interesting reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member amelish
It's incredible the lengths people will go to.
And THAT is pretty much what this book is about.
And THAT is pretty much what this book is about.
LibraryThing member snash
The hubris of mankind is amazing and sometimes they win for a while. The book is a fascinating description of three stand offs, the Mississippi River, an Icelandic volcano, and the San Gabriel Mtns by Los Angeles.
LibraryThing member untraveller
Another John McPhee classic! Simple geological stories exquisitely explained. The Mississippi River, Iceland, Hawaii and lava flows, and finall debris flows from the San Gabriel Mtns. outside Los Angeles. All confronted by man in full hubris mode. Finished the book while in Cusco, Peru....will
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leave it here. Show Less
LibraryThing member eilonwy_anne
This is an excellent and flabbergasting read. The lengths to which mankind will go to thwart nature, and the complacency with which we settle in the shadow of menace, are amazing. These three long essays are thought-provoking, clear and full of great details. Occasionally McPhee states something as
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geologic fact on which consensus has not occurred, but other than that this book could not be improved. Well, I guess I also wish I knew what further developments have occurred at the sites since its publication! Show Less
LibraryThing member caedocyon
This book is AMAZING so far and I am about on page 50. I am so glad he has written another several feet of books that I can start next....
Awards
John Burroughs Medal (Winner — 1990)