Call number
BIO BAI
Collection
Publication
Algonquin Books (2016), Edition: Reprint, 208 pages
Description
In a work that beautifully demonstrates the rewards of closely observing nature, Elisabeth Tova Bailey shares an inspiring and intimate story of her encounter with a Neohelix albolabris--a common woodland snail. While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence on her nightstand. As a result, she discovers the solace and sense of wonder that this mysterious creature brings and comes to a greater understanding of her own place in the world. Intrigued by the snail's molluscan anatomy, cryptic defenses, clear decision making, hydraulic locomotion, and courtship activities, Bailey becomes an astute and amused observer, offering a candid and engaging look into the curious life of this underappreciated small animal. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating is a remarkable journey of survival and resilience, showing us how a small part of the natural world can illuminate our own human existence, while providing an appreciation of what it means to be fully alive.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member BlackSheepDances
"...the snail had emerged from its shell into the alien territory of my room, with no clue as to where it was or how it had arrived; the lack of vegetation and the desertlike surroundings must have seemed strange. The snail and I were both living in altered landscapes not of our choosing; I figured
Elisabeth Tova Bailey was in her mid-thirties when struck with a mysterious illness that soon led to her complete incapacitation. Without knowing the cause, much less the cure or the course that it might take, the disease was a frightening visitor. One day, a friend stops by with a rather odd gift. A snail, from out in the yard. First placed in a flower pot and eventually a terrarium, the snail becomes Bailey's constant companion. Because of her lack of mobility and energy, much of her time was spent observing the creature.
You might think this would be dull, or worse, that you'd be stuck listening to someone bleakly describing their every physical complaint. Not so. This book has very little to do with health issues and far more to do with curiosity and resilience. Bailey is not a complainer, actual details of her health are few and without self-pity. She doesn't simply give up either, she makes clear she wants to fight this unknown assailant on her life. That she does so with the help of a small snail is astounding.
The first surprise is that snails have a daily routine. They have certain times to eat and sleep and travel. They often return to the same place to sleep, and they sleep on their side. (!!!) As she watches the daily activities of the snail, she manages to study research on snails in general and in detail. Turns out snail research is pretty deep...volumes have been written on every tiny detail. As in: snails have teeth, 2200+ of them! Seriously, if they were bigger you'd think twice about stepping on one. They also have a special talent for when the going gets tough in their little world: they start a process called estivation. It's not hibernation (they do that too!) but instead it allows them to become dormant when the weather goes bad, or they lose their preferred food source, etc. Some snails have been known to estivate more than a few years. The process of sealing off their little shell is fascinating, and a study in insulation.
Then there's the romance. Researchers have studied that too, and I won't go into too much detail, but let's just say lady snails are not complaining about romance in their life! Male snails really knock themselves out on the charm aspect. So much of the research that is out there is fascinating, and Bailey sorts through it and shares the most interesting details. This isn't just a science project for her, she sees parallels in her condition as well as the snail's. Illness took her out of her social circle, and her life seemed slow and inconsequential. And snails usually are a typical example of slow and inconsequential living:
"Everything about a snail is cryptic, and it was precisely this air of mystery that first captured my interest. y own life, I realized, was becoming just as cryptic. From the severe onset of my illness and through its innumerable relapses, my place in the world has been documented more by my absence than by my presence. While close friends understood my situation, those who didn't know me well found my disappearance from work and social circles inexplicable.
...it wasn't that I had truly vanished; I was simply homebound, like a snail pulled into its shell. But being homebound in the human world is a sort of vanishing."
What makes this memoir unique, besides her indomitable spirit, is that she doesn't push any sort of religious or spiritual agenda for her positive outlook. There is no implied message, which is often a feature of such an inspiring book. Her facts are based on solid research, and she doesn't waste words; her prose is clear and precise. Additionally, and this may be trivial, but the book is exceptionally beautiful: little snail insignias, and designs, poetic quotes, and the actual fonts and design layout make it lovely.
One word of warning. Some inspirational "illness" stories often end up being the 'go to' gift choice for a sick friend. I know of one gentleman, who, when diagnosed with a serious illness, received eight copies of Tuesdays with Morrie from well-meaning friends. This is not that kind of book. It would be a far better gift for a Type-A personality that needs to slow down in their hectic life, or a book just to savor for yourself. It actually might make a great gift for a young person interested in science (the "romance" portions are tame). In any case, this book made me want to reconsider how much of my hectic life could be slowed down to enjoy the smaller but ultimately relevant details in the natural world around me.
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we shared a sense of loss and displacement."Elisabeth Tova Bailey was in her mid-thirties when struck with a mysterious illness that soon led to her complete incapacitation. Without knowing the cause, much less the cure or the course that it might take, the disease was a frightening visitor. One day, a friend stops by with a rather odd gift. A snail, from out in the yard. First placed in a flower pot and eventually a terrarium, the snail becomes Bailey's constant companion. Because of her lack of mobility and energy, much of her time was spent observing the creature.
You might think this would be dull, or worse, that you'd be stuck listening to someone bleakly describing their every physical complaint. Not so. This book has very little to do with health issues and far more to do with curiosity and resilience. Bailey is not a complainer, actual details of her health are few and without self-pity. She doesn't simply give up either, she makes clear she wants to fight this unknown assailant on her life. That she does so with the help of a small snail is astounding.
The first surprise is that snails have a daily routine. They have certain times to eat and sleep and travel. They often return to the same place to sleep, and they sleep on their side. (!!!) As she watches the daily activities of the snail, she manages to study research on snails in general and in detail. Turns out snail research is pretty deep...volumes have been written on every tiny detail. As in: snails have teeth, 2200+ of them! Seriously, if they were bigger you'd think twice about stepping on one. They also have a special talent for when the going gets tough in their little world: they start a process called estivation. It's not hibernation (they do that too!) but instead it allows them to become dormant when the weather goes bad, or they lose their preferred food source, etc. Some snails have been known to estivate more than a few years. The process of sealing off their little shell is fascinating, and a study in insulation.
Then there's the romance. Researchers have studied that too, and I won't go into too much detail, but let's just say lady snails are not complaining about romance in their life! Male snails really knock themselves out on the charm aspect. So much of the research that is out there is fascinating, and Bailey sorts through it and shares the most interesting details. This isn't just a science project for her, she sees parallels in her condition as well as the snail's. Illness took her out of her social circle, and her life seemed slow and inconsequential. And snails usually are a typical example of slow and inconsequential living:
"Everything about a snail is cryptic, and it was precisely this air of mystery that first captured my interest. y own life, I realized, was becoming just as cryptic. From the severe onset of my illness and through its innumerable relapses, my place in the world has been documented more by my absence than by my presence. While close friends understood my situation, those who didn't know me well found my disappearance from work and social circles inexplicable.
...it wasn't that I had truly vanished; I was simply homebound, like a snail pulled into its shell. But being homebound in the human world is a sort of vanishing."
What makes this memoir unique, besides her indomitable spirit, is that she doesn't push any sort of religious or spiritual agenda for her positive outlook. There is no implied message, which is often a feature of such an inspiring book. Her facts are based on solid research, and she doesn't waste words; her prose is clear and precise. Additionally, and this may be trivial, but the book is exceptionally beautiful: little snail insignias, and designs, poetic quotes, and the actual fonts and design layout make it lovely.
One word of warning. Some inspirational "illness" stories often end up being the 'go to' gift choice for a sick friend. I know of one gentleman, who, when diagnosed with a serious illness, received eight copies of Tuesdays with Morrie from well-meaning friends. This is not that kind of book. It would be a far better gift for a Type-A personality that needs to slow down in their hectic life, or a book just to savor for yourself. It actually might make a great gift for a young person interested in science (the "romance" portions are tame). In any case, this book made me want to reconsider how much of my hectic life could be slowed down to enjoy the smaller but ultimately relevant details in the natural world around me.
Show Less
LibraryThing member brenzi
The author of this very short memoir contracts an autoimmune disease while in Europe on assignment. The severity of it leaves her bedridden for years and sometime during the early stages of the disease a friend brings her a potted violet plant to which a common garden snail (Neohelix albolabris)
I cannot do justice to the prosaic nature of this scientific account other than to say that I was charmed from beginning to end. There is no whining over the fact that she contracted a devastating illness, actually very little information about the illness at all until the last couple of pages of the book. Its discourse is predominantly about the way the snail conducts its life and how we might emulate some of its characteristics. The book is absolutely loaded with quotable passages, framed around the life of the snail. Since the author could barely move in her bed, she had plenty of opportunity to study the snail (which she chose not to name) and its habits. What she learned from the snail could, well, fill a book.
”It was in Tony Cook’s chapter in ‘The Biology of Terrestrial Molluscs,’ titled ‘Behavioural Ecology,’ that I found the sentence that best expresses a snail’s way of life: ‘The right thing to do is to do nothing, the place to do it is in a place of concealment and the time to do it is as often as possible.’”
”Given the ease with which health infuses life with meaning and purpose, it is shocking how swiftly illness steals away those certainties…Time unused and only endured still vanishes, as if time itself is starving, and each day is swallowed whole, leaving no crumbs, no memory, no trace at all.”
Beautifully written, full of insight and thoughtful contemplation on what a quiet solitary life can mean I found this memoir to be poignant and charming. Highly recommended
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has attached itself. Slowly the snail emerges from the shell and the author begins to examine how it carries on its daily activity. She has compiled her journal entries from this time of her life into this brief memoir. I cannot do justice to the prosaic nature of this scientific account other than to say that I was charmed from beginning to end. There is no whining over the fact that she contracted a devastating illness, actually very little information about the illness at all until the last couple of pages of the book. Its discourse is predominantly about the way the snail conducts its life and how we might emulate some of its characteristics. The book is absolutely loaded with quotable passages, framed around the life of the snail. Since the author could barely move in her bed, she had plenty of opportunity to study the snail (which she chose not to name) and its habits. What she learned from the snail could, well, fill a book.
”It was in Tony Cook’s chapter in ‘The Biology of Terrestrial Molluscs,’ titled ‘Behavioural Ecology,’ that I found the sentence that best expresses a snail’s way of life: ‘The right thing to do is to do nothing, the place to do it is in a place of concealment and the time to do it is as often as possible.’”
”Given the ease with which health infuses life with meaning and purpose, it is shocking how swiftly illness steals away those certainties…Time unused and only endured still vanishes, as if time itself is starving, and each day is swallowed whole, leaving no crumbs, no memory, no trace at all.”
Beautifully written, full of insight and thoughtful contemplation on what a quiet solitary life can mean I found this memoir to be poignant and charming. Highly recommended
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LibraryThing member tututhefirst
Every once in awhile, a book comes along that is so profound in every aspect, that shouting about it seems obscene. Such a tome is THE SOUND of a WILD SNAIL EATING. It has been sitting on my NOOK for almost a year, and when a fellow 75er wrote glowingly about it last week, I went to take another
I figured I'd read a few pages to see if it was worth moving it up in the TBR queue. I started reading it in bed the other night (I hardly ever read in bed), and turned out the light 2 hours later, having finished one of the most beautiful stories I'd read in a long time.
The story is not complicated, but since it deals with life and all it's ups and downs, the simplicity of the story is deceiving. The author, a vibrant outdoorsy young woman is stricken with a disastrous microbacterial disease while visiting Europe. She manages to return home just before becoming almost completely parazlyzed, and spends the next several years in varying degrees of immobilized existence. She can't stand for longer than a few seconds, she has periods where she can't move a muscle, not because she's in pain, but because her neurological system is totally out of whack. She is completely dependent on others for her daily needs.
While she is housebound in a very sterile white room, where she cannot even see out a window, a friend brings her a potted wood violet, dug from her own yard, and with it, a common land snail to live in this tiny ecosystem on the table near her bed.
Day after day, as she watches the snail slowly make its way through life, at about the same pace she seems to be living, she becomes fascinated with everything about the snail. She sends for books about snails and immerses herself in how it moves, how it eats, when it sleeps, how it procreates (snails are hermaphrodites). There's a lot of science packed into the 125 pages, but she manages to present it in a layman's prose that makes it not only understandable, but elegant. In addition, Bailey starts each short chapter with a quote about time and/or snails. For example, "The velocity of the ill however, is like that of the snail."....Emily Dickson. After all, watching and listening to snails is an exercise of time. Bailey says....
Then absorbed in snail watching, I'd find that time had flown by unnoticed....The mountain of things I felt I needed to do reached the moon, yet there was little I could do about anything, and time continued to drag me along its path. We are all hostages of time. We each have the same number of minutes and hours to live within a day, yet to me it didn't feel equally doled out. My illness brought me such an abundance of time, that time was nearly all I had...it was perplexing how in losing health I had gained something so coveted but to so little purpose. p. 31.
Watching the snail gives her courage. Learning about the snail's biology gives her insight into her own humanity. The story gives us all a chance to step back, and like the snail, smell the world around us, take things one small slimey step at a time, and offer thanks for the wonders of what we are given.
A solid sweet beautiful book. It will be one to return to periodically, a lovely gift for a shut in (perhaps with a snail garden attached!) or an able bodied person who would relish an excuse to stop the world for just a short time. I'm so glad I received that nudge to go dig it from the Nook shelves. It certainly makes me wonder what other gems are buried in those piles, both physical and electronic.
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look.I figured I'd read a few pages to see if it was worth moving it up in the TBR queue. I started reading it in bed the other night (I hardly ever read in bed), and turned out the light 2 hours later, having finished one of the most beautiful stories I'd read in a long time.
The story is not complicated, but since it deals with life and all it's ups and downs, the simplicity of the story is deceiving. The author, a vibrant outdoorsy young woman is stricken with a disastrous microbacterial disease while visiting Europe. She manages to return home just before becoming almost completely parazlyzed, and spends the next several years in varying degrees of immobilized existence. She can't stand for longer than a few seconds, she has periods where she can't move a muscle, not because she's in pain, but because her neurological system is totally out of whack. She is completely dependent on others for her daily needs.
While she is housebound in a very sterile white room, where she cannot even see out a window, a friend brings her a potted wood violet, dug from her own yard, and with it, a common land snail to live in this tiny ecosystem on the table near her bed.
Day after day, as she watches the snail slowly make its way through life, at about the same pace she seems to be living, she becomes fascinated with everything about the snail. She sends for books about snails and immerses herself in how it moves, how it eats, when it sleeps, how it procreates (snails are hermaphrodites). There's a lot of science packed into the 125 pages, but she manages to present it in a layman's prose that makes it not only understandable, but elegant. In addition, Bailey starts each short chapter with a quote about time and/or snails. For example, "The velocity of the ill however, is like that of the snail."....Emily Dickson. After all, watching and listening to snails is an exercise of time. Bailey says....
Then absorbed in snail watching, I'd find that time had flown by unnoticed....The mountain of things I felt I needed to do reached the moon, yet there was little I could do about anything, and time continued to drag me along its path. We are all hostages of time. We each have the same number of minutes and hours to live within a day, yet to me it didn't feel equally doled out. My illness brought me such an abundance of time, that time was nearly all I had...it was perplexing how in losing health I had gained something so coveted but to so little purpose. p. 31.
Watching the snail gives her courage. Learning about the snail's biology gives her insight into her own humanity. The story gives us all a chance to step back, and like the snail, smell the world around us, take things one small slimey step at a time, and offer thanks for the wonders of what we are given.
A solid sweet beautiful book. It will be one to return to periodically, a lovely gift for a shut in (perhaps with a snail garden attached!) or an able bodied person who would relish an excuse to stop the world for just a short time. I'm so glad I received that nudge to go dig it from the Nook shelves. It certainly makes me wonder what other gems are buried in those piles, both physical and electronic.
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LibraryThing member shawjonathan
Elisabeth Tova Bailey was laid low by a mystery virus for years, so debilitated that it was a major undertaking to leave her bed, and even to sit up or turn over was a big deal. She couldn’t play with her dog, and even the most welcome of visitors left her feeling exhausted. While she was in this
The story is beautifully told. As the relationship with the snail develops, we follow the illness’s progress, share the writer’s reflections on her subjective experience of time, are treated to snail-related gleanings from literary greats and not-so-greats (Oliver Goldsmith, Kobayashi Issa, Elizabeth Bishop, Rainer Maria Rilke, Patricia Cornwall – the list goes on), and learn fascinating information about the anatomy, habits, defences and mating behaviour of snails, some observed directly by Ms Bailey and much garnered from the reference books that took up a lot of her bed time.
The book is charming, but it’s also much more. What emerges is a profound sense of respect for living things and for the connectedness between them. The chapter epigraphs include a number of marvellous haiku. There’s something haiku-like about the book as a whole: where the tiny poems capture a moment, this book, really an extended personal essay, captures a much more substantial swathe of time, but because of the mental state induced by the author’s illness it has a haiku-ish sense of quiet discovery.
It’s generally done without straining for effect, without heavily emotive language or – I realised about half way through – any whiff of religiosity. Richard Dawkins would be delighted. I was.
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state of enforced passivity, a friend brought her a gift of a tiny snail she had found in the woods. The author initially responded unenthusiastically, but as time passed she found that the snail provided not only a distraction during her long stretches of solitude, but also a deeply comforting companionship.The story is beautifully told. As the relationship with the snail develops, we follow the illness’s progress, share the writer’s reflections on her subjective experience of time, are treated to snail-related gleanings from literary greats and not-so-greats (Oliver Goldsmith, Kobayashi Issa, Elizabeth Bishop, Rainer Maria Rilke, Patricia Cornwall – the list goes on), and learn fascinating information about the anatomy, habits, defences and mating behaviour of snails, some observed directly by Ms Bailey and much garnered from the reference books that took up a lot of her bed time.
The book is charming, but it’s also much more. What emerges is a profound sense of respect for living things and for the connectedness between them. The chapter epigraphs include a number of marvellous haiku. There’s something haiku-like about the book as a whole: where the tiny poems capture a moment, this book, really an extended personal essay, captures a much more substantial swathe of time, but because of the mental state induced by the author’s illness it has a haiku-ish sense of quiet discovery.
It’s generally done without straining for effect, without heavily emotive language or – I realised about half way through – any whiff of religiosity. Richard Dawkins would be delighted. I was.
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LibraryThing member wandering_star
This slim but charming volume really is about snails, which turn out to be remarkably interesting beasties. (I used to loathe them until one day I saw one sitting on top of my compost bin, chomping happily on a fresh leaf. It was impossible to dislike the creatures after seeing one enjoying its
Elisabeth Tova Bailey spent several years suffering from a severe illness which left her unable to sit up, read, or even listen to any music more polyphonic than Gregorian chant. One of her visitors, one day, brings her a pot of violets with a small snail in it, and she becomes fascinated by watching the snail going about its business. After her recovery she followed up the fascination with some research, which produced this book - a mix of her own observations and the existing scientific knowledge about snails.
I will confine myself to a couple of snippets from the book - for example, snail slime is far more than just an aid to locomotion. Almost one-third of a snail's energy goes into producing slimes, different ones for moving, healing itself (eg rebuilding its shell if it becomes cracked), looking after its eggs, defending itself, and of course, courting and mating. And that's an even more amazing sequence - some snails actually produce within their bodies small arrows of calcium carbonate, and at one point during foreplay the two animals shoot these arrows into the bodies of their potential mates. The shape of these arrows varies between species, as well as the number which is produced. It's thought that the dart transmits pheromones. Oh, and I don't think my use of the word 'foreplay' was exaggerated: in the first stage of the mating process, "the snails draw slowly closer, often circling each other, smooching, and exchanging tentacle touches".
Another pleasure of the book is the snail-related quotations from books and poetry (often haiku - snails must be one of the recognised season words), my favourite being the following, from 1881: The {snail's} tentacles are as expressive as a mule's ears, giving an appearance of listless enjoyment when they hang down, and an immense alertness if they are rigid, as happens when the snail is on a march." (I like this not just because of the idea of a snail on the march, but also because of the hours of careful observation that the quote suggests.)
The loveliest haiku is at my feet/ when did you get here?/ snail.
Tova Bailey occasionally compares her own situation to that of the snail - in particular, the fact that her illness has made her seem invisible or unimportant to the outside world, in the same way that snails are ignored. She also notes that as she starts to recover and gains more energy, observing the snail suddenly starts to require patience. This is not a book about illness, but it is a book about valuing, and paying attention to, the smallest aspects of life.
Sample: The snail loved the mushroom. It was so happy to have a familiar food, after weeks of nothing but wilted flowers, that for several days it slept right next to the huge piece of portobello, waking throughout the day to reach up and nibble before sinking back into a well-fed slumber.
Recommended for: anyone not too intolerant of snails, or of whimsy, to appreciate it.
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lunch.)Elisabeth Tova Bailey spent several years suffering from a severe illness which left her unable to sit up, read, or even listen to any music more polyphonic than Gregorian chant. One of her visitors, one day, brings her a pot of violets with a small snail in it, and she becomes fascinated by watching the snail going about its business. After her recovery she followed up the fascination with some research, which produced this book - a mix of her own observations and the existing scientific knowledge about snails.
I will confine myself to a couple of snippets from the book - for example, snail slime is far more than just an aid to locomotion. Almost one-third of a snail's energy goes into producing slimes, different ones for moving, healing itself (eg rebuilding its shell if it becomes cracked), looking after its eggs, defending itself, and of course, courting and mating. And that's an even more amazing sequence - some snails actually produce within their bodies small arrows of calcium carbonate, and at one point during foreplay the two animals shoot these arrows into the bodies of their potential mates. The shape of these arrows varies between species, as well as the number which is produced. It's thought that the dart transmits pheromones. Oh, and I don't think my use of the word 'foreplay' was exaggerated: in the first stage of the mating process, "the snails draw slowly closer, often circling each other, smooching, and exchanging tentacle touches".
Another pleasure of the book is the snail-related quotations from books and poetry (often haiku - snails must be one of the recognised season words), my favourite being the following, from 1881: The {snail's} tentacles are as expressive as a mule's ears, giving an appearance of listless enjoyment when they hang down, and an immense alertness if they are rigid, as happens when the snail is on a march." (I like this not just because of the idea of a snail on the march, but also because of the hours of careful observation that the quote suggests.)
The loveliest haiku is at my feet/ when did you get here?/ snail.
Tova Bailey occasionally compares her own situation to that of the snail - in particular, the fact that her illness has made her seem invisible or unimportant to the outside world, in the same way that snails are ignored. She also notes that as she starts to recover and gains more energy, observing the snail suddenly starts to require patience. This is not a book about illness, but it is a book about valuing, and paying attention to, the smallest aspects of life.
Sample: The snail loved the mushroom. It was so happy to have a familiar food, after weeks of nothing but wilted flowers, that for several days it slept right next to the huge piece of portobello, waking throughout the day to reach up and nibble before sinking back into a well-fed slumber.
Recommended for: anyone not too intolerant of snails, or of whimsy, to appreciate it.
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LibraryThing member bragan
Author Elisabeth Tova Baily suffers from a debilitating illness, and during a period when she was bedridden a friend brought her a pot of wild violets and, for some reason, a snail. Bailey made a sort of pet out of the snail, observing it with attentive interest and finding in its slow, patient
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movements some inspiration for coping with her own condition. This slim volume, in which she relates her experiences with her snail and shares what she's learned about snails in general, is thoughtful, charmingly written, and surprisingly educational. I had no idea how much I didn't know about snails, but I came away convinced that they are remarkable, beautiful creatures. I kind of want to find some snails of my own to watch now. Show Less
LibraryThing member ctpress
“Illness isolates; the isolated become invisible; the invisible become forgotten. But the snail….the snail kept my spirit from evaporating.”
Summary from book description: While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence on her nightstand. As a
Utterly fascinating little gem of a book - about how ones inner world expands while focusing in and paying close attention to the minutest details - here the life of a snail - Elisabeth Tova Bailey builds a terrarium and start to read all about snails.
While her severe illness lasts twenty years, the book covers only one year with a snail by her side. But there’s healing found in her curious observations of “the sound of wild snail eating”. Inspiring nature writing combined with life wisdom and philosophical musings.
Whereas the energy of my human visitors wore me out, the snail inspired me. Its curiosity and grace pulled me further into its peaceful and solitary world. Watching it go about its life in the small ecosystem of the terrarium put me at ease.
Summary from book description: While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence on her nightstand. As a
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result, she discovers the solace and sense of wonder that this mysterious creature brings and comes to a greater under standing of her own confined place in the world.Utterly fascinating little gem of a book - about how ones inner world expands while focusing in and paying close attention to the minutest details - here the life of a snail - Elisabeth Tova Bailey builds a terrarium and start to read all about snails.
While her severe illness lasts twenty years, the book covers only one year with a snail by her side. But there’s healing found in her curious observations of “the sound of wild snail eating”. Inspiring nature writing combined with life wisdom and philosophical musings.
Whereas the energy of my human visitors wore me out, the snail inspired me. Its curiosity and grace pulled me further into its peaceful and solitary world. Watching it go about its life in the small ecosystem of the terrarium put me at ease.
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LibraryThing member dk_phoenix
I'm so, so grateful to whoever recommended this book. It's not the kind of thing I would typically pick up, but I'm very glad I did (and I've already loaned it out because I couldn't not share it with others).
Briefly, the story is a memoir about the author's illness and isolation during her
Although short, the book is delightful, lovely, informative, and poignant. I also find myself fascinated by the complexity of something so easily taken for granted as snails! Have I ever considered the physiology and behavior of snails before? Absolutely not, until this book. And what truthful observations on the human condition and the pace of modern life.
This book is not to be missed. Even if you don't normally read these sorts of things, this little volume is well worth your time.
Briefly, the story is a memoir about the author's illness and isolation during her
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recovery, and the observations she makes on a wild snail that her caretaker brings in on a pot of plants. She watches the snail, bonds with it through her own slow-paced existence, and presents a multitude of fascinating facts about snails -- most of which she learned during her illness, while reading a tome about mollusks to better understand her slimy companion.Although short, the book is delightful, lovely, informative, and poignant. I also find myself fascinated by the complexity of something so easily taken for granted as snails! Have I ever considered the physiology and behavior of snails before? Absolutely not, until this book. And what truthful observations on the human condition and the pace of modern life.
This book is not to be missed. Even if you don't normally read these sorts of things, this little volume is well worth your time.
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LibraryThing member mmignano11
"The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating" is a delightful read. Bailey manages to be both whimsical and profound in this small book. During an illness that has the author fighting for her survival, a friend bestows the gift of life on the author by presenting her with a snail. By learning how the tiny
Using the snail as a metaphor becomes a perfectly sound literary device under Bailey's deft pen. The snail's slow-paced life reflects Bailey's own physicality, her need to slow down all processes to cater to the illness that is ravaging her. She is unable to stand upright, to walk, or to care for herself. The snail is self-sufficient, gliding through its daily offices and is in fact a hermaphrodite and as such is capable of producing its own offspring. How Bailey must long to care for herself to that extent. But rather than envy the snail, Bailey admires its simple mode of survival, using complex scientific processes in the most basic ways to survive.
Providing the reader with snail trivia both entertaining and didactic, Bailey paints the picture of a season spent with a creature who helps her to understand that there are ways that each of us find to fill our place in the world, wherever it may be at that moment. The snail, in his terrarium and the author in her bed, provide the simplest of aid to each other, and ultimately, one of the most important, companionship.
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mollusk eats, sleeps and moves, the reader takes the journey of recovery, both physical and emotional with Bailey.Using the snail as a metaphor becomes a perfectly sound literary device under Bailey's deft pen. The snail's slow-paced life reflects Bailey's own physicality, her need to slow down all processes to cater to the illness that is ravaging her. She is unable to stand upright, to walk, or to care for herself. The snail is self-sufficient, gliding through its daily offices and is in fact a hermaphrodite and as such is capable of producing its own offspring. How Bailey must long to care for herself to that extent. But rather than envy the snail, Bailey admires its simple mode of survival, using complex scientific processes in the most basic ways to survive.
Providing the reader with snail trivia both entertaining and didactic, Bailey paints the picture of a season spent with a creature who helps her to understand that there are ways that each of us find to fill our place in the world, wherever it may be at that moment. The snail, in his terrarium and the author in her bed, provide the simplest of aid to each other, and ultimately, one of the most important, companionship.
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LibraryThing member detailmuse
How many books have you read with a Library of Congress classification of “Snails as pets”??
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating -- my first :) -- is partly a memoir of 34-year-old Elisabeth Tova Bailey being flat-out bedridden during the first year of a chronic illness that would persist for
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating -- my first :) -- is partly a memoir of 34-year-old Elisabeth Tova Bailey being flat-out bedridden during the first year of a chronic illness that would persist for
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decades. But it’s mostly a gentle scientific exploration of the common land snail, which a friend plucks from the New England woods and places in a pot of violets at Bailey’s bedside. It brings her comfort and immeasurable diversion, and the information about snails that she excerpts from science, literature and poetry bring the same to the reader. Show Less
LibraryThing member krazy4katz
This is a beautifully written memoir of a woman who contracts a mysterious but debilitating illness that leaves her bedridden for over a year. A friend brings a snail from the forest and places it on a flowerpot on her windowsill. She becomes attached to the snail, her constant companion during
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those long hours spent alone in her bed. The author describes her insights into the snail's psychology and becomes interested enough to read about snails in great depth. Rather than being a depressing recollection of a year in bed with little hope of recovery, this story is a lovely description of her love of nature and the wonders of living creatures as simple as a snail. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cobscook
I loved this short little book! Some people would assume that a book about a snail would basically be a book about nothing. I found this a beautiful and engaging tale that demonstrates the wonder of our natural world.
When Elizabeth Bailey contracts a life-threatening illness that leaves her
I tend to like books about nature and there is a lot to enjoy about this book. The information about land snails is given in an engaging way, and the author does not dwell on her illness. This book is all about the snail! Even if you think you will not like a book about a slimy garden pest, you should give this one a try.
When Elizabeth Bailey contracts a life-threatening illness that leaves her
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bedridden, a friend brings her a land snail in a potted violet to keep her company. Over the course of many months, Bailey observes the minutia of the snail's life. It is her one connection to the outside, living world beyond her caregivers.I tend to like books about nature and there is a lot to enjoy about this book. The information about land snails is given in an engaging way, and the author does not dwell on her illness. This book is all about the snail! Even if you think you will not like a book about a slimy garden pest, you should give this one a try.
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LibraryThing member lauralkeet
Survival often depends on a specific focus: a relationship, a belief, or a hope balanced on the edge of possibility. Or something more ephemeral: the way the sun passes through the hard, seemingly impenetrable glass of a window and warms the blanket, or how the wind, invisible but for its wake, is
In this short, contemplative memoir, Elisabeth Tova Bailey describes her experience convalescing after being struck by an autoimmune disease. Bedridden, unable to stand or walk, her days were spent largely inside her head. A tiny snail, which came into her room on a potted plant, became both a companion and a source of intellectual stimulation. Fascinated by the snail's daily routine, Bailey read up on the anatomy and physiology of the snail and passed insight along to her readers on everything from the composition of the snail's shell and mucus to mating rituals.
The science is interesting enough, but the real point of this memoir is how the snail sustains Bailey by giving her a reason to face every day. She experiments with the snail's food and habitat, worries when the snail is out of sight, and marvels at the miracle of life represented by a clutch of eggs. Her observations often lead to conclusions about human society. Some of these felt contrived, others were more meaningful, but on the whole I was impressed by the inner strength required to persevere through a lengthy and debilitating illness.
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so loud one can hear it through the insulated walls of a house.In this short, contemplative memoir, Elisabeth Tova Bailey describes her experience convalescing after being struck by an autoimmune disease. Bedridden, unable to stand or walk, her days were spent largely inside her head. A tiny snail, which came into her room on a potted plant, became both a companion and a source of intellectual stimulation. Fascinated by the snail's daily routine, Bailey read up on the anatomy and physiology of the snail and passed insight along to her readers on everything from the composition of the snail's shell and mucus to mating rituals.
The science is interesting enough, but the real point of this memoir is how the snail sustains Bailey by giving her a reason to face every day. She experiments with the snail's food and habitat, worries when the snail is out of sight, and marvels at the miracle of life represented by a clutch of eggs. Her observations often lead to conclusions about human society. Some of these felt contrived, others were more meaningful, but on the whole I was impressed by the inner strength required to persevere through a lengthy and debilitating illness.
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LibraryThing member tandah
The narrator is struck down by a debilitating virus and following what appears to be s healthy active life.not only is she bed bound for an extended period, she is unable to care for herself and has to leave her rural property to a room in someone else's home, where she can be cared for.
She has a
The narrator is so unwell she can do little else other than observe the snail. Along with meditation and reflection she uses her minimal energy to begin researching snails, and uses this research to supplement her observation of the snail's activities.
Each chapter begins with a haiku, or a pithy observation about the snail's life from 18th century books. This book is one part memoir, one part naturalist, one part meditation. I like the reflective bits the most, as well as her seeming interaction with the snail - however, if the book were read very slowly, think it could all be savored equally.
There is a reference to her being unwell for 20 years, and that she was struck down by the virus in her mid30's. My one disappointment with this book is that I would have liked to know more about the author's health and how things have ended up for her. This is a non fiction book that at times feels like fiction - I understand the author has written under a pseudonym (Elisabeth Tova Bailey) to protect her privacy.
I'd recommend this book especially to people who are wanting to slow down.
She has a
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lot of friends that visit, and one of them pots some wild violets and places a snail found in the same area as the violets on the pot.The narrator is so unwell she can do little else other than observe the snail. Along with meditation and reflection she uses her minimal energy to begin researching snails, and uses this research to supplement her observation of the snail's activities.
Each chapter begins with a haiku, or a pithy observation about the snail's life from 18th century books. This book is one part memoir, one part naturalist, one part meditation. I like the reflective bits the most, as well as her seeming interaction with the snail - however, if the book were read very slowly, think it could all be savored equally.
There is a reference to her being unwell for 20 years, and that she was struck down by the virus in her mid30's. My one disappointment with this book is that I would have liked to know more about the author's health and how things have ended up for her. This is a non fiction book that at times feels like fiction - I understand the author has written under a pseudonym (Elisabeth Tova Bailey) to protect her privacy.
I'd recommend this book especially to people who are wanting to slow down.
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LibraryThing member herdingcats
While bedridden, with a mysterious illness, the author of this book was given a pot of violets and a little snail that her friend had found while digging up the violets in the woods. With nothing else that she could do, Elisabeth spent time observing the snail and soon had someone create a
This book is well written and filled with quotes from other sources about snails. Who knew so much study had been dedicated to snails? It also is filled with Elisabeth's musings about her illness as she misses the normal active life she used to lead.
Did you know that there are such things as microscopic snails that are blown about in the air? It kind of creeps me out that we could be breathing in snails! Which also brings to mind the "Inside Ralphy" episode of "The Magic School Bus".
I was touched by the fact that the presence of a snail to watch helped Elisabeth to get through a year of her debilitating illness. She shares her thoughts and her later research on snails in an interesting, lyrical book.
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terrarium for it as a more proper home.This book is well written and filled with quotes from other sources about snails. Who knew so much study had been dedicated to snails? It also is filled with Elisabeth's musings about her illness as she misses the normal active life she used to lead.
Did you know that there are such things as microscopic snails that are blown about in the air? It kind of creeps me out that we could be breathing in snails! Which also brings to mind the "Inside Ralphy" episode of "The Magic School Bus".
I was touched by the fact that the presence of a snail to watch helped Elisabeth to get through a year of her debilitating illness. She shares her thoughts and her later research on snails in an interesting, lyrical book.
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LibraryThing member porch_reader
I read about this book on the blog ReadAllDay, and the topic intrigued me. A woman who is bedridden with a serious illness watches a snail living in a plant by her bedside. After seeing several good reviews on your threads, I picked it up at the library.
Bailey has written a slow, gentle book. She
Bailey has written a slow, gentle book. She
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writes only briefly about the illness that makes turning from one side to the other a chore. More time is spent on her observations of the snail who shares her days and nights, and her research about snails in general. The slow pace of the snail matches her energy levels and becomes the focus of her attention. The book made me count my blessing while also making me feel the need to slow down of my own accord so that I don't miss the sound of a wild snail eating. Show Less
LibraryThing member lahochstetler
When Bailey found herself bed-ridden as the result of a rare auto-immune disease, a friend brought her a wild snail to be her bedside pet. Too weak to sit up, or even to roll over, Bailey had nothing to fill her days except watching the snail. Soon the snail becomes Bailey's whole world.
This is a
This is a
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beautifully-written and poignant book. Bailey began reading up on gastropods, and much of the knowledge she gleaned is shared in the book. As a result I learned a great deal about snails. Gastropods really are amazing creatures; one could subtitle this book '1001 Things to Do with Mucus.' Bailey offers some musings on life with captive illness, and she compares the snail's constrained world with her own. Really, though, the focus is on the snail and Bailey's developing relationship therewith. By the end of the book I was really starting to love the snail. Show Less
LibraryThing member SandDune
49. [The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating] [[Elisabeth Tova Bailey]] ****
On a visit to Europe the author was struck down by a mysterious and hugely debilitating disease for which her doctors were unable to find a cure. Completely confined to bed and immobilised to the extent that even turning from one
This is a very short, beautifully written book providing an insight into the life of an animal that can be seen every day but to which few people pay any attention, but which has an interesting an individual story when viewed in this way.
I've got a degree in zoology so I'm interested in animals of all types, but rarely read this type of natural history book preferring a more scientific approach, but even so I really enjoyed this book. I can't say that I'd ever been particularly keen on snails, seeing them mainly as things that ate my hostas, but this book has made me look at them very differently. I don't think that I will look at snails in the same way again.
On a visit to Europe the author was struck down by a mysterious and hugely debilitating disease for which her doctors were unable to find a cure. Completely confined to bed and immobilised to the extent that even turning from one
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side to another represents the major effort of her day, she is surprised when a friend brings her a pot of violets which contains a small snail. Initially daunted by the thought of the responsibility of caring for something even as small as a snail, she soon finds that having the snail as a companion gives her a focus and interest in her otherwise monotonous life. Her inability to do anything else means that she has the time to study the minutiae of her snail's existence. Her life becomes bound up in the snail to the extent that when it apparently disappears from the terrarium that has been created for it, she realises that she is 'almost more attached to the snail than she is to her own tenuous life'.This is a very short, beautifully written book providing an insight into the life of an animal that can be seen every day but to which few people pay any attention, but which has an interesting an individual story when viewed in this way.
I've got a degree in zoology so I'm interested in animals of all types, but rarely read this type of natural history book preferring a more scientific approach, but even so I really enjoyed this book. I can't say that I'd ever been particularly keen on snails, seeing them mainly as things that ate my hostas, but this book has made me look at them very differently. I don't think that I will look at snails in the same way again.
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LibraryThing member labfs39
Being from Maine myself, I always love to read books by Maine authors, and this one is a gem.
Elisabeth Bailey was struck down by a mysterious illness while travelling in the Alps. Doctors were unable to explain what was happening to her, although they did discover a change to her mitochondrial
Elisabeth Bailey was struck down by a mysterious illness while travelling in the Alps. Doctors were unable to explain what was happening to her, although they did discover a change to her mitochondrial
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function. Lying in bed, too weak to even hold a book, Elisabeth became fascinated with the daily trials and tribulations of a garden snail that a friend had brought in on a violet plant. Over time, Elisabeth became quite an expert on snails, and she shares fascinating facts, discoveries, and observations. Equally compelling are her insights on life at snail-pace, both her own and her companion's. The result is a charming and informative little book that I would recommend to anyone looking for something quiet and contemplative. Show Less
LibraryThing member Laurenbdavis
As astonishing as it may sound, reading about seriously ill woman finding companionship with a wild snail who lives next to her sick bed is an experience both profound and moving. It is a meditation on life with the microcosm of a gastropod's life serving as the symbol for the majesty, mystery,
A slim volume which is far greater than the number of its pages, it's a book I will no doubt read again. In truth, I became surprisingly attached to the little snail.
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tenacity and downright lushness of existence itself. A slim volume which is far greater than the number of its pages, it's a book I will no doubt read again. In truth, I became surprisingly attached to the little snail.
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LibraryThing member MrsLee
A gentle journey through a prolonged illness. The author finds the study of a snail beside her bed to be the only distraction from her profound health issue. I enjoyed this because the focus of the story is on the snail and the perspective gained by the author from watching the snail; not on her
Very interesting details of snail life and behavior, a hard read for gardeners who are bent on the snail's destruction. Having already heard the sound of a wild snail eating, I enjoyed this book very much.
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illness.Very interesting details of snail life and behavior, a hard read for gardeners who are bent on the snail's destruction. Having already heard the sound of a wild snail eating, I enjoyed this book very much.
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LibraryThing member rosalita
I've lost my notes on which LibraryThing user first recommended this book to me, but I owe them my thanks. You might think you will speed through this lovely little (just 120 pages) book, but if you are like me you'll find yourself deliberately slowing down to savor Bailey's beautiful prose and
Time unused and only endured still vanishes, as if time itself is starving, and each day is swallowed whole, leaving no crumbs, no memory, no trace at all.
The little snail is first brought to Bailey inside a pot of wild violets by a friend. At first, she frets about being responsible for the snail, but it doesn't take her long to realize that when you are so ill that even sitting up in bed is an impossible task without help, being able to focus attention on something that lives at a similar pace can distract you from your own loneliness and isolation. Along the way, Bailey turns her attention to exploring the changes — physical, mental, emotional — her illness has wrought in her.
When the body is rendered useless, the mind still runs like a bloodhound along well-worn trails of neurons, tracking the echoing questions: the confused family of whys, whats and whens and their impossibly distant kin how. The search is exhaustive; the answers, elusive.
I'll be the first to admit that I never gave much thought at all to snails beyond the "fancy restaurant" scene in the movie Pretty Woman, when Julia Roberts sends an escargot flying across the room. Bailey provides a surprising amount of factual data about snails in her little book; you might think it would be too much except that in Bailey's hands it all turns out to be quite fascinating. One of the first things I did when finishing the book was to fire up Google and check out some images of snails since I don't think I had ever really looked at one before. They really are quite interesting little creatures.
The final jewels in the book's crown are the epigrams that open each chapter. Apparently the most astonishing variety of writers have contemplated the snail far more than I ever have. Charles Darwin I expected, but Patricia Highsmith? It turns out the author of the Ripley series of psychological thrillers wrote not one but two short stories about snails! Now that's trivia you can use to wow your literary friends. I'll give you that one for free, but only if you promise to make some room on your TBR pile for this lyrical book.
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gentle but keen insights into the natural world as exemplified by the common woodland snail who takes up residence alongside the author during a year of her bedridden life. Here's a sample:Time unused and only endured still vanishes, as if time itself is starving, and each day is swallowed whole, leaving no crumbs, no memory, no trace at all.
The little snail is first brought to Bailey inside a pot of wild violets by a friend. At first, she frets about being responsible for the snail, but it doesn't take her long to realize that when you are so ill that even sitting up in bed is an impossible task without help, being able to focus attention on something that lives at a similar pace can distract you from your own loneliness and isolation. Along the way, Bailey turns her attention to exploring the changes — physical, mental, emotional — her illness has wrought in her.
When the body is rendered useless, the mind still runs like a bloodhound along well-worn trails of neurons, tracking the echoing questions: the confused family of whys, whats and whens and their impossibly distant kin how. The search is exhaustive; the answers, elusive.
I'll be the first to admit that I never gave much thought at all to snails beyond the "fancy restaurant" scene in the movie Pretty Woman, when Julia Roberts sends an escargot flying across the room. Bailey provides a surprising amount of factual data about snails in her little book; you might think it would be too much except that in Bailey's hands it all turns out to be quite fascinating. One of the first things I did when finishing the book was to fire up Google and check out some images of snails since I don't think I had ever really looked at one before. They really are quite interesting little creatures.
The final jewels in the book's crown are the epigrams that open each chapter. Apparently the most astonishing variety of writers have contemplated the snail far more than I ever have. Charles Darwin I expected, but Patricia Highsmith? It turns out the author of the Ripley series of psychological thrillers wrote not one but two short stories about snails! Now that's trivia you can use to wow your literary friends. I'll give you that one for free, but only if you promise to make some room on your TBR pile for this lyrical book.
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LibraryThing member abbylibrarian
Elisabeth Bailey was stricken with a mysterious, unnamed virus while traveling. The virus basically rendered her bedridden for years, with ups and downs, recoveries and relapses along the way. This book is the story of one of her bedridden years in which she was given a pet snail and spent much of
But this is more than a book about snails. It's also a book about the isolation often felt by sufferers of chronic illness and about how Elisabeth dealt with a solitary life. When her disease made it impossible for her to sit up for more than a few minutes at a time, impossible to physically hold up a book or concentrate on the story, she found great comfort in the snail slowly living its life by her side. The snail was there for her when her friends couldn't make the long trip out to see her.
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her waking time observing it. You'll care about this snail more than you ever thought you would and you'll learn many interesting facts about snails in this book. For instance, did you know that when mating some snail species shoot love darts at each other? And that snails have thousands of teeth? And that snails can regrow parts of their shells if they are damaged? But this is more than a book about snails. It's also a book about the isolation often felt by sufferers of chronic illness and about how Elisabeth dealt with a solitary life. When her disease made it impossible for her to sit up for more than a few minutes at a time, impossible to physically hold up a book or concentrate on the story, she found great comfort in the snail slowly living its life by her side. The snail was there for her when her friends couldn't make the long trip out to see her.
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LibraryThing member edwin.gleaves
A remarkable little book about a little critter and its relationship to a highly sensitive woman. Reminiscent of Throreau, no less.
LibraryThing member aylin1
I accidentally read this. Downloaded a sample to my Kindle> liked it> bought the book to read later but just wanted to read a few more pages> read it all.
This is a quiet, intimate book about a woman and her land snail. The youthful author contracts some unknown and completely debilitating virus
The land snail becomes her connection to the living world. They live at the same pace. Through quiet observation, she learns much about her molluscan friend. Her own observations are enhanced by bouquets of snail science and lore from naturalists, writers and poets. The book is fascinating.
There is a lot of gratitude-for-small-things in this book. There are things that are important to our spirits that are drowned out by things that shout at us in our fast paced lives.
This is a quiet, intimate book about a woman and her land snail. The youthful author contracts some unknown and completely debilitating virus
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while vacationing abroad. This virus changes her body permanently. One day she is brimming with joyeux de vivre and the next day she is bedridden, betrayed by her body and literally without the ability to sit up. She is physically and mentally isolated by her condition. Enter a small land snail, brought to her in a pot of violets, gifted to her by a friend.The land snail becomes her connection to the living world. They live at the same pace. Through quiet observation, she learns much about her molluscan friend. Her own observations are enhanced by bouquets of snail science and lore from naturalists, writers and poets. The book is fascinating.
There is a lot of gratitude-for-small-things in this book. There are things that are important to our spirits that are drowned out by things that shout at us in our fast paced lives.
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Awards
John Burroughs Medal (Winner — 2011)
National Outdoor Book Award (Winner — 2010)
William Saroyan International Prize for Writing (Nonfiction — 2012)
Pages
208
ISBN
161620642X / 9781616206420
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