Tags
What a quiet, lovely book is The Small Heart of Things: Being at Home in a Beckoning World by Julian Hoffman. In 2000, Hoffman and his partner, Julia, moved to the Prespa Lakes region in northern Greece. The main lake, Lake Prespa is situated in such a way that the borders of Greece, Albania and the Republic of Macedonia all meet somewhere in the middle of it. The area has seen more than its share of conflict from Albanians feeling communist rule to the Greek Civil War to the break up of Yugoslavia and Macedonia becoming its own country. Hoffman discusses pieces of this history in the context of what it has done to the people who live there , their traditional ways, and the unique ecology of the place.
When Hoffman and Julia first moved to the area they made part of their living as market gardeners. Now, the pair monitor bird populations in the upland areas where wind farms are being built. As a bird expert, the book is filled with bird observations as you might expect. But it is also filled with observations of geology and how people live in and with nature. It is a book that is deeply imbued with a sense of place and what it means to belong to that place.
More a series of essays than a start to finish memoir, each piece focuses on something different. “Homing” is about our need for finding a place we can belong and call home. “Among Reeds” is about walking through a reed bed and discovering bitterns live there. While “Time in Karst Country” is about karst, how it was created, how deceptive and seemingly barren it is. But it is more than that,
There is a distinctiveness brought about by weathering and ageing, both limestone and ourselves the inconstant ones, enduring the elements, overcoming the flaws of our inheritance. Dissolution is more than a lessening; it’s a reminder of time worn well.
Another essay, “The Distance Between Us” is a wonderful story about when Hoffman was walking on the hills above Morecambe Bay in Cumbria and noticed a man walking far ahead of him. He gradually began to catch up and then the path went down into a small, narrow valley, the man disappeared over the edge of it and a few minutes later when Hoffman arrived the man was nowhere to be seen. He was worried there had been an accident and searched around but the man was gone. This happened years and years ago but he still thinks about the man especially when he is out walking and spies a solitary person walking ahead of him. The essay then turns into a meditation on the impact strangers can have on our lives without even knowing it. And, conversely, the impact we also must make on other people’s lives that we are unaware of.
One of my favorite essays is the titular essay, “The Small Heart of Things.” It is about the successful reintroduction of the beaver to Transylvania. The animal had been absent from the country for two hundred years, trapped and hunted to extinction for their fur. The beaver was so important to the country at one time there are cities and villages, common words and surnames based on the word for beaver. The reintroduction has been a smashing success. The beavers are thriving and spreading out among the country’s waterways. And, even though there is a fund to which farmers and others can apply to be reimbursed for damage a beaver may do, hardly anyone has used it, not because there has not been damage, but because people are so happy to have the beavers back in their lives again that they accept the damage as part of the relationship.
Hoffman asks,
Extinction and preservation ask of us essentially the same thing: what is the meaning and measure of loss?
And he goes on to observe:
While we may adapt to the absence of things, either easily or over time, each extinction diminishes our lives as well; each fragment as essential as the next when attempting to understand our place on the planet. Loss lessens our shared inheritance, and the world is made inescapably smaller.
The Small Heart of Things is a slim book but it is packed with such clear-eyed observations and thoughtful meditations that it feels much bigger than it is. It is a book about being part of a place, being part of something bigger than you. It tells us how to do this too, by slow, careful attention, by being present in the world and by forming relationships to the things of the world both common and rare. Hoffman reveals time and again, it is those relationships that matter most.
That does sound like a lovely book: I hadn’t heard of it until now, but it sounds like a nice one for dipping into on wintry nights.
LikeLike
Rohan, I don’t remember where I found out about it but I am glad I did. It is perfect for reading on cold winter evening!
LikeLike
That’s a great story about the beavers! They have made an impressive comeback in the U.S. also. Now if only we could get everyone to feel the same way about wolves!
LikeLike
biblioglobal, I love the beaver story! I am glad to hear they have made a good comeback in the US too. I wonder how they are doing in Canada? Hoffman talks about their plight there too. It would be nice if people could feel the same way about wolves, wouldn’t it? The hatred of them in some quarters is astonishing.
LikeLike
What a wonderful find and I especially liked the bit about the beavers. How interesting!
LikeLike
Iliana, I liked the beavers too! Such amazing and beautiful animals and everyone involved in their reintroduction was surprised by the overwhelming support of the people who would be affected by them most.
LikeLike
ooh, a series of essays! I like essays.
LikeLike
Jeanne, I do too and these are really good ones 🙂
LikeLike
This sounds very very good…I need to look this up!
LikeLike
cirtnecce, I hope you can find a copy. It deserves a lot of attention.
LikeLike
I’ve been looking forward to this one for ages. It puts me in mind of Roger Deakin’s writing. I love your final paragraph and will have it in mind when I get around to reading this.
LikeLike
Anthony, thanks! Yes, Hoffman writes in a similar vein as Deakin for sure. I am sure you will enjoy the book very much when you get to it. Hopefully soon! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
How beautiful these fragments you give us are. Julian Hoffman is new to me, thank you for this wonderful introduction!
LikeLike
Sigrun, aren’t they lovely? And that’s just a small part of all the passages I marked. Glad you enjoyed reading about Hoffman 🙂
LikeLike
You’ve chosen gorgeous excerpts to tempt us, Stefanie. And I love the idea that “people are so happy to have the beavers back in their lives again that they accept the damage as part of the relationship.” I’m fascinated by the way people here react to birds attacking their fruit trees, those you say there’s enough to share and those who are devastated by whatever they take. Of course, sometimes the birds do take anything.
I am intrigued about one question though. You mention the wind farms and their work on monitoring birds. Are they pro or against or neutral about wind farms?
Anyhow, I do love the sound of this – people and places, endlessly interesting, and this sounds so perceptive and reflective.
LikeLike
whisperinggums, glad you find them so tempting. I know you are especially interested in landscape and place and I think you would likely find some really interesting and resonating thoughts in this book. It is fascinating how we deal with animals we see as rivals in some way. We can only consider birds taking fruit as damage if we somehow think we own the trees and the fruit. There are so many elements that go into that I could write an essay on it. Hey! Maybe I will! I am already so behind in writing essays. Ugh.
Anyway, regarding the wind farms, Hoffman is carefully neutral about it but I suspect he was not happy about the farms because they are at the top of a ridge in a sensitive birding area. However, I also suspect that as long as the farms don’t interfere detrimentally with bird flight, hunting and nesting patterns he’s okay with them. He only mentions them once in an essay when he and his partner are out doing their original survey before any of the farms are even built.
LikeLike
Thanks for answering the wind farm issue. I asked because some of the opponents here cite birds as an issue but to be honest I think birds are pretty adaptable and could work out how to move around windmills but I guess research will bear that out.
LikeLike
whisperinggums, you bet! Opponents in the US cite birds too, but those same people don’t seem so concerned about yet another all-glass high rise building going up. I agree with you, birds are smart and adaptable, they will figure out the wind turbines.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not to repeat too much what other commentators said: but this sounds so lovely! I’m adding it to my list.
LikeLike
Jeane, I think you would really like this one 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you, Stefanie for introducing me to this lovely book. Can you tell me why the couple moved to northern Greece? Did they have family there, a heritage connection, etc?
LikeLike
Richard, neither Hoffman nor his partner have a direct connection to the region. Hoffman is Canadian and his partner is from the UK I believe. They had traveled to the region a number of times and immediately felt at home there, so much so that they eventually decided to live there.
LikeLike
Stefanie, on and of I read a post by Julian Hoffman on his blog ‘Notes from near and far.’ I like his writing too and quietly hoped my library would add it to their collection without me asking for it. So far they didn’t maybe a gentle nudge is in order now?
LikeLike
Cath, I didn’t know Hoffman had a blog! I will have to look for it! I like his writing too. If your library has not yet ordered, it, I think a gentle nudge is definitely in order 🙂
LikeLike
My god daughter is doing her dissertation on how people create a sense of home in a place which is far from their starting place (and not just geographically far). This sounds like something that she would find interesting and possibly even useful. I feel a present coming on.
LikeLike
Alex, what a great subject for a dissertation! Even if it doesn’t prove useful for her dissertation, I bet she would still really like the book!
LikeLike
Oh, no, here goes my TBR pile again!
LikeLike
Heh, sorry Joan. 🙂
LikeLike
Pingback: Two Steps Forward | So Many Books
Oh, this one does sound good–I’m in need of a meditative book.
LikeLike
jenclair, ah well, this might just fill your need 🙂
LikeLike
Dear Stefanie,
My wife saw your post earlier today and passed it along to me this evening, and I wanted to write and say an enormous thank you for such a generous, warm-hearted and beautiful review of my book. I’m delighted you enjoyed it so much, and deeply honoured by your thoughtful words. Thanks ever so much – your review has brought a lovely glow to the evening!
Best wishes,
Julian
LikeLike
Julian, thank you so much for your kind comment! I loved your book and I hope the word spreads about how good it is. Thank you for writing it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
We have to protect trees from beavers which are expert tree cutters. I guess with all things, there are two sides. So are wind farms. They just might have more effects on humans than birds. Many now find physiological ailments living too close to them. And apparently there are low/high frequency (?) sounds that are unbearable and have adverse effects on humans. Oh well, nothing’s perfect. But this book sounds enticing and love those excerpts you’d quoted.
LikeLike
Arti, I’ve not heard about physiological ailments from living close to wind farms, high voltage power lines I’ve heard about. Maybe it’s because there aren’t many wind farms in the US yet and the ones we do have are out in the middle of nowhere. As you say though, there is always a trade off.
LikeLike
I love books like this–that have a little bit of several genres all wrapped up in one. With a good writer the reading can be magical. I recently was looking at a nature book–about a snail! All you want to know about snails, but also about the author’s life and how she was dealing with illness. So interesting to see what inspires a person to write and their own personal experiences that change their lives!
LikeLike
Danielle, Oh, I know that book! I have it on a list somewhere, it’s supposed to be pretty good. It is interesting to see what inspires a person to write.
LikeLike
Oh how lovely that you have reviewed this, I’ve followed Julian’s blog on and off for a while and have been meaning to read this, I love nature writing and he has a wonderful style and way of remarking on his observations. Thanks for the reminder!
LikeLike
Claire, I didn’t know he had a blog until I read this book. Now I know about it I am following it. I really like nature writing too and there seems to be a lot of good stuff these days. Since you enjoy Hoffman’s blog I am certain you will love his book!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: 2016 Reading and the Year Ahead | So Many Books