Best of the Spectator Book Club: Robert Macfarlane
May 28, 2025
Robert Macfarlane, an acclaimed writer known for exploring landscapes and the human experience, discusses his latest book, 'Is A River Alive?'. He shares insights from his travels through diverse environments, emphasizing the urgent need to reevaluate our connection to nature. The dialogue touches on revolutionary ideas surrounding legal rights for rivers and the environmental impacts of gold extraction. Macfarlane also delves into mystical encounters in cloud forests and how literature shapes our comprehension of the natural world.
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River Journeys Shape the Book
- Macfarlane traveled to Ecuador, Chennai, and Quebec to explore rivers under threat and efforts to reimagine their vitality.
- He also visited a fragile local chalk stream near his home, highlighting intimate connections to water.
Saving Los Cedros from Mining
- In Ecuador's Los Cedros cloud forest, constitutional rights of nature stopped gold mining companies from destroying rivers.
- The ancient myth of the Cedar Forest and the threat of ecocide weave past and present struggles.
Grumpy Guardian of the Forest
- José Ducú, a grumpy, hermit-like figure, lived alone in the cloud forest, embodying defiant guardianship of the land.
- His complexity reflected the arduous fight to protect Los Cedros from economic exploitation.
