Reading "The Big Year"
I just finished "The Big Year". This is one of the few times that I have seen the movie before reading the book.
Several weeks ago, our neighbors invited us over to their apartment for dinner. Since we are on a medically supervised diet, we couldn't partake in a dinner but we counter-offered with a game night. Funnily enough, we didn't play any games but ended-up chatting the evening away. I had noticed that Bryan kept a telescope facing the beach in their apartment. He said that he enjoyed birding. I told him that I too enjoyed identifying the occasional bird and I asked him if he had seen the movie "The Big Year" with Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin. He said that he hadn't seen the movie yet but he had the book. He offered to lend me his copy.
Several nights later after returning from his house under renovation, he dropped-off the book at our apartment. From the inscription on the cover, it was a birthday present in 2004.
I devoured the book. It is about 3 birders who are on separate quests to see as many different species of birds in North America as they can in a calendar year.
It was the perfect combination of excellent story-telling, adventure travel and a passion for nature even though birding is a kind of odd-duck in the naturalist world.
Of course, Anne-Marie and I love adventure travel so there is a natural appeal of this book.
I am still pondering why this author's writing style speaks to me particularly. This is the type of puzzle that keeps my brain elastic. As I said, I'm still pondering what aspects of a writers style appeal to me directly. This author, Mark Obmascik, strikes a chord in me in the same manner that Robert A. Heinlein does. I'll post more about aspects of different writing styles that I enjoy.
According to the author, The phrase "thin as a rail" is because of the rail bird that is so thin to walk between reeds in a marsh. There are other arguments but I like this explanation.
Here is a list of other books that I plan on reading after reading The Big Year:
Wild America - also a documentary film about Peterson and Fisher.
Call Collect, Ask for Birdman by Jim Vardaman who, according to other birders, "bought" his Big Year.
Birding's Indiana Jones by Sandy Komito who is one the 3 main characters in The Big Year.
The World of Roger Tory Peterson: An Authorized Biography about the author of one of the most used bird guides in North America.
Several weeks ago, our neighbors invited us over to their apartment for dinner. Since we are on a medically supervised diet, we couldn't partake in a dinner but we counter-offered with a game night. Funnily enough, we didn't play any games but ended-up chatting the evening away. I had noticed that Bryan kept a telescope facing the beach in their apartment. He said that he enjoyed birding. I told him that I too enjoyed identifying the occasional bird and I asked him if he had seen the movie "The Big Year" with Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin. He said that he hadn't seen the movie yet but he had the book. He offered to lend me his copy.
Several nights later after returning from his house under renovation, he dropped-off the book at our apartment. From the inscription on the cover, it was a birthday present in 2004.
I devoured the book. It is about 3 birders who are on separate quests to see as many different species of birds in North America as they can in a calendar year.
It was the perfect combination of excellent story-telling, adventure travel and a passion for nature even though birding is a kind of odd-duck in the naturalist world.
Of course, Anne-Marie and I love adventure travel so there is a natural appeal of this book.
I am still pondering why this author's writing style speaks to me particularly. This is the type of puzzle that keeps my brain elastic. As I said, I'm still pondering what aspects of a writers style appeal to me directly. This author, Mark Obmascik, strikes a chord in me in the same manner that Robert A. Heinlein does. I'll post more about aspects of different writing styles that I enjoy.
According to the author, The phrase "thin as a rail" is because of the rail bird that is so thin to walk between reeds in a marsh. There are other arguments but I like this explanation.
Here is a list of other books that I plan on reading after reading The Big Year:
Wild America - also a documentary film about Peterson and Fisher.
Call Collect, Ask for Birdman by Jim Vardaman who, according to other birders, "bought" his Big Year.
Birding's Indiana Jones by Sandy Komito who is one the 3 main characters in The Big Year.
The World of Roger Tory Peterson: An Authorized Biography about the author of one of the most used bird guides in North America.
posted by jprg4evr at 11:58
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