The Eye in the Thicket: Essays at a Natural History

Anthony MacKenzie is an associate professor of history at St. Francis
Xavier University.

“With no warning sound the rattler whacked me hard in the ankle and
then slid off into the bushes, as quietly as she had struck.” In that
manner the author of one of the essays in this book begins a horrifying
account of his sufferings after a snake bit him. Another gem, entitled
simply “Chair,” is a sort of telescoped history of cabinet-making.
Another account of outdoor dancing must have some meaning, but I’m
blest if I know what it is.

The theme of the book, apparently, is our relation to the natural world
around us. One writer misses a place because “it was the spot where
the permeable membrane between place and its otherwise first became
apparent to me, where home acquired its frayed edge.” Quite. Well, the
author doubtless knew what he meant. I grant you, some of the pieces in
this collection—one dealing with stones, another on male chickens,
still another on Jerusalem—carry a comprehensible message. Some of the
authors, however, seem to be trying to outdo Tolkien with his Ents,
Oliphaunts, and Eagles. They might be wise to read Tolkien and the
Scotsman, Neil Gunn, in their attempts to link humanity with other
created things.

It is true that a generation weaned on Harry Potter may better
appreciate this collection; enthusiasm, however, is no substitute for
clarity and precision in writing.