THE DESERT Further Studies in Natural Appearances by Van Dyke, John Charles - 1908

MP3 Audio CD. The Desert is a sumptuous, elegiac depiction of the natural beauty of the American Southwest. "What land can equal the desert with its wide plains, its grim mountains, and its expanding canopy of sky!" John Charles Van Dyke, a cultivated art historian, found "sublimity" in the desert's "lonely desolation," which past compeers had seen only as wilderness, and his narrative has a conservationist taste which appears manifestly prevailing. "The deserts should never be reclaimed," he scribes. "They are the breathing spaces of the west and should be preserved for ever." The fluctuating hues of the atmosphere, hummocks, and shingle interest John, as do the figments. He rejoices the "long overlooked commonplace things of nature"-- cactus and blubber log, barren land creatures, and "winged life," the birds and insects. His narrative has a philosophical connotation. "Not in vain these wastes of sand ... simply because they are beautiful in themselves and good to look upon whether they be life or… Read More

MP3 Audio CD. The Desert is a sumptuous, elegiac depiction of the natural beauty of the American Southwest. "What land can equal the desert with its wide plains, its grim mountains, and its expanding canopy of sky!" John Charles Van Dyke, a cultivated art historian, found "sublimity" in the desert's "lonely desolation," which past compeers had seen only as wilderness, and his narrative has a conservationist taste which appears manifestly prevailing. "The deserts should never be reclaimed," he scribes. "They are the breathing spaces of the west and should be preserved for ever." The fluctuating hues of the atmosphere, hummocks, and shingle interest John, as do the figments. He rejoices the "long overlooked commonplace things of nature"-- cactus and blubber log, barren land creatures, and "winged life," the birds and insects. His narrative has a philosophical connotation. "Not in vain these wastes of sand ... simply because they are beautiful in themselves and good to look upon whether they be life or… Read More