/lit/ - Literature

this

the peregrine

the peregrine by j a baker
it's just an obsessive birdwatcher describing a bird's doings in incredibly gorgeous prose. no characters, no plot, just today i saw this bird do that only written all nice like

>And for the partridge there was the sun suddenly shut out, the foul flailing blackness spreading wings above, the roar ceasing, the blazing knives driving in, the terrible white face descending – hooked and masked and horned and staring-eyed. And then the back-breaking agony beginning, and snow scattering from scuffling feet, and snow filling the bill’s wide silent scream, till the merciful needle of the hawk’s beak notched in the straining neck and jerked the shuddering life away.

>And for the hawk, resting now on the soft flaccid bulk of his prey, there was the rip and tear of choking feathers, and hot blood dripping from the hook of the beak, and rage dying slowly to a small hard core within.

>And for the watcher, sheltered for centuries from such hunger and such rage, such agony and such fear, there is the memory of that sabring fall from the sky, and the vicarious joy of the guiltless hunter who kills only through his familiar, and wills him to be fed.

i have never done anything wrong

What's some top-tier nature writing?

j a baker

trust me m8

Th-thanks anon, this is fantastic

Lets have a nature writing thread!!

I recently read "the peregrine" by j. a. baker.

fantastic use of language for what could be fairly dry subject matter and I find it hilarious that most modern ornithologists doubt that he had any significant contact with peregrine falcons and essentially made half of it up.
tremendous

Anyone else into people writing about nature.

>J. A. Baker’s extraordinary classic of British nature writingDespite the association of peregrines with the wild, outer reaches of the British Isles, The Peregrine is set on the flat marshes of the Essex coast, where J A Baker spent a long winter looking and writing about the visitors from the uplands – peregrines that spend the winter hunting the huge flocks of pigeons and waders that share the desolate landscape with them.Including original diaries from which The Peregrine was written and its companion volume The Hill of Summer, this is a beautiful compendium of lyrical nature writing at its absolute best.Such luminaries as Richard Mabey, Robert Macfarlane, Ted Hughes and Andrew Motion have cited this as one of the most important books in 20th Century nature writing, and the bestselling author Mark Cocker has provided an introduction on the importance of Baker, his writings and the diaries – creating the essential volume of Baker's writings.

I haven't started reading this yet, but someone recommended it a while ago here on /lit/ saying it was some of the best prose he'd ever read. Will start reading it soon enough, I guess.