The Living Mountain

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A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition
Henry Miller

As we pass the threshold of the winter solstice, the landscape in the Northern Hemisphere portrays a barren landscape so iconic for this time of year. These short days lead to long evenings and after cold walks on open hills, we long for open fires. The warmth and companionship of a great book feels essential to feed the soul and push back the darkness outside the walls of our homes.

A book recommendation that’s almost too perfect for this time of year is a fairly unknown masterpiece of majestic writing on landscape and wildness that has inspired us in our work. It was on my bookshelf for a long time like ‘wasted ammunition’ until one day I picked it up and like all great works of literature, the impact was significant. Many have called it a masterpiece of nature writing.

As the back of the book outlines 'Nan Shepherd describes her journeys into the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland. There she encounters a world that can be breathtakingly beautiful at times and shockingly harsh at others. Her intense, poetic prose explores and records the rocks, rivers, creatures and hidden aspects of this remarkable landscape. Shepherd spent a lifetime in search of the 'essential nature' of a place.'

“This is the river. Water, that strong white stuff, one of the four elemental mysteries, can here be seen at its origins. Like all profound mysteries, it is so simple that it frightens me. It wells from the rock, and flows away. For unnumbered years it has welled from the rock, and flowed away. It does nothing, absolutely nothing, but be itself.”
Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain

The author touches the authentic moments of the experience of nature spoken through a philosophical and poetic dialogue. The contents of the book could easily transcend into the realm of architecture, into dwelling, into living.

The Living Mountain reinforced my belief that the best books about architecture aren’t about architecture at all, but teach new ways of seeing the world.

Words
Kristian Hyde