Mountain
Veronica Della Dora (Autor)
"Majestic and awe-inspiring, mountains demand our attention. Throughout all of human history mountains have been linked to the eternal, attracted us to their dizzying heights, compelled us with their natural beauty and threatened us with their dangerous terrain. They have been appreciated and despised as sites of divine and diabolic sublimity, as the dwellings of gods and demons, hermits and revolutionaries. Mountain encounters have defined ways of seeing and have changed our sense of time. They have functioned as the boundary between life and death, a bridge between the earth and the heavens. Progressively tamed, exploited--even commodified--today mountains continue to attract seekers of spiritual quietness and extreme emotions alike, as well as weekend travellers looking for a break from the everyday. In this compelling journey through peaks both real and imaginary, Veronica della Dora explores how the history of mountains is deeply interlaced with cultural values and aesthetic tastes, with religious beliefs and scientific practices. She illuminates the mountain as a geological phenomenon that has profoundly influenced and been influenced by the human imagination, shaping our environmental consciousness and helping us to understand our--quite small--place in the world. Magnificently illustrated, and featuring examples from five continents and beyond, 'Mountain' offers a fascinating exploration of these giants of nature, and of the idea of mountains in art, literature, science, sport, religion and myth."--Jacket
Tištěná kniha, English, 2017
Reaktion Books, London, UK, 2017