Common Ground: A Naturalist's Cape Cod

Perhaps it is not really accurate to say that this book is a continuation of Thoreau's journey, as Mr. Finch actually lives in the Cape year-round. Perhaps it is, at least in spirit. Regardless I like to think that way as I always wanted to find more books about Cape Cod after reading Thoreau's volume. Now the search is over. Mr. Finch is a fine writer and gives us such beautiful as well as powerful essays, and I find myself exceedingly enjoying his writing. For these are indeed a naturalist's essays. The writing is delicate and sophisticated but not overly flowery, they are reflective yet do not give one any sense of being preached at. The reflections usually come naturally after describing some natural phenomenon with intricate details. The book slowly unrolls the texture, color and sometime smell (the salty air and sometimes the stench of a dead whale) of the Cape in front of you, it makes you feel like walking along the Cape with a knowledgeable companion. Some of my favorites are: "Foxes on the Marsh", "Very Like a Whale" as they let me ponder the relationship between man and nature and other species, and "Tide Fingers" as it gives me a striking sense of the vastness of the ocean and earth and the insignificance of us humans. Mr. Finch wrote a few other books about Cape Cod, if they are all as good (I have no doubt they are), I would read all of them (in fact I just ordered "The Primal Place" and "Outlands" today). It really takes a lifetime to know a place like Cape Cod (as Edward Abbey once said, you can write a whole book about a single juniper tree). And even then, you can really never fully comprehend it. But Mr. Finch has lived in Cape Cod for many years and has intimate knowledge about its natural environment as well as human history. We are lucky to have him to give us such delightful books to read. I have only one slight gripe about this book: there are fine illustrations for each essay, but they are rendered so unnecessarily tiny (just in the space before the opening paragraph). But I am still reluctant to deduct any points for such a small blemish.

This, Robert Finch's first book, is a collection of essays about the wildlife, ecology, and "nature" of Cape Cod. It is pure delight -- the kind of book you might want to read at the end of a perfect day, with a glass of sherry following a good meal. The essays are short and conversational, always literate and almost always insightful. This is not specialized nature-lore, but intelligent musing on the world of Cape Cod -- ants, foxes, broken-down houses, getting lost at night. After you've read it, put it on the nightstand in the guest bedroom.