Death of a Hornet and Other Cape Cod Essays

Another fine book by Robert Finch, in the tradition of Common Ground, The Primal Place and Outlands. Unlike the other books by the same author, although the setting of most of the essays in this book is in the familiar Cape Cod and they are undoubtedly of the same nature essay genre, this book has a tinge of nostalgia because of the change in the author's personal life. Some essays are the purest "nature writings", but some, especially the concluding pieces in both sections of the book, "A Town Ghost", "Sometime I Live in Town", have very strong personal reflections and feelings attached. Mr. Finch has never been an opinionated writer; he has always been and will always be an observer. He is usually not critical of humans' altering of the landscape; in fact, he has always said that places like Cape Cod are landscapes in motion. Natural history is not something that stands apart from human history. It must then take a lot for a very tolerant person like Mr. Finch to express his disappointment, appalling and sometimes anger at our species' assault to the environment. In "A Missionary Among Moonjellies" he records how unsupervised children senselessly mutilate and kill jellyfishes for no other reason than "fun"; in "Nothing But Net" he tells us about his encounter with a loon horrifically entangled in discarded, non-biodegradable, gill netting; in "The Once and Future Cape" he recounts and laments the places that he wrote about but which are lost to "development" and "progress". What is, then, our relationship to the land? What is the future of places like Cape Cod? More than his other books, this one evokes the reader to ponder such questions.

Yes, Robert Finch writes with an intensity that comes with his passion for his life on the Cape Cod peninsula. But many of these essays describe creatures and natural phenomena that take place in other locales as well -- it's just that we're too busy or too apathetic to observe them. He sees. And then he tells us about his encounters, just as easily as if we're sitting across the table from him at a casual eatery.My favorite passage is beach-oriented and describes a old cottage being overcome by natural forces: "Sand sifts slowly, like age, over everything, softening, obscuring, and finally obliterating each distinct thing into a semblance of itself and the next thing. In this sense, sand is the ultimate progressive poet, whispering, 'This chair is like this table, is like this bed, is like this sink -- and each thing is, more and more, like all the others, until finally they are all -- like me'." (p. 153) Of course! Why didn't any of the rest of us think to say or write that?Save this volume for a time in your life when you need the peace of Nature to drape itself over you and slow down your blood pressure. These stories are worth savoring. Then go out and "see" for yourself.

Robert Finch's words not only portray the flora and fauna and geography of Cape Cod, he shows the reader what the Cape really is. Those of us who've only visited during the season and thought we "knew" the place should be ashamed. Mr. Finch is a part of the Cape, and the Cape is a part of him, and this reader can only stare in wonder at the majesty and beauty of the world he describes.

What a remarkable year this has been for writing about nature in New England. First the dazzling debut Bullough's Pond, now this thoughtful collection of essays. Can't wait to see what the fall lists have in store.

This is Robert Finch's finest work yet. His rich, visual observations of everyday nature enlighten and entertain us--- from the tiniest observation of a spider's web to the adventure of saving beached whales off the seashore. Each piece shows the how nature can connect to our often busy, technical lives and how we can not and should not ever try to break that connection.