A Year in the Fields

Burroughs, John, 1837-1921Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.1

Word count: 260K words
Chapters: 27

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Year in the Fields by John BurroughsAuthor: Burroughs, John, 1837-1921,Language: English, Class: QH: Science: Natural history, Release Date: Feb 16, 2010

Editor's review

A Year in the Fields is one of John Burroughs's representative works of nature essays. A longtime observer of rural birds and plants, Burroughs writes plainly and patiently, skilled at turning subtle seasonal changes into tangible everyday experience. The book unfolds according to the cycle of a year, recording observations in fields, woods, and by streams; it combines natural-history information with literary pleasure and belongs to the more personal branch of the nature-writing tradition. Its value lies not in systematic knowledge but in cultivating readers' attention to the nature around them: which birds appear in which season, how vegetation changes, how light and climate alter the landscape. For today's readers it is also a textual record of nineteenth-century rural North American natural scenery. Suitable for slow reading before bed or on weekends, one or two pieces at a time, ideally combined with outdoor observation. Note that the natural-history content reflects the limits of its era and should not be used as a modern scientific guide.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers who enjoy nature essays and natural-history writing
Urban readers hoping to cultivate habits of everyday nature observation
English learners seeking English nature-prose material
Readers interested in nineteenth-century rural North American landscapes

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking systematic biological knowledge or modern species identification
Readers who prefer strong plot and fast-paced narrative
Those hoping for contemporary ecological data or environmental policy discussion

Reading tips

Read by season: for each chapter, make a same-themed observation in a nearby park or field.
Read only one or two pieces at a time, then jot down a few lines about your own nature observations that day for comparison.
When encountering unfamiliar bird or plant names, look them up before continuing; you need not memorize every species.
Alternate with other nature essayists to appreciate different observational perspectives and styles.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Must the book be read in order from beginning to end?

No. The pieces deal with different seasons and scenes and are fairly independent; you can pick chapters matching the current season or jump around by interest. For a sense of the year's overall sequence, reading in order is more coherent.

Is the natural-history content still valid today?

The observational experience and literary description remain valuable, but some species classification, distribution, and ecological explanations are limited by nineteenth-century knowledge and may differ from modern conclusions. Read it as a historical text and a model of observation; consult modern field guides and sources for species identification.

How difficult is the English original?

Burroughs's prose is plain and his sentences are not especially difficult, but there are many bird and plant names and rural-life vocabulary, so non-native readers may need to look up words. Readers at intermediate level or above with an interest in nature can usually finish it smoothly.

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About the author

Burroughs, John, 1837-1921 Author

John Burroughs (1837-1921) was an American nature writer. A lifelong observer of rural plants, birds, and animals, he recorded the changing seasons and his experiences in the field in essays and sketches. His style is plain and delicate, combining the accuracy of natural history with literary readability. The library holds 25 of his works, including Wake-Robin, A Year in the Fields, Riverby, Ways of Nature, Fresh Fields, Birds and Bees, Sharp Eyes, and Other Papers, and Camping with President Roosevelt. These works mostly concern birds, insects, country life, and nature observation. He often begins with ordinary natural scenes and blends personal experience with reflection on nature, in language that is simple yet warm. His writing has influenced later nature essays and ecological writing. Public information on his education, posts, and specific experiences is limited, so no speculation is offered here.