美国山水的四位灵魂人物

Over the past two centuries or so, numerous nature writers have dedicated their passion and talents to singing the praises of America's varied and vivid landscapes. Four giants towered over their contemporaries to become legendary figures of the American culture. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and Aldo Leopold inspired generations of nature lovers, and nowadays, their writings are cited as classics by conservationists, ecologists, wilderness champions, and the like worldwide.

This book introduces the masterpieces of America's four pioneers, highlighting their respective literary and lifelong journeys of joy on America's picturesque landscapes. Readers will be rewarded by inspirations from the words of wisdom in Emerson's seminal essay Nature (1836), Thoreau's Walden (1854) and Walking (1862), Muir's The Mountains of California (1894) and My First Summer in the Sierra (1911) and, last but not least, Leopold's Sand County Almanac (1949) and Round River (1953).

近两个世纪以来，美国文坛群星荟萃，人才辈出。拉尔夫-沃尔多-爱默生、亨利-大卫-梭罗、约翰-穆尔、埃尔多-利奥波德，以其深邃的哲学思想和超前的生态环保理念，成为美国山水和自然文学的灵魂人物。

本书介绍了上述四位美国自然文学先贤的代表作。爱默生的《论自然》，向读者呈现了美国19世纪初年的一泓清泉；梭罗笔下水波涟漪的《瓦尔登湖》，给置身喧嚣的世人带来心灵上的安宁；穆尔称为家园的优胜美地山谷，令来自远方的游人流连忘返；利奥波德在威斯康辛沙乡所修建的小木屋，使21世纪的青少年有一个学习现代生态伦理学的极佳场所。让我们通过本书的十个章节，共同欣赏美国的山水林田，瞻仰数座历久弥新的丰碑。