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Under the Rock

The Poetry of a Place
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Under the Rock by Benjamin Myers explores the relationship between the land and its inhabitants as the author takes readers on a journey through the Calder Valley in Yorkshire. Through observational narratives and poetic prose, Myers delves into the area's history, ecology, and geology, uncovering the subtle interplay between nature and human life. This reflective exploration invites readers to appreciate the profound connection between the landscape and those who live within it.
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Format: Hardback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you are fascinated by the intersection of nature and human history. It offers rich, immersive storytelling that explores the landscape, personal reflections, and ecology of a single location, inviting readers to appreciate the deep connections between the natural world and our everyday lives. If you appreciate lyrical narrative and introspective writing on the environment, this book could be a captivating read for you.

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* A startling contribution to the literature of landscape and place from a bracing new talent in non-fiction.; * Benjamin Myers is an award-winning novelist with a major cult following.; * His writing has been widely praised by novelists and nature writers alike.; * Will appeal to readers of Common Ground by Rob Cowen and The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

“Terrific: illuminating, gripping and deeply rooted in its setting” – Amy Liptrot, author of The Outrun,
“Riveting, raw … alarming and unforgettable” – Rob Cowen, author of Common Ground

Carved from the valley side above Mytholmroyd in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, Scout Rock is a steep crag overlooking wooded slopes and flat weed-tangled plateaus. To many, it is unremarkable; to others, it is a doomed place where 18th-century thieves would hide out, where the town tip once sat, suicides leapt to their death, and the asbestos that claimed so many lives was buried in the soil. Scout Rock is also the subject of Ted Hughes’s 1963 essay ‘The Rock’, in which the poet describes growing up across the valley from “my spiritual midwife...both the curtain and backdrop to my existence.”

Into this beautiful, dark, and complex landscape steps Benjamin Myers, asking: are unremarkable places made remarkable by the minds that map them? The result is a lyrical and unflinching investigation into nature, literature, history, memory, and the very meaning of place in modern Britain.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Under the Rock by Benjamin Myers has received widespread acclaim for its evocative prose and immersive exploration of the landscape around Scout Rock in Yorkshire's Calder Valley. Reviewers laud its powerful and lyrical writing, which captures the elemental beauty of nature and the area's rich history. Critics highlight Myers' exceptional talent for creating a deeply atmospheric and engaging narrative that seamlessly blends nature writing with personal reflection and cultural history, earning it a place among notable non-fiction works.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781783963621

Publisher: Elliott & Thompson Limited

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 17 May 2018

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Elliott & Thompson Limited

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 138.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 384

About the Author

Benjamin Myers is an author, journalist and poet. His novels include The Gallows Pole (2017), which received the Roger Deakin Award; Turning Blue (2016); Beastings (2014) which won the Portico Prize For Literature and the Northern Writers’ Award, was longlisted for a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award 2015 and chosen by Robert Macfarlane as one of his books of 2014; Pig Iron (2012), which won the inaugural Gordon Burn Prize and was runner-up in The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize; and Richard (2010), a Sunday Times book of the year. His journalism regularly appears in The Guardian, New Statesman, Mojo, Caught By The River, New Scientist and others. In 2017 he was selected as writer for the International Literature Showcase. He lives in the Upper Calder Valley, West Yorkshire.

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