Island The Universe Home Summary

Islands, the Universe, Home by Gretel Ehrlich begins and ends at her ranch in Wyoming, but goes beyond, to the Islands off the California coast and to the mountains of Shinto temples in Japan, where Ehrlich made a pilgrimage. It was at the Sowell Collection here at Texas Tech where I would be able to do research on a successful author who has archived her work and journeys. Place and people play such a large role in these collections of essays. For Ehrlich, the many places she travels becomes her quest for understanding the meaning of life. Ehrlich has a talent for writing in such a detailed manner through the use of descriptive imagery including personification, metaphors and similes. Gretel Ehrlich explores the relationship between physical geography, geology and geophysics, spirituality, culture, and story to find a sense of home. Ehrlich calls into question her own judgment by utilizing the foundational concepts of travel writing and humanist geography.
Travel writing is a form of nonfiction writing whose sole purpose is to document the events people, sights and feelings of the author. A writer might visit a new location for the sake of new experiences and pleasure of
Her essays, though personal and reflective in nature, taken together trace the cycle of the seasons against the raw but beautiful Wyoming landscape. Ehrlich captures the grandeur of the American West, as well as the Japanese aesthetics. Each of her essays is founded by a distinctive landscape- a place and a season- but each setting then becomes a rich personal discourse on a variety of scientific, philosophical, and cultural topics. Gretel Ehrlich is not afraid to talk about topics that are uncommon, such as climate issues. When I read her work there is always something new that I learn and it truly captivates the