Robert Macfarlane, a prominent writer and scholar, delves into his lifelong connection with rivers in his upcoming book, "Is a River Alive?" He discusses the challenges rivers present for language, noting how their qualities can disrupt perceptions. He reflects on the ancient text "The Epic of Gilgamesh", emphasizing its deep ties to rivers and their significance in human history and nature writing. Macfarlane believes that rivers influence not only our senses but also the structure of narrative itself.
"Rivers pose the greatest and most fascinating problems for language. They tumble you, they wear you away, and they dissolve the usual shells of perceptions..."
"I've had river journeys that have left my senses, of time in particular, more confounded and involuted than any huge mountain expedition."
The Epic of Gilgamesh was first written down in ancient Mesopotamia, which means the land between two rivers... and rivers run through the text.
It's almost like the first nature writing, in which the song of the forest-of the birds, the monkeys, and the resin that drips from the highest cedars like rain-is heard.
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