Die Berge Kaliforniens

A literary journey through the American mountains – a cornerstone of Nature Writing

"The Mountains of California" is a cornerstone of Nature Writing, with John Muir undoubtedly being one of its most significant representatives alongside R. W. Emerson and H. D. Thoreau. Temporarily blinded by an accident, he feared he would never again behold the beauty of the world. After his recovery, he focused on the effects of colonization on nature and developed a multitude of ecological ideas. Thus, he became the "father of the national parks"; the Sierra Club and Yosemite National Park, among others, can be traced back to him. In his main work, first published in 1894, John Muir combines geological and botanical studies with philosophical reflections, embedding them in a narrative whose grand descriptions of nature revive a world that was already on the brink of destruction during Muir's lifetime. In "The Mountains of California," the brilliant German translation by Jürgen Brôcan, we encounter an untouched, wild, and simultaneously vulnerable nature.