Time and Tide in Acadia: Seasons on Mount Desert Island

Some people walk through the woods and see a bunch of leaves. Some see the odd little brown bird sprint into the foliage. Others see several distinct species flitting from tree to tree. Still others see numerous distinct species, sexes and ages, the habitat they live in, even as they hear other species that they can't see. Christopher Camuto tries to get to Acadia via the details, as if writing, via photo-realism, an account of his experience there. Whether or not this works for you depends on your expectations and preferences. I think it was a decent idea: with the exception of the shoreline, there's little in Acadia to elicit the oooohs and ahhhs of a Grand Canyon sighting - and yet a huge part of the island's charm lies in the fact that it represents a hushed version of the Grand Canyon's visual fireworks. Camuto chooses to invite the reader to join him on his excursions over the land and seascape, naming and describing the birds, the animals, the quiet of the geography, the natives, a little of its history and the interrelationship of place/animals/men within the isolation of an island. He has an eye for birds, certainly, and for the imagery and sounds that surround him as he walks. And, if you accept his wise suggestion to walk slowly through the Acadia trails and read slowly through this book, you will come away with a better sense of this place, by seeing it in a unique and disciplined way. If you're looking for a McVersion of What to do on your summer vacation to supplement your visit - this isn't it. His language and observations are precise--Cedar waxwings perched in a jack pine like so many Teutonic lieutenants, the hiss of reed grass alive with sparrows--and in the end that may overwhelm you with detail and disappoint for the lack of a broad stroke joining the whole story together. Or, it might just be that Acadia is about the accrual of small, intricate details that add up only to the island itself. Neither this-nor any other--book will give you a "deeper understanding" of the island. Uhh, you kinda gotta be there your own self for that. As someone who shares Camuto's love of the place, Time and Tide made me feel blind to all the birds I haven't seen & poor for the scant time I've spent walking its woods and hills--meaning that I'll just have to go back next year and work harder at it. Sounds like a good book to me.