Is a River Alive?

Reviews

"Named one of "the best books of the year so far" (2025)" — The Economist

"Is a River Alive? is a rich and visionary work of immense beauty. Robert Macfarlane is a memory keeper. What is broken in our societies, he mends with words. Rarely does a book hold such power, passion, and poetry in its exploration of nature. Read this to feel inspired, moved and, ultimately, alive with the world." — Elif Shafak, author of There are Rivers in the Sky

"“Macfarlane’s prose offers a glorious invitation to return to one’s child-mind and its inherent wonder.... Is a River Alive? illustrates what resistance to extraction can look like on the ground, and also what might be awakened in us when we begin to live with rivers, recognizing them as co-creators of our past, our present, and—more and more—our future.”" — Elizabeth Rush, The Atlantic

"Is a River Alive? is a wide-ranging feat of reporting that wends between the waters of three disparate places... Macfarlane’s prose is vivid, sometimes even flowery...  It is not just informative but frequently beautiful, full of luscious lines." — Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post

"The scholarship underpinning these adventures is impressive... this is a profoundly beautiful and moving work." — Clea Simon, Boston Globe

"Haunting...By the end of this wild travelogue of a book, [Macfarlane] convinces us: a river is very much alive, a vital co-creator of our being in ways we desperately need to articulate in new linguistic forms." — Ellen Wayland Smith, Los Angeles Book Review

"Macfarlane’s book is timely... His prose aspires to poetry throughout... Macfarlane’s impassioned book shows the way, ending on a riskily lyrical high with his arrival as a waterbody complete: ‘I am rivered.'" — Blake Morrison, The Gaurdian

"Dr Macfarlane deploys his long-recognised formidable talent with consummate skill and also, crucially, sincerity. His mastery of technique never feels merely technical; it feels head-in-white-water-breathtakingly heartfelt... Everyone who has ever found something to love in a river should find something to love in this book. It is a masterpiece. " — Economist

"The author of Underland lends his expertise to raise awareness about a part of nature that is often taken for granted. Readers see that while rivers can be easily wounded, they can also quickly heal—if given the right care." — Olivia B. Waxman, TIME

"When he observes what he sees, his descriptions are original, sinuous and often startling; when he’s in thrall to a reverie, his descriptions get windy and sentimental....Let the stream of consciousness wash over you." — The New York Times Book Review