Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest (Oxford World's Classics) - Softcover

Hudson, W. H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192832883 ISBN 13: 9780192832887

Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks, 1998

Synopsis

A failed revolutionary attempt drives the hero of Hudson's novel to seek refuge in the primeval forests of south-western Venezuela. There, in the 'green mansion' of the title, Abel encounters the wood-nymph Rima, the last survivor of a mysterious aboriginal race. The love that flowers between them is soon overshadowed by cruelty and sorrow. One of the acknowledged masters of natural history writing, W. H. Hudson forms an important link between nineteenth-century Romanticism and the twentieth-century ecological movement. First published in 1904 and a best-seller after its reissue a dozen years later, Green Mansions offers its readers a poignant meditation on the loss of wilderness, the dream of a return to nature, and the bitter reality of the encounter between savage and civilized man.

About this title

From the Back Cover

The curious call of an unseen bird lures a young European explorer deeper and deeper into the jungle, where he encounters the source of the siren song--a lovely, half-wild girl with mysterious powers. Thus begins the romance between Abel, a revolutionary hiding among an Indian tribe in the Venezuelan rainforest, and Rima, who speaks the languages of birds and longs to return to the land of her birth to be reunited with others of her kind.
Written by a British naturalist with a deep love and knowledge of wilderness areas, the richly colored tale transports readers to the lush atmosphere of the Amazonian outback. Originally published in 1904, this haunting classic offers a narrative of lyric beauty as well as a fascinating link between nineteenth-century Romanticism and modern environmentalism.
Dover (2014) republication of the edition published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1904.
See every Dover book in print at
www.doverpublications.com

About the Author

William Henry Hudson (1841-1922) was the author of such books as Far Away and Long Ago, and A Shepherd's Life. These and other books helped foster the early days of the back-to-nature movement. Born in Argentina, he settled in England in 1869, where he was a co-founder of the RSPB, and spent his last days in Worthing, where he was buried.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0192832883
• ISBN 13: 9780192832887
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 238
• Editor: Duncan Ian