We inhabit a world of more than humans. For life to flourish, we must
listen to the calls this world makes on us, and respond with care,
sensitivity and judgement. That is what it means to correspond, to join
our lives with those of the beings, matters and elements with whom, and
with which, we dwell upon the earth.
In this book, anthropologist Tim Ingold corresponds with landscapes and
forests, oceans and skies, monuments and artworks. To each he brings the
same spontaneity of thought and observation, the same intimacy and
lightness of touch, but also the same affection, longing and care that,
in the days when we used to write letters by hand, we would bring to our
correspondences with one another.
The result is a profound yet accessible inquiry into ways of attending
to the world around us, into the relation between art and life, and into
the craft of writing itself. At a time of environmental crisis, when
words so often seem to fail us, Ingold points to how the practice of
correspondence can help restore our kinship with a stricken earth.