Is A River Alive? Introduction -Book Review Series

Okay, okay, okay — We’re Dropping Into Our First Book Review Series at RIVERS

and believe it or not, this one actually required some reading. Last week, my grandma (aka Grammie) sent me a book. Over the last few years, she’s seen me get deeper and deeper into rivers—intellectually, recreationally, spiritually—so she thought this one might hit. And it did. Perfect timing, too, because we’re in the thick of launching the RIVERS blog and dreaming up content that does some good for rivers everywhere.

The book?
Is A River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane, who lives in Cambridge and writes about place and language in a way that always hits just right.

First Impressions

I came home from a trip Bull Lake Creek in the Wind River Range in Wyoming and found the book sitting on my desk. The hardcover has this swirling green and blue design, the title kind of flows across it like a current. As a certified river lover, I picked it up instantly: Dope cover. Probably worth reading

This post kicks off our chapter-by-chapter review series on the book. We think it’s the perfect place to begin as we figure out what RIVERS is becoming—something reflective and curious. A space to ask: who or what is a river in the context of our human existence?

Okay, I’m rambling now. But for real—for the first time in I don’t know how long—I actually sat down and read the introduction. Even though I knew the next chapter would take me straight to Ecuador’s cloud forest rivers (a place close to my heart), I decided to linger here first.

“Anima”

That’s what the intro is called. Why?
My guess is anima as in the inner self, and its relationship to animism.

What’s animism? Here’s how the Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology puts it:

“Animism is a particular way of relating to various beings in the world. It involves attributing sentience to other beings that may include persons, animals, plants, spirits, the environment, or even items of technology, such as cars, robots, or computers.”

As we move through this book, I feel like animism deserves a front seat. The more I read, the more convinced I am that we’re not just connected to rivers—they’re part of us. Maybe even sentient in ways we don’t fully understand yet.

What Is the River Saying?

Macfarlane opens with this quote:

“Everywhere I traveled, I asked people the same question: What is the river saying? This is an old growth question; it has been around a long time. The answers I received were beautiful, cryptic, troubling and illuminating.”

What’s Next?

There’s more coming. This book’s taking us all over the world, to rights of nature cases and spiritual traditions, all wrapped around a central idea: What is the relationship between humans and rivers now? And what could it be?

Maybe Macfarlane sums it up most simply for us:

“Everyone lives in a watershed.”

If you want to hear more from Robert Macfarlane right now, check out his sit down podcast with Emergence Magazine below!