Nan Shepherd
8 key ideas, each explained in our own words.
The Living Mountain
- IDEA 1
Senses reveal a mountain
Shepherd, a Scottish writer, describes her lifelong exploration of the Cairngorm mountains. Written in the 1940s and published decades later, the book focuses on knowing a place through the body and senses.
- IDEA 2
Walking into a mountain
Shepherd describes going into the mountain rather than climbing to the top. She valued exploring every part of it. In her view, wandering across the whole massif, in all weathers, gave a deeper knowledge than a single climb to the highest point could.
- IDEA 3
The plateau is a world
Shepherd describes the high plateau, with its weather, light and silence. In her account, this high ground is a place of wide space, shifting weather and deep quiet, where the senses become sharper.
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