I learned a lot about geology reading this book the author knows a lot about the subject and it definitely shows.

I was provided an advanced copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I hesitate to give a book that is part memoir about loss a low rating, because I know how much of the author is invested in the story - the time and emotional work invested in getting the piece to publication - and for that effort I have given it the rating it has.

However, the book's actual verbosity and complexity was too much when it was described as a story where the author would use geology through time as touchstones to help cope with the loss. Unless you have a deep interest in learning about geology and stone through time and around the world, you might want to pass on this one.

A wonderful book for any geology lover. What started as a way to deal with grief became a passion shared with us. I learned much, not only about rocks, but about the constructs of cities. It was a beautifully written title.

Early on in Hugh Raffles, The Book of Unconformities, Raffles offers up this definition: “Geologists call a discontinuity in the deposition of sediment an unconformity . . . a material sign of a break in time . . . both a seam and a rupture, a cleft that can’t be closed.” On its surface a straightforward explanation of terminology, the definition, like much of Raffles’ book, carries a poignant weight to it thanks to what Raffles had earlier revealed to the reader — that his two sisters had tragically died within a very brief period of each other, creating in his life indeed a “cleft that can’t be closed.” Soon after, he says, he “started reaching for rocks, stones, and other seemingly solid objects as anchor in a world unmoored.”

That attempt brings Raffles, and the reader, around the world as he explores seven stones in particular: marble, sandstone, gneiss, magnetite, blubberstone, iron, and muscovite taking us from NY to the Orkneys to Iceland to Greenland to Germany. Raffles moves not only in space but, as rock does as well, in time, deep geological time but also more recent (and darker) human history, most often involving environmental depredation, Western imperialism, cultural exploitation, and, at the end, genocide.

Raffles employs a digressive, associative style, ranging far-afield in thought, with his sentences mirroring that range in their often lengthy “train-car” structure as he piles phrase upon phrase, several sentences carrying on nearly a page before the reader reaches the period. It’s a style that may wear on some readers or try their patience at times, but it’s both effective and appropriate I’d say, as well as rewarding.

The different chapters vary in impact. I’d say the first, centered on Manhattan’s bedrock, was the one the least drew me in and maybe required more personal familiarity with the specific setting than the others. The section in the Hebrides, dealing with Neolithic stone monuments, was more interesting and haunting, with its personal and more abstract connection to his sisters’ deaths (one set of standing stones stand quite near one of his sister’s homes). The section on iron follows the impact of Robert E. Peary’s removal of large meteorites from Greenland and casts a far harsher light on Peary’s actions than one usually meets in stories about the famed explorer. It also spotlights Raffles’ unwillingness to simplify matters, in how the segment on blubberstone shows us the appalling manner in which humanity casually wiped out or nearly wiped out entire species and wreaked environmental havoc for industrial gain in their search for oil (walruses, whales) or coal, while the segment set in Greenland shows the unintended negative consequences of Greenpeace’s efforts on the native hunters.

The subject matter in The Book of Unconformities is almost always fascinating and thought-provoking, the prose often lyrical and captivating. I had only two issues with the work. One is that Raffles’ sisters get lost along the way, and I would have liked to have felt their presence, or absence, more strongly, though there are some poignant echoes of those sad events, as when Raffles discusses with a native Greenlander a recent suicide in their village. The other issue was how abruptly it ended, so much so that I actually had to check to make sure I hadn’t somehow gotten a corrupted version or an excerpt versus the full work. Still, despite the somewhat less engrossing first section and these two issues, The Book of Unconformities was a mostly engrossing, stylish read. Recommended.

A fascinating, informative and engrossing book that kept me hooked.
I liked the mix of travelogue, memoir and science and I never thought rocks could that interesting.
I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I really enjoyed this book. It is part memoir, part science, and part travelog. After the death of two of his sisters the author travels the world studying rocks. I think this book was well written and is very good at combing these genres into one book.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

The Book of Unconformities opens with the author explaining that after he lost two of his sisters in quick succession, he turned to the solidity of rocks and their eons-old stories to grasp for meaning, and as a presumed thesis statement, I found it very intriguing. But although Hugh Raffles spends the rest of this book travelling the world, exposing different forms of rock, and exploring the stories of those tied to the various geologies (and in particular, those indigenous peoples, animals, and landscapes exploited by Western White Men), his lost sisters don't really figure into what follows. To be clear: the travel and science writing, along with the historical storytelling, were consistently fascinating – and Raffles doesn't owe me any exploration of his grief or personal life – but after opening with that bombshell, I kept waiting for the material that follows to tie back into what I thought what the premise. Still, a highly original, informative, and engaging read.

Interesting and in parts lovely – especially enjoyed the discussions around the Calanais stones. Unfortunately, though, the formatting of this ebook made it very difficult to read on a Kindle and that impacted my ability to fully immerse myself in the text. That's no fault of the text itself, though; only wish I'd been able to read a physical copy.