There's a transcendentalist quality woven throughout this book—humans and nature are inseparably and sublimely interconnected. But in a literal sense, the vivid quality of the prose feels ethereal, like transcending, like the words themselves flow like a river. That's not to say that the book isn't grounded in reality. Both through anecdote and an interdisciplinary approach to educating his audience, Macfarlane is able to guide the reader through a factual overview of cause and effect—through the roles human have played in exploring and changing the landscape for better or worse.
 
Nonfiction is a reductive way of categorizing the book. It is historical, biographical, and scientific, but it is also poetry and memoir and narrative. Macfarlane did much of his research while exploring often remote areas of the world led by local experts on their respective mainstem rivers. Not only has he seen the rivers and their impact in person, but he has also developed close relationships with those who have engaged with the river daily, sometimes throughout their whole lives. He takes great care in highlighting the stories of the people native to the land, conveying not only their work with the rivers but also the events of their personal life that led them to foster their own meaningful relationships with nature. Platforming marginalized communities adds to Macfarlane’s credibility as someone who understands that the poor feel the effects of a dying river first and most harshly, enforcing the ethos of environmental and social justice guiding his philosophy.
 
By the last third, the story loses focus as he profiles his guides like they are characters in fiction which I love, but it's easy to get lost in their personal narratives. These parts are critical in emphasizing how humans don't just impact rivers, but rivers impact the regular lives of humans. However, we get stuck in some of these parts, meandering through tales of his travels, his companions' family histories, and interesting but only semi-related facts. While this does enforce the river-flow quality of writing, it does take Macfarlane some time and detours to reconnect the story to his point. His level of detail is comparable to Tolkien in that the writing is moving and stunning, and even in the moments where I’m ready to move on, I’m still enjoying where the story has taken me. But there are still those moments where I’m ready to move on. I’m not always a fan of strictly informative nonfiction, but the educational moments were both fascinating and novel to me, but they would break up this wandering pace.
 
The human element is where the power in this book lies, though. Modern culture is quick to dismiss emotional views of nature as quaint and frivolous. Is a river alive? It’s established early on that Macfarlane and all his peers think so. Rather, the question this book really addresses is how we can reframe relationships to rivers and redefine the meaning of “alive” so that we can establish nature as a rights-bearing entity entitled to legal protection. How can we show people that spiritual and practical approaches to nature are not dichotomous?

Overall, I loved this book, but it did take me a while to get through. This is a book you want to make time to read slowly, following the ebb and flow Macfarlane establishes through language. If this style of pacing isn’t for you, I would hold off. If you’re interested in rivers, environmental policy, indigenous lands, tales of outdoor adventures with captivating characters interests you, and a poetic view of nature, I’d definitely recommend.

From the book blurb I was expecting the main focus of the book to be about rivers - the science about rivers as well as the case for viewing rivers as living beings. I did expect it to include a fair amount of focus on nature in general but not to such a large extent that the premise for the title almost seemed like a “by the way.” From discussions about fungi, sea turtles, whales, moths, etc. to the rights of nature, it would have seemed more apt for the title to be Nature is Alive and Well. Don’t get me wrong, the book is a font of nature loving descriptions and has much to absorb for nature lovers, of which I am one. I do declare though, I kept turning the pages hoping for a deep dive into why rivers are alive rather than the reference to people feeling alive and invigorated when they dive and splash around in the river. In the end, while this was a fairly interesting book about nature, the impacts of humans on the environment, and the beauty of the natural world around us, as well as some of the people the author met on his travels, it did fall short on the Is A River Alive question or musing, so a bit disappointing. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

unputdownable

How many of us nature lovers have pondered the question in the title? I know I have. But even if you haven't, this book is a delightful exploration into our relationship with rivers.

Some look at rivers and see a conduit for waste products, poisoning the river and all who depend on it. Some see an entity with rights to run free, clear, and healthily. Rivers have shaped the course of human events for as long as humans have existed. Many of us have ancestors and worldviews that honor the wisdom, memory, and aliveness of rivers.

This beautifully written book is a tribute to the rivers--lifeways--that keep us alive, teach us, and deserve respect. It's a call to action to honor the rivers and other waterways around us.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

Robert McFarlane wows again with prose as lush and vibrant as the ecosystems he yearns to protect. “Is a River Alive?”  (W.W. Norton & Company, 2025) explores the decimation of our earth’s waterways, the fight for the personhood of rivers, and the differential demise of rivers in Ecuador, Canada, and India through McFarlane’s well-versed lens.

The survival of the “River of the Cedars” in Ecuador is at risk due to mining, while the rivers flowing through Chennai, India, are at heightened risk due to escalating pollution. The Magpie River at the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada is suffering due to dams. Human-made demolition and pollution have led to soaring environmental degradation.

Perhaps it’s age or the rapid pace of climate change, but I don’t doubt the aliveness of rivers. A personal highlight of McFarlane’s new book is his elucidation of the Te Awa Tupua Act (March 20, 2017) in Wellington, New Zealand. The Whanganui River is alive and recognized as an ancestor of the Whanganui tribe. Additionally, the river is identified as a legal person with rights to representation and to exist unpolluted.

Fans of Barry Lopez, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Bill Bryson, Annie Proulx, and Barbara Kingsolver should also enjoy “Is a River Alive?”

Thank you to Robert McFarlane, W.W. Norton & Company, and NetGalley for the eARC!

Robert Macfarlane is excellent at blending science, history and what it is like to walk the land while considering both. In this story, "Is a River Alive," he once again takes a huge topic and makes it approachable and fascinating. I finished feeling like I had learned a lot about the science and history of rivers, but also what it might have felt like to stand next to them as they formed, grew and changed over eons.
Of course, like all nature writing, the topic leads to some depressing and heavy topics: what have humans done that has hurt these rivers and their surroundings, and what can be done to make people aware of the great damage done and why it matters. Macfarlane addresses these issues in his usual way - with an urgentness that is wound into the beautiful prose of his writing.
Macfarlane has shown once again why he is one of the best nature writers for our time.

Having read all of Robert Macfarlane’s books and enjoyed them, this may be his most serious book yet. A defence of rivers in a society that has used and abused them using his own adventures, personal experience and case studies. It is far more entertaining than that makes it sound. It reads only as he writes. Exceptional.