Dr Seuss's fable on industrialization and ecological disaster features a smallish creature and the book's namesake, The Lorax, who "speaks for the trees, as they have no tongues." It's one thing - a very unpleasant thing - to imagine the world without trees, quite another to depict that world but somehow get across the fact the trees are missing. There's the Petrified Forest, of course. But somehow showing just a single scorched tree in an utterly barren landscape seemed to get the point across best; even the slope - suggesting either the tree being buried under windblown debris or a denuded landscape washing away adds to the visceral effect.
So that there's more of this (which isn't necessarily "vile and base")...and less of this.
Hey Mark,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your new blog. I'm looking forward to more.
BTW, here's what the Lorax looks like in Brazil where in many places the old nut trees are the sole remnants of a once great forest.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/visionshare/3362085969/
The good news is that much is NOT lost and there are serious efforts to save as much as possible.
I blog about these things and wander about the web at http://lougold.blogspot.com.
best to ya,
lou