Robert Macfarlane’s Is a River Alive? is a luminous, deeply considered exploration of the idea that rivers are not merely resources or backdrops to human activity, but living beings deserving of rights, respect, and even legal standing. In this book, Macfarlane embarks on journeys to three threatened rivers across the globe—Los Cedros in Ecuador, the Adyar in India, and the Mutehekau Shipu (Magpie River) in Canada—interweaving these with the story of a chalk stream near his home in England749. Through these narratives, he asks not just whether rivers are alive, but what it would mean for us, ethically, legally, and imaginatively, to treat them as such.
Three Journeys, Three Rivers, Three Encounters
The book is organized around three major expeditions, each focusing on a river under existential threat. In Ecuador, Macfarlane travels with a mycologist whose work on ancient fungi expands the sense of what life means and how it might be recognized5. In India, he witnesses the struggle to save polluted and fragmented waterways, where courts have begun to consider rivers as rights-bearing entities, shifting law away from a human-centered perspective toward ecological justice57. In Quebec, he joins activists and Indigenous leaders fighting to protect the Magpie River from hydroelectric development, learning to ask the river itself what it needs57.
Braided through these stories is the more intimate narrative of the chalk stream near Macfarlane’s own home—a river that has shaped his personal landscape and serves as a microcosm for the global issues at stake7.
Legal and Philosophical Explorations
Macfarlane’s central argument is that rivers, like other elements of the natural world, have intrinsic value and agency. He draws on the emerging “Rights of Nature” movement, which has seen countries like Ecuador and New Zealand grant legal personhood to rivers, and explores the philosophical shift required to see rivers as “who” rather than “it”467. He contends that language shapes perception: if rivers are addressed as persons, our relationship with them changes fundamentally6.
The book is not just a philosophical treatise but a call to action, urging readers to recognize the interconnectedness of human and riverine fates. Macfarlane’s writing is both political and personal, blending advocacy with memoir and travelogue79.
Lyrical, Immersive Prose
Macfarlane’s prose is widely praised for its beauty and flow, mirroring the rivers he describes. His descriptions are vivid and evocative, capturing both the grandeur of wild landscapes and the subtlety of ecological relationships. Reviewers note that his paragraphs “flow like the water he admires: sometimes tranquil and easy, other times a tumbling, mixing, effervescent torrent”6. This literary quality makes the book as pleasurable to read as it is thought-provoking.
Intellectual Breadth and Depth
The book is rigorously researched, with a substantial glossary and bibliography, and engages with disciplines ranging from law and philosophy to ecology and Indigenous studies6. Macfarlane is adept at synthesizing complex ideas, presenting them in accessible, compelling ways. He is honest about the limits of our understanding, acknowledging that even if rivers have rights, we cannot truly know what a river would choose for itself8.
Personal and Political Engagement
Is a River Alive? is both Macfarlane’s most personal and most political book to date7. He shares his own process of “unlearning” anthropocentrism and invites readers to undertake a similar transformation. The book is lit by the voices of activists, scientists, and Indigenous leaders, making it a polyphonic work that resists simple answers74.
Timeliness and Relevance
The book’s focus on the legal and ethical status of rivers is acutely relevant in an era of environmental crisis. By highlighting real-world cases where rivers have been granted rights, Macfarlane moves the discussion from abstraction to action, demonstrating the tangible impact of changing how we relate to the natural world45.
Risk of Anthropomorphism
One criticism is that the book sometimes risks projecting human qualities onto rivers, a tendency Macfarlane himself acknowledges8. While he is careful to note the dangers of anthropomorphism, some readers may find the leap from metaphor to legal reality difficult to accept, especially given Western traditions of rationalism and objectivity68.
Potential for Idealism Over Practicality
While the book is rich in philosophical insight, it sometimes glosses over the practical challenges of implementing legal rights for rivers. The complexities of governance, enforcement, and the risk of rights becoming “performative nonsense” are touched upon but not always fully explored6. Critics may wish for a more detailed examination of how these ideals play out in messy, real-world contexts.
Occasional Density and Abstraction
For readers seeking straightforward narrative or clear-cut answers, Macfarlane’s book can be dense and abstract. The philosophical discussions, while illuminating, may at times feel removed from immediate action, and the poetic style, though beautiful, may not appeal to all tastes9.
Is a River Alive? is a passionate, immersive, and revelatory work that challenges readers to rethink their relationship with rivers and, by extension, the natural world. Its strengths lie in Macfarlane’s lyrical prose, intellectual rigor, and ability to weave personal narrative with urgent political and ethical questions. Its weaknesses—occasional abstraction, the risk of anthropomorphism, and a tendency toward idealism—are outweighed by its capacity to inspire debate and foster a more just, imaginative engagement with the living world678. Ultimately, Macfarlane’s book is a vital contribution to environmental literature, inviting us to see rivers—and perhaps all of nature—with new eyes.