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Looking for Humboldt & Searching for German Footprints in New Mexico and Beyond by Erika Schelby
nostalgia_reader's review
I cannot accurately give a star rating to this, as I skimmed much of the book and completely skipped over some chapters.
This book has a huge thesis to cover--I felt like this was an example of a topic that needed narrowing down much more before it could be approved for a class paper. However, this isn't a class paper, so it can be as sprawling as it'd like to be! But it still seemed too wide-reaching, with no clear narrative and many instances of inserting random bits of information that never really tied into the chapter's topic.
The chapters I did read through were interesting, especially those about Humboldt and about the Civil War era in the southwest. But many other chapters seemed jumbled--here's some biography of an important German, but here's some social criticism, but also some personal experience. There were also many spots where the author brushed off a topic that she had started to write about, but then seemed to realize wasn't relevant to the chapter's topic and was too broad to continue with.
The argument that the German culture has been demonized since WWII was one that I was interested in, but still wasn't sure about. There are many other cultures that have it much worse off than Germans do, but Schelby does make a good case for the fact that many important German works--scientific, literary, musical, etc.--were erased or ignored during the 1930s and 40s. It's a slippery line to cross nowadays, making a European, white culture seem like the victim, but the erasing of Germans from certain points in history is something that existed and is intriguing to learn about.
A few chapters in, I did search out a Humboldt biography ([b:The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World|23995249|The Invention of Nature Alexander von Humboldt's New World|Andrea Wulf|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1452449264s/23995249.jpg|43595986]) and looked into Chamisso's [b:Peter Schlemihl|6107201|Peter Schlemihl|Adelbert von Chamisso|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1416863828s/6107201.jpg|1230252], so if nothing else, I acquired many new tbr books from reading this!
I cannot say for certain who I would recommend this to, if anyone. People with strong interests in German history, U.S. southwest history, or Alexander Humboldt himself will definitely find various parts of this interesting. However, if you're looking for something with a tight thesis, I would avoid this. I'm not harping too much on the narrative style at this point, since I did read and ARC copy, and narrative connections and transitions may still be in the editing machine.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review!
(Cross posted on my blog.)
This book has a huge thesis to cover--I felt like this was an example of a topic that needed narrowing down much more before it could be approved for a class paper. However, this isn't a class paper, so it can be as sprawling as it'd like to be! But it still seemed too wide-reaching, with no clear narrative and many instances of inserting random bits of information that never really tied into the chapter's topic.
The chapters I did read through were interesting, especially those about Humboldt and about the Civil War era in the southwest. But many other chapters seemed jumbled--here's some biography of an important German, but here's some social criticism, but also some personal experience. There were also many spots where the author brushed off a topic that she had started to write about, but then seemed to realize wasn't relevant to the chapter's topic and was too broad to continue with.
The argument that the German culture has been demonized since WWII was one that I was interested in, but still wasn't sure about. There are many other cultures that have it much worse off than Germans do, but Schelby does make a good case for the fact that many important German works--scientific, literary, musical, etc.--were erased or ignored during the 1930s and 40s. It's a slippery line to cross nowadays, making a European, white culture seem like the victim, but the erasing of Germans from certain points in history is something that existed and is intriguing to learn about.
A few chapters in, I did search out a Humboldt biography ([b:The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World|23995249|The Invention of Nature Alexander von Humboldt's New World|Andrea Wulf|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1452449264s/23995249.jpg|43595986]) and looked into Chamisso's [b:Peter Schlemihl|6107201|Peter Schlemihl|Adelbert von Chamisso|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1416863828s/6107201.jpg|1230252], so if nothing else, I acquired many new tbr books from reading this!
I cannot say for certain who I would recommend this to, if anyone. People with strong interests in German history, U.S. southwest history, or Alexander Humboldt himself will definitely find various parts of this interesting. However, if you're looking for something with a tight thesis, I would avoid this. I'm not harping too much on the narrative style at this point, since I did read and ARC copy, and narrative connections and transitions may still be in the editing machine.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review!
(Cross posted on my blog.)
auntblh's review
1.0
I was selected as a winner in the Goodreads giveaway for this book. I had previously read and enjoyed The Invention of Nature: Alexander van Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf and was excited to possibly learn more about him and his ties to New Mexico. Alas, several chapters in and I was still looking for Humboldt and trying to figure out what the author was actually writing about. The writing seemed to be disjointed with seemingly unrelated topics in the same paragraph and chapter. I tried to skim and skip some chapters but that just confused me even further so I finally gave up.
skjam's review
3.0
The author is a German immigrant to New Mexico. While studying the history of her new state, she learned that Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), the famous Prussian naturalist and explorer, had passed through what would become New Mexico in his journey through New Spain. Inspired, she decided to learn more about him and other Germans who had influenced the history of New Mexico.
This volume is the result of her research, a sprawling look at history and a personal memoir. It takes the reader from the days of the Holy Roman Empire, when the thrones of Spain and Germany were one, to the time of the Apache Wars, with a bit on the Twentieth Century’s erasure of German influence on New Mexican (and American) history.
Good stuff: This volume is well-researched, with a large pool of resources, some of which are newer to the field. I learned quite a bit about specific minor historical figures I had never heard of before, and some facts about New Mexico. There’s an excellent bibliography, multiple illustrations throughout, and an index.
However, there’s a bit too much sprawl, and many sections felt unorganized. I felt that this book could have used a stronger editor to help the author pull the narrative together. The author’s personal interjections also became distracting from time to time.
In particular, I felt the author overplayed the effects of World War One on crushing the appreciation of German culture and historical influence in America, and downplayed the true finishing blow of World War Two, in which Germany was much less excused from culpability.
That said, recommended to those interested in either New Mexico or German-American history.
Disclaimer: I received a download of this book through Booksirens for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was requested or offered.
This volume is the result of her research, a sprawling look at history and a personal memoir. It takes the reader from the days of the Holy Roman Empire, when the thrones of Spain and Germany were one, to the time of the Apache Wars, with a bit on the Twentieth Century’s erasure of German influence on New Mexican (and American) history.
Good stuff: This volume is well-researched, with a large pool of resources, some of which are newer to the field. I learned quite a bit about specific minor historical figures I had never heard of before, and some facts about New Mexico. There’s an excellent bibliography, multiple illustrations throughout, and an index.
However, there’s a bit too much sprawl, and many sections felt unorganized. I felt that this book could have used a stronger editor to help the author pull the narrative together. The author’s personal interjections also became distracting from time to time.
In particular, I felt the author overplayed the effects of World War One on crushing the appreciation of German culture and historical influence in America, and downplayed the true finishing blow of World War Two, in which Germany was much less excused from culpability.
That said, recommended to those interested in either New Mexico or German-American history.
Disclaimer: I received a download of this book through Booksirens for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was requested or offered.