A Brief Atlas of the Lighthouses at the End of the World
Written and illustrated by José Luis González Macías
Translated by Daniel Hahn
Summary from Goodreads:
A unique illustrated exploration of our favorite oceanic beacons and their haunted histories.
There is something beautiful and wild in the impossible architecture of lighthouses. These precariously perched structures have been the homes and workplaces of keepers whose romantic guardianship has saved countless lives from cruel seas. While that way of life may have faded away, as the lights go out and the buildings crumble, we still have their stories.
This collection of more than thirty tales spans the heights and depths of human the blind lighthouse keeper tending a light in the Arctic Circle, the intrepid young woman saving ships from wreck beginning at just age twelve, the desperate plight of a crew cut off for forty days with meager supplies, the lighthouse haunted by the clacking sound of a long-passed keeper’s ghostly typewriter.
Interweaving literary inspiration and elements from Jules Verne, Virginia Woolf, and Edgar Allan Poe and accompanied by beautiful illustrations, nautical charts, maps, architectural plans, and curious facts, these illuminating stories will transport the reader in a book as full of wonder as the far-flung lighthouses themselves.
QUIRKY STORIES AND A LITERARY Fascinating stories and anecdotes about each lighthouse include such features as notable inhabitants (Virginia Woolf), tantalizing on-site discoveries (Edgar Allen Poe’s unfinished writings), and weird twists, such as a never-before-seen species made extinct by a lighthouse keeper’s cat (Tibbles).
UNIQUELY The gorgeous pointillistic full-page illustrations, equally beautiful location maps, and detailed building diagrams make this a distinctive celebration of these fascinating structures and their places in the world.
Confession:
This was a very enjoyable nonfiction book about lighthouses. I have always been a bit fascinated by lighthouses. All those lonely lighthouse keepers, many of them out of touch with anyone for long stretches of time, but doing a very important job. This book in many ways celebrates those beacons of light in some of the most remote places on earth.
This is a very simple book on the surface. There are gorgeous illustrations of each lighthouse, a one page description of each of them, and then another two page spread giving more details about the construction, type of light and a nautical map showing where in the world these lighthouses are. It is a book you can pick up and just peruse a page or two whenever the urge hits, or it could be read in one fell swoop.
I really enjoyed the little one page stories about the lighthouses. Some of them were a bit mundane, but they all showed how important these lighthouses were. There are many famous lighthouses that have interesting stories surrounding either their construction or some mysterious happenings that have captivated story tellers and movie directors. There are of course the heroic rescuing of shipwrecked sailors among these as well. There was even one lighthouse keeper who was blind! The saddest story though was about Tibbles the cat. He was brought to a remote island lighthouse where he captured a new species of bird. Between the cat and the many scientists wanting to collect specimens of this bird, found nowhere else, caused a very quick extinction of the species.
The author doesn’t go into great detail about the construction of these lighthouses, but many of them were built on small islands of mostly rock in very dangerous waters. How they were able to accomplish this is amazing to me, especially because many of them were built in the 1800’s without any modern day machines to make it easier. It was also interesting that most of these lighthouses have survived and are still operational, although all of them have been automated. There are a few that have been left to fall back into the sea though which is a bit sad.
If you are at all interested in lighthouses this is a must read. Beautifully written and illustrated it gives you a sense of what it might be like to live and work at the end of the world.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 
I love lighthouses and we always walk to any that we find out about when we’re on holiday. Adding gorgeous illustrations makes this sound like a book that I really want to read.
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It really is a lovely book. I hope you enjoy it!
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I’ve ordered it from the city library😀
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I enjoyed browsing this book too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
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