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''Pilgrim at Tinker Creek'' is a 1974 nonfiction narrative book by American author Annie Dillard. Told from a first-person point of view, the book details an unnamed narrator's explorations near her home, and various contemplations on nature and life. The title refers to Tinker Creek, which is outside Roanoke in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. Dillard began writing ''Pilgrim'' in the spring of 1973, using her personal journals as inspiration. Separated into four sections that signify each of the seasons, the narrative takes place over the period of one year. The book records the narrator's thoughts on solitude, writing, and religion, as well as scientific observations on the flora and fauna she encounters. Touching upon themes of faith, nature, and awareness, ''Pilgrim'' is also noted for its study of theodicy and the inherent cruelty of the natural world. The author has described it as a "book of theology", and she rejects the label of nature writer. Dillard considers the story a "single sustained nonfiction narrative", although several chapters have been anthologized separately in magazines and other publications. The book is analogous in design and genre to Henry David Thoreau's ''Walden'' (1854), the subject of Dillard's master's thesis at Hollins College. Critics often compare Dillard to authors from the Transcendentalist movement; Edward Abbey in particular deemed her Thoreau's "true heir". ''Pilgrim at Tinker Creek'' was published by Harper's Magazine Press shortly after Dillard's first book, a volume of poetry titled ''Tickets for a Prayer Wheel''. Since its initial publication, ''Pilgrim'' has been lauded by critics. It won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-fiction, and in 1998 it was included in Modern Library's list of 100 Best Nonfiction Books. ==Background and publication== Dillard, the daughter of an oil company executive, grew up in an upper middle-class home in Pittsburgh.〔Scheese (1996), p. 121〕 She read voraciously; one of her favorite books was Ann Haven Morgan's ''The Field Book of Ponds and Streams'', which she compared to the ''Book of Common Prayer''; in painstaking detail, it instructed on the study and collection of plants and insects.〔Dillard (1994), p. 173〕 She attended Hollins College in Roanoke County, Virginia, receiving both a bachelor's (1967) and a master's degree (1968). At Hollins she came under the tutelage of poet and creative writing professor Richard Henry Wilde Dillard, whom she married in 1965. She would later state that Richard taught her everything she knew about writing.〔Smith (1991), p. 7〕 Her master's thesis, "Walden Pond and Thoreau", studied the eponymous pond as a structuring device for Henry David Thoreau's ''Walden''.〔Parrish (1998), p. 149〕 Dillard's knowledge of Thoreau's works was an obvious inspiration, although critics have pointed to many differences between their two works. However, in a nod to his influence, Dillard mentions within the text that she named her goldfish Ellery Channing, after one of Thoreau's closest friends.〔McIlroy (1994), p. 91〕 After graduating in 1968, she continued to live in Virginia, near the Blue Ridge Mountains, where she wrote full-time. At first she concentrated solely on poetry, which she had written and published when she was an undergraduate.〔Parrish (1998), p. 146〕 She began keeping a journal in 1970, in which she recorded her daily walks around Tinker Creek. Her journals would eventually consist of 20 volumes.〔Scheese (1996), p. 126〕 In 1971, after suffering from a serious bout of pneumonia, she decided to write a full-length book dedicated to her nature writings.〔Scheese (1996), p. 122〕 Dillard wrote the first half of ''Pilgrim'' at her home in spring 1973, and the remaining half the following summer in a study carrel "that overlooked a tar-and-gravel roof" at the Hollins College library.〔Dillard (1989), p. 27〕 She would later explain her choice of writing location as stemming from her wanting to avoid "appealing workplaces .... One wants a room with no view, so imagination can meet memory in the dark."〔Scheese (1996), p. 125〕 When she first began writing the book, Dillard would only dedicate one or two hours a day to the task; by the last two months, however, she was writing nearly 15–16 hours a day.〔Smith (1991), p. 8〕 Dillard's primary reader for ''Pilgrim'' was a Hollins professor called John Rees Moore. After finishing a chapter, she would bring it to Moore to critique. Moore specifically recommended that she expand the book's first chapter "to make clear, and to state boldly, what it was () was up to," a suggestion that Dillard at first dismissed, but would later admit was good advice.〔Parrish (1998), p. 138〕 Previous to publication, chapters of the book appeared in publications including ''Harper's Magazine'', ''The Atlantic'', and ''The Living Wilderness''.〔 ''Pilgrim at Tinker Creek'' was published by Harper's Magazine Press in 1974, and was dedicated to Dillard's husband. Editor in chief Larry Freundlich remarked upon first reading the book: "I never expected to see a manuscript this good in my life .... The chance to publish a book like this is what publishers are here for."〔Smith (1991), p. 1〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pilgrim at Tinker Creek」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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