UnderlandUnderland
Score Modern
What it's about
Robert Macfarlane travels down into the world beneath our feet: prehistoric paintings in Norwegian sea caves, the catacombs under Paris, a dark-matter laboratory deep in a Yorkshire mine, the fungal networks that link the roots of trees, the meltwater shafts of Greenland's ice, and a tomb in Finland built to hold nuclear waste for a hundred thousand years.
Why it's worth reading
The Guardian named it one of the best books of the 21st century. Macfarlane is one of the finest nature writers alive, and here he makes deep time, the time of rock and ice, feel thrilling and urgent.
You'll love it if you liked
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
The Snow Leopard
Pilgrim at Tinker CreekGood to know
The writing is lyrical and sometimes dense. Some passages in tight caves are hard reading for claustrophobic readers.
By the numbers
- Readers84 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics51 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller22 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #33 of the 119 science and ideas books we rank
- #91 of the 198 history books we rank
- #267 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #525 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
True story
More by Robert Macfarlane
If you like this, read next
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
Barrayar
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Quick answers
Is Underland worth reading?
Yes. The Guardian named it one of the best books of the 21st century. It ranks #525 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 78.1 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Underland about?
Robert Macfarlane travels down into the world beneath our feet: prehistoric paintings in Norwegian sea caves, the catacombs under Paris, a dark-matter laboratory deep in a Yorkshire mine, the fungal networks that link the roots of trees, the meltwater shafts of Greenland's ice, and a tomb in Finland built to hold nuclear waste for a hundred thousand years.
How long does it take to read Underland?
About 12 hours (488 pages), or about 3 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Underland?
If you liked it, try The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert, The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen or Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard.