David Day
Throughout
history humans have had a strong fascination with extinct animals. From the vanished
creatures that roamed the Earth before us to the fresh death of a species that
has walked with us, we hold on to the lasting impressions that they leave us
with, and to the mystery that clings to their memory.
Nevermore: A Book of Hours by David Day takes the reader
through the first glimpses, the last sightings, and the wonders associated with
some of the world’s extinct species. Over thirty years of research have been
poured into the text, which gives detailed and gripping accounts of animals
long lost and forgotten. The book is written to mirror a twenty-four hour
clock, with each of the extinct species Day writes about given its own hour, which
is in turn divided into four sections: Illustration, Reportage, Commentary, and
Elegy. Within this structure we are able to discover, learn about, and mourn each
mammal, fowl, and reptile in the book.
The organization
and style of Day’s book are fascinating. Through the vivid graphics and the accounts
of both first encounters and last deaths, we walk in the shoes of those who
long ago experienced these animals in reality.
The extinction of each creature became much more real for me as I was
taken on a journey through time, and I felt guilty for being a member of a species
that killed so many of them. Our own mortality as humans became a focal point as
well as I turned each page to find the death of another species not so far
removed from our own.
But not
every part of this journey through twenty-four hours of death is depressing. In
fact, many species within the book’s pages can still be found in some way
throughout the world through subspecies that
bear similarities to their departed ancestors. As I turned the page on the last
animal, the Heath Hen, the elegy Day included called out not just to this
forgotten fowl, but to all the creatures listed through the pages and the hours
of his book: “All around us nature is full of casualties, but they do not
interrupt the stream of life…. We are in touch with the reality of extinction.”
The fact
of extinction is not something that we can avoid or ignore. It is something
that threatens every creature on this planet, and may one day claim humanity
itself. I think the most important lesson within these pages is that we must never
forget this, and that we should cherish every day, every hour, and every memory
of those creatures that linger with us on this Earth.
- Cassie
Leigh Clancy
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