The October Selection: Desert Solitaire

Desert Solitaire

“A venturesome minority will always be eager to set out on their own, and no obstacles should be placed in their path; let them take risks, for Godsake, let them get lost, sunburnt, stranded, drowned, eaten by bears, buried alive under avalanches - that is the right and privilege of any free American.”

- - - Edward Abbey


For the month of October let us now take a little field trip of the soul. I had a while to ponder my book choice, so I debated several different ones in my mind. But when I picked up Desert Solitaire: A Season In The Wilderness by Edward Abby, and read it, I knew with absolute certainty that this was the one.

This was not my first trip into Abbey’s country. I read the Monkey Wrench Gang a couple of years ago. It’s a great book too. But this one, my friend Colby assured me, would change my life. I’m not sure that it has changed my life. But it did evoke the most passionate response from me of any book that I have read in a very long time. Therefore I can’t help but share it.

Edward Abbey believed that, “Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.” That is what all of his writing is about. The Monkey Wrench Gang, his most famous, and controversial novel, was a best-selling fiction about a loose gang of misfits who roam the desert attempting to right the wrongs of industrial exploitation of the Earth; their ultimate goal to blow up the Glen Canyon Dam. It is credited as a revolutionary flashpoint in radical environmental movements, and the term “Monkey wrenching” is still used to describe acts of vandalism, industrial sabotage, or what some might call eco-terrorism.

Desert Solitaire, on the other hand, comes from way back in his younger days. It is a more simple, purer, less politically incendiary story taken from personal journals he wrote in his time as a park ranger in Arches National Park. This was way back in the day when Arches was just a remote, scarcely visited park way off the beaten tourist track. The roads were still rugged jeep trails. You could still be alone there, and experience some peace and quiet. Now you can scarcely escape the flow of Winnebagos and Hummers loaded up with crazed camera-toting tourists who come there to take the same snapshots that everyone takes without ever leaving the air-conditioned comfort of their steel boxes on wheels. I am a photographer myself, and yet even I can not understand what motivates these people to drive across the country from West Virginia with their screaming children so that they can whiz around in their cars at the butt crack of dawn to capture a photograph that looks identical to the post cards you can buy at the gift shop.

Abbey’s book is about the value of the simple experience of being there, or anywhere else where a person can go to be alone. He evokes the beauty, and mystery, and wonder that comes with being “true to the earth”. He tells the stories of his adventures in and around Moab with incendiary wit, irreverence, and an unholy passion. His ideas are politically incorrect on both sides of the debate. Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat you can get equally pissed off. Personally, I agree whole-heartedly with each and every stinking word of his filthy report. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me sick to my stomach. I was filled with joy and rage all at the same time. It’s no wonder that the likes of Hunter S. Thomson and Cormac McCarthy have cited him as an influence on their work.

So, if you have ever floated down a river with good people, or jumped off a cliff, or drank unpurified water from a mountain stream, or got lost in the wilderness, or laid down on cold sandstone to stare at the milky way, or lived out of a backpack, or surprised a rattlesnake, or questioned authority, or jumped a fence, or talked to strangers, or kissed a girl, or a boy, or stepped into quicksand, or gotten high on life, or pulled cactus needles from your best friends eye, or dreamed mystical dreams in the desert, or done something wrong just because you could, then I highly recommend this book to you. And if you have done none of those things then I am truly sorry, and I insist you must read this book. It could change your life.

So let’s do this.

Da Shack

Well - this book has obviously brought out a lot of emotions in everyone who has read it so far. That within itself I find very interesting. I do agree when Shawn said the writing wasn't the best. I have seen much, much better. However I am thankful I read this book now. For everyone who doesn't know my mother died surprisingly in July of this year. Which brought on a lot of feelings while reading. I was able to look past some of the "prechy" conversations between God and Mack - that was probably the worst part of the book for me.

Two of my favorite parts so far is when Mack first gets to the shack and he is reminded of his great sadness. He gets so angry that someone might have been toying with his emotions that he walks out of the shack and yells at God. I can honestly say I knew exactly how he was feeling at the moment. In fact, I found I yelled the same things to God desperate for any hope. And of course my other favorite part was when Mack sees Missy underneath the waterfall. I couldn't stop crying, just imagining what a beautiful experience that would be if I could see my mother again, and know she was ok... just the thought of seeing her again tugs at my heart strings.

Although I haven't quite finished the book yet (I should be done by the end of this next week) the message that this book brings is beautiful. The author is able to break the barriers of the views we have on God. The last thing I picture when I think of God is a black women. But I could understand where they were coming from. I hope others around the world are able to pick up this simple book and when done have more of an appreciation for God.

As far as Brandon's book choice goes... I won't lie, I am worried. :)

Pressures on! Make it a good one babe!

Draggin' Me To The Shack

It was with some reluctance that I began reading The Shack, especially as it quickly became clear that it was a big, fat, christian sunday-school lesson. I'm not sure what I was expecting, something like a more spiritually uplifting No Country For Old Men is what I had in my head from the descriptions I was told. But never mind that. I do strive to take things as they are, free of my twisted expectations, and I am determined to stick with the book club choices. After all, the primary benefit of this game, as I see it, is that it can persuade me to read a different set of books. It's good to get dragged out of my box.

My box, if you will, does not usually include books of a very religious nature. I have too many bad memories of my 18 year guilt complex. But that is why I ultimately found The Shack to be refreshingly thought-provoking.

My pride rebelled against it at first. After all, it takes some serious gall for this man to write a book about God. "What does he know?" I asked myself. And then I would get peeved by its brazen declarations of its own goodness, and the inevitability that it would change my life, and if I don't like it then it wasn't meant for me.

"I'll be the judge of that." (That's right. I talked back to this book a lot.)

In spite of my own inner belief that I know more about God than anyone else, I had to admire the fact that this guy had the guts to cut through all the bullcrap and write a book about God. He didn't hide behind symbolism, or write a veiled allegory about a grandfather whom we could choose to interpret as God. He simply wrote God directly into it. That takes some balls. So after some initial kicking and screaming I just decided to go with it. Take it on its own level. And I found myself actually enjoying it, and thinking a lot about it.

I really respect that this book was able to take a deeper look at what "christianity" should be about but without making me feel like a terrible person. It has always seemed to me that a lot of religion is based on the idea that I am a terrible person. If everyone followed the example that this book sets than the world would truly be a beautiful place. My favorite part of all is when Mack asks Jesus what it means to be a good christian, and Jesus responds saying, "Who said anything about being a christian? I'm not a christian." I don't like the way religion is often used as an excuse for people to put themselves above others. The parts of this book that touched me the most were the parts about freeing yourself from hierarchies, and expectations, and worldly judgement so that you can be open to the mutual love, and relationships that we as humans were made for.

So in short: this boook didn't really change my life. But I did like it a lot. It forced me to think about a lot of things that, quite frankly, I don't like to think about. And that's not a bad thing at all. So I appreciate it. Thanks Karalee for picking it for this club.

Just thought I'd post this and get people talking about it. And, on another note, I will be posting next month's book choice in the next few days. So brace yourselves. I'm definitely going to throw down with something totally different. Just returning the favor. ;)