This week I've started Desert Solitaire and also finished John Grisham's latest, The Racketeer. The Grisham mystery was a bit puzzling until toward the end when things started to fall into place and we were finally told what was really going on. Some interesting twists made the book a good read, but I'm still wondering who the racketeer was . . .
Desert Solitaire is compelling--more so than I expected. Edward Abbey was a strange, interesting person, apparently, and in this book gives us a unique perspective. I have no trouble visualizing what he is describing, though I do long for some pictures. One disturbing scene, though, was when he decided to kill a rabbit as an experiment--he wondered if he could survive in the wilderness without weapons other than what he found around him. When he saw the rabbit, he picked up a rock and threw it at the animal's head, killing him. He left the poor rabbit for the scavengers to claim and says he felt no guilt, though he did say that he had no need to repeat the experiment. I'm sure the rabbits would be happy to know that.
The book is written 10 years after the events, which took place around 1956, when Arches National Park was still pretty primitive and not very popular with tourists (mostly because of accessibility issues). Abbey spends some pages lamenting over the government's decision in the intervening years to develop many of the National Parks and make them more tourist friendly, thereby spoiling them, in Abbey's estimation.
I kind of have to agree with him, though I would probably be one of those who wouldn't go to the parks if I couldn't drive to the sights.
Anyway, I'm enjoying the book.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Monday, December 24, 2012
She Read, Alphabetically
I haven't posted lately because I haven't been inspired to write about what I've been reading lately. I've been in the doldrums, it seems, at making a dent in my book collection, so I decided on a new tack--going alphabetically by author's name. Being random, the choice ends up out of my hands, which is fine, since I can't seem to otherwise decide what book to read next.
The book first on the list is Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire, a classic of environmental/travel writing. I've started it and I think I'm going to enjoy it. The writer's voice is soothing, poetic, unique. It's an oldish book, first published in 1968. It's a chronicle of the author's three seasons as a park ranger with the National Park Service at Arches National Monument, work that was largely solitary. I'll let you know what I think as I go along.
I continue to read Understanding Biological Psychology, albeit slowly, and I'm also reading Nancy Drew mysteries over the phone with my mother at a fast clip. They're actually pretty well written (though not as well written as the Little House books). I'm enjoying them now that I've become used to the many "wrylies" the author uses. Maybe that was the style back in the thirties?
I'm beginning to notice, though, that the books have been somewhat updated from the original version, probably to make them more understandable to a modern audience of girls who are apparently still reading them.
I hope to post again soon with updates of Edward Abbey and whatever comes next. Stay tuned.
The book first on the list is Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire, a classic of environmental/travel writing. I've started it and I think I'm going to enjoy it. The writer's voice is soothing, poetic, unique. It's an oldish book, first published in 1968. It's a chronicle of the author's three seasons as a park ranger with the National Park Service at Arches National Monument, work that was largely solitary. I'll let you know what I think as I go along.
I continue to read Understanding Biological Psychology, albeit slowly, and I'm also reading Nancy Drew mysteries over the phone with my mother at a fast clip. They're actually pretty well written (though not as well written as the Little House books). I'm enjoying them now that I've become used to the many "wrylies" the author uses. Maybe that was the style back in the thirties?
I'm beginning to notice, though, that the books have been somewhat updated from the original version, probably to make them more understandable to a modern audience of girls who are apparently still reading them.
I hope to post again soon with updates of Edward Abbey and whatever comes next. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
David Crockett: A Fascinating Failure
Well, I'm finally reading something other than mystery or suspense thrillers. I started last week with the history of David Crockett, a biography by Michael Wallis, David Crockett: The Lion of the West, a book in which he emerges as a real person, and quite different from the legendary Crockett of TV and movies. Oddly enough, though, he is more like another folksy character who seemed to have been more invented than real: Will Rogers.
The more I read this biography, the more I identify Mr. Crockett with Will Rogers. They were both great storytellers and charismatic figures who were not overly successful in anything other than show business. David Crockett was an interesting fellow, not the least of which because his life was so improbable.
I'm learning a great deal about the times as well as the life of David Crockett. One of the sad facts of the early 19th century is the relentless push west and the devastating consequences for the native peoples of our continent. The urgency of grabbing more and more land for those settling here was at the root of many of the policies of our government up to the Civil War. Not only its policy toward the indigenous people, but also with respect to the waging of war. Not only the Indian wars but the War of 1812 and the war to grab Texas were started with the idea of getting more and more land to settle and farm. Such policies set the stage for later ones that helped settle lands on the Great Plains, lands not really suitable for farming, and that ultimately led to the Dust Bowl and other disasters of the twentieth century.
David Crockett was in the midst of all the changes and for a man who characterized himself as a simple country fellow, he seemed to be involved in politics to a great extent. As successful as he was at the state level with getting bills passed that benefited the poor, at the national level he was largely unsuccessful, despite his many efforts.
Crockett was a risk taker, and unfortunately, he seldom won the bets he made with himself, especially when it came to producing income for his large family. Nature and bad luck seemed to conspire against him as they did his father before him, so that the only time he made money was when he worked for the government as a representative.
Eventually his wife left him after many years of being neglected and forgotten at home while he was off on various ill-fated adventures that did little to help to diminish the debts he continued to accumulate or to secure his family's financial future.
I'm now at the point in the book where Crockett, having failed as a politician for the last time, decides to go to Texas and start over. We all know how things go from there.
This is a very well written book that is quite engaging. More later.
The more I read this biography, the more I identify Mr. Crockett with Will Rogers. They were both great storytellers and charismatic figures who were not overly successful in anything other than show business. David Crockett was an interesting fellow, not the least of which because his life was so improbable.
I'm learning a great deal about the times as well as the life of David Crockett. One of the sad facts of the early 19th century is the relentless push west and the devastating consequences for the native peoples of our continent. The urgency of grabbing more and more land for those settling here was at the root of many of the policies of our government up to the Civil War. Not only its policy toward the indigenous people, but also with respect to the waging of war. Not only the Indian wars but the War of 1812 and the war to grab Texas were started with the idea of getting more and more land to settle and farm. Such policies set the stage for later ones that helped settle lands on the Great Plains, lands not really suitable for farming, and that ultimately led to the Dust Bowl and other disasters of the twentieth century.
David Crockett was in the midst of all the changes and for a man who characterized himself as a simple country fellow, he seemed to be involved in politics to a great extent. As successful as he was at the state level with getting bills passed that benefited the poor, at the national level he was largely unsuccessful, despite his many efforts.
Crockett was a risk taker, and unfortunately, he seldom won the bets he made with himself, especially when it came to producing income for his large family. Nature and bad luck seemed to conspire against him as they did his father before him, so that the only time he made money was when he worked for the government as a representative.
Eventually his wife left him after many years of being neglected and forgotten at home while he was off on various ill-fated adventures that did little to help to diminish the debts he continued to accumulate or to secure his family's financial future.
I'm now at the point in the book where Crockett, having failed as a politician for the last time, decides to go to Texas and start over. We all know how things go from there.
This is a very well written book that is quite engaging. More later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)