From Desert Solitaire to Desert Solidarity

I finished Desert Solitaire, although by the end I was starting to lose interest, I must say. I'll probably go back and read the ending again sometime; maybe my mindset will be different by then.

Right now I'm reading the next book on the list, Writing Women's Worlds: Bedouin Stories, by Lila Abu-Lughod, a Palestinian-American anthropologist. She has written about the Bedouins of Egypt before. This time she focuses on women and aspects of their lives, from birth to death.

Lila writes beautifully, and the stories are very interesting and enlightening. One of things that has finally been made clear to me is the impact modernization has had on Muslim cultures. We think that modernization is all good, but it is really the reason for the tightening of restrictions on women. Before, in their rather isolated societies, women were freer, paradoxically, because the dangers of the outside world were not felt. Women were safe within their kinship circles because the men were all relatives. When the world intrudes with its strangers, women have to retreat to their households and spend all their time outside covered up to avoid being seen by non-relatives. It's not comfortable for them; they don't like it, but the reality of being surrounded by strangers leaves them with no alternative, given their cultural/religious restrictions of only being "themselves" around family.

Of course, we would say: change your culture, then! Not any easy or a quick solution, because women who try it are only viewed as non-honorable, "fallen" women (as they used to call them in our culture).

Lila's book takes us behind the scenes and shows us the women relatively unguarded and what they think. It's a fascinating look at a culture we don't often readily understand.

I'm enjoying the book very much. Though it is a scholarly work, I recommend it highly.

Mysteries of Man and Nature

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.

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.