anirams's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
2.5
Didn't age well. Or rather, he had some views that resonated with some people in the late 60s and on but now are just debased as misanthropy and a huge lack of compassion. The conflict I have with this book is he uses racial and derogatory language/concepts, but then seems to be somewhat aware of hardships and inequity that have always disfavored some people for others; but on top of that, he doesn't seem remotely aware of his own privilege.
carmenere's review against another edition
4.0
"The desert says nothing. Completely passive, acted upon but never acting,
the desert lies there like the bare skeleton of Being, spare, sparse, austere,
utterly worthless, inviting not love but contemplation."
The reader is taken on a lonely and intimate sojourn to the canyon lands of southeastern Utah as experienced through the eyes of Abbey while employed as a park ranger near Moab, Utah in the late l950's. His knowledge of flora and fauna are quite evident as he identifies the landscape surrounding his government issued trailer acting both as home and workplace.
Later, his hiking expeditions through rarely seen side canyons and hard to reach waterfalls are detailed and mesmerizing.
Abbey laments the lunacy of vacationers who drive through the parks yet never get out of their cars to explore, the affects of population growth and the lack of conservation employed even by the United States government.
He touches upon Mormons, the quest for mineral rights and riches, cowboys, old western lore, the lure of searching for a treasure not well defined and what we as a people have lost to man made reservoirs.
I have traveled this road and sadly, with the exception of short walks through Zion and Bryce Canyon, stayed mostly in my air conditioned car. It saddens me now to think upon the treasure we have within our borders which sometimes is taken for granted and utilized poorly.
the desert lies there like the bare skeleton of Being, spare, sparse, austere,
utterly worthless, inviting not love but contemplation."
The reader is taken on a lonely and intimate sojourn to the canyon lands of southeastern Utah as experienced through the eyes of Abbey while employed as a park ranger near Moab, Utah in the late l950's. His knowledge of flora and fauna are quite evident as he identifies the landscape surrounding his government issued trailer acting both as home and workplace.
Later, his hiking expeditions through rarely seen side canyons and hard to reach waterfalls are detailed and mesmerizing.
Abbey laments the lunacy of vacationers who drive through the parks yet never get out of their cars to explore, the affects of population growth and the lack of conservation employed even by the United States government.
He touches upon Mormons, the quest for mineral rights and riches, cowboys, old western lore, the lure of searching for a treasure not well defined and what we as a people have lost to man made reservoirs.
I have traveled this road and sadly, with the exception of short walks through Zion and Bryce Canyon, stayed mostly in my air conditioned car. It saddens me now to think upon the treasure we have within our borders which sometimes is taken for granted and utilized poorly.
willjonesreads's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't know anything about this book before I opened it; a friend of mine was reading it, and I took it as a sign to borrow his copy when I encountered an allusion to Abbey in another book I was reading. Ecologically and philosophically-minded literature is close to my heart, so I figured it would be an enjoyable read. As such, I was not aware of any controversy around Abbey as a person--- an ignorance which Abbey himself relieved me of on the second page of the book:
The book is part autobiography, part nature writing, part identification guide, part musings on society, and part folklore, all woven together by Abbey's curmudgeonly, hypocritical, and blatantly prejudiced perspectives on the wilderness. He does not hold himself back from his description of Utah and Arches National Park, instead simply trying his best to speak what he sees:
What does Abbey actually have to say after launching forth boldly?
In one viewpoint, very little. One of his only reliable qualities is his inconsistency: after whinging about the presence of cars in the parks, the creep of civilization into the wilderness, and misguidedness of cities, he exults in driving through the unpaved wilderness, disturbs countless sites for his personal pleasure, and returns to New York City every winter. Many of his explorations are (self-admittedly) driven by ego and selfishness, with a veneer of self-satisfaction lightly brushed over most of his descriptions.
In another, this slim book is rife with insight and flavor. His hypocrisy cannot be avoided, but this adds to the treatment---after all, without a radical change in the substance of human society and values, there is no way to engage with the natural world without revealing inconsistencies in our values. Abbey leaves the theory behind and gives an authentic accounting of a particularly American environmentalism, laced with the wilderness philosophy of Muir and late 20th-century libertarianism. It serves as an excellent time capsule, rich with both insight and (more importantly) error characteristic of early 60s American environmentalism.
I cannot contest the accuracy of Abbey's disclaimer, and I hear his apology, even if I don't necessarily accept it. I enjoyed this book, and although I wish I could have been reading it out West, his descriptions were so lucid I could almost believe I was.
4/5
"Certain faults will be obvious to the general reader, of course, and for these I wish to apologize. I quite agree that much of the book will seem coarse, rude, bad-tempered, violently prejudiced, unconstructive---even frankly antisocial in its point of view. Serious critics, serious librarians, serious associate professors of English will if they read this work dislike it intensely; at least I hope so. To others I can only say that if the book has virtues they cannot be disentangled from the faults; that there is a way of being wrong which is also sometimes necessarily right."
The book is part autobiography, part nature writing, part identification guide, part musings on society, and part folklore, all woven together by Abbey's curmudgeonly, hypocritical, and blatantly prejudiced perspectives on the wilderness. He does not hold himself back from his description of Utah and Arches National Park, instead simply trying his best to speak what he sees:
"What is the peculiar quality or character of the desert that distinguishes it, in spiritual appeal, from other forms of landscape in trying to isolate this peculiarity, if it exists at all and is not simply an illusion, we must beware of a danger well known to explorers of both the micro- and the macrocosmic---that of confusing the thing observed with the mind of the observer, of constructing not a picture of external reality but simply a mirror of the thinker. Can this danger be avoided without falling into an opposite but related error, that of separating too deeply the observer and the thing observed, subject and object and again falsifying out view of the world? There is no way out of these difficulties---you might as well try running Cataract Canyon without hitting a rock. Best to launch forth boldly, with or without life jackets, keep your matches dry and pray for the best."
What does Abbey actually have to say after launching forth boldly?
In one viewpoint, very little. One of his only reliable qualities is his inconsistency: after whinging about the presence of cars in the parks, the creep of civilization into the wilderness, and misguidedness of cities, he exults in driving through the unpaved wilderness, disturbs countless sites for his personal pleasure, and returns to New York City every winter. Many of his explorations are (self-admittedly) driven by ego and selfishness, with a veneer of self-satisfaction lightly brushed over most of his descriptions.
In another, this slim book is rife with insight and flavor. His hypocrisy cannot be avoided, but this adds to the treatment---after all, without a radical change in the substance of human society and values, there is no way to engage with the natural world without revealing inconsistencies in our values. Abbey leaves the theory behind and gives an authentic accounting of a particularly American environmentalism, laced with the wilderness philosophy of Muir and late 20th-century libertarianism. It serves as an excellent time capsule, rich with both insight and (more importantly) error characteristic of early 60s American environmentalism.
I cannot contest the accuracy of Abbey's disclaimer, and I hear his apology, even if I don't necessarily accept it. I enjoyed this book, and although I wish I could have been reading it out West, his descriptions were so lucid I could almost believe I was.
4/5
jaloria's review against another edition
4.0
There is so much to despise about this book, yet, I truly enjoyed reading it.
crgs's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book as I embarked on my first college experience. I moved down to Arizona and had just recently met someone that I wanted to get to know more. He gave me this book, I loved it, and then I fell in love with him. It opened my mind to see the landscape, feel the spirit there, and immerse yourself in your senses.
Wonderful nature writing.
Wonderful nature writing.
ohainesva's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
3.75
I think this guy is a bit of a grump, but nature is nice and sometimes he's funny.