I have nothing to say today
However, in a desperate attempt to not alienate my dear readers, I'm going to rehash a bunch of crap that is ages old. Namely, top ten lists generated at work. This books list is nearly 2 years old, but I'm trusting that it's pretty much the same. Next up? Will it be CDs? Movies? Song bits? The tension is thick.
Top Ten Books
It will be shorter if I tell you now that I do not adhere to any religion and do not care to. My church is nature, plain and simple. Outside of my relationship with my husband, son, and others few in number, my truest happiness is found in the forests and deserts. Having said this, my book list will be much easier to understand.
1. Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
If I HAD to pick a religion, it would be Buddhism, and this is the first book that introduced me to the real-life implications of its concepts. It also set the course of my life. After reading it, I moved out of the cities forever and went (almost) right into the forest. It is far and away my favorite book, and the most important to me. My favorite line? “…it’s impossible to fall off mountains, you fool…” The many pencil marks in this book highlight passages that remind me of the life I really want to lead, the one I feel a little further from all the time. There’s so much more I could say.
2. Call of the Wild by Jack London
I reread this during a 3-week stint on the Appalachian Trail and it was just perfect! The premise, of course, is living in Man’s world, or heeding the call of Nature. Allow me to share a bit:
And closely akin to the visions of the hairy man was the call still sounding in the depths of the forest. It filled him with a great unrest and strange desires. It caused him to feel a vague, sweet gladness, and he was aware of wild yearnings and stirrings for he knew not what. Sometimes he pursued the call into the forest, looking for it as though it were a tangible thing, barking softly or defiantly, as the mood might dictate. He would thrust his nose into the cool wood moss, or into the black soil where long grasses grew, and snort with joy at the fat earth smells….But he did not know why he did these various things. He was impelled to do them, and did not reason about them at all.
3. High Tide in Tucson by Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara K. is my favorite author. I’ve loved all of her books, and this varied collection of non-fiction essays is my favorite. I wish I could remember who I loaned it to….
4. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
The story of three women trying to make the world a better place in their own way. I saw portions of myself in all three – a wildlife biologist living in a cabin in Appalachia, documenting the reintroduction of a predator; the young widow left with a farm and doubting in-laws, and the old woman who grows organic apples, much to the chagrin of her patriarchal neighbor. BK weaves their stories together in a book that is positive without resorting to sap. Underneath it all is the rich and erotic (but never raunchy) presence of nature.
5. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
Ed Abbey is not just an author, but the fabled leader of radical environmental groups everywhere. He is most famous for “The Monkey Wrench Gang,” about “eco-terrorists” who try to stop development in the west by destroying the machinery of “progress.” Desert Solitaire is his love letter to the desert, written while working in Arches National Monument outside of Moab, Utah, “the most beautiful place on earth.” I read most of this book on top of a mountain overlooking Moab, where Abbey lived most of his adult life.
6. A Book of Bees by Sue Hubbell
Kirkus Reviews called it “A melodious mix of memoir, nature journal, and beekeeping manual.” It is yet another ode to nature, with bees as the stars.
7. The Twilight of American Culture by Edwin Morris
My guess is that the books on all of our lists had luck on their side – they managed to be there right when we needed to read them. This is the last book that I read, and it’s all about timing. Morris makes the argument that our culture, while seemingly “vibrant,” is actually rotting thanks mostly to the enormously negative influence of corporate-led consumerism. He offers no quick and false fixes for the mess we’re in; rather, he encourages the readers to preserve what is beautiful and meaningful in our culture in a time-capsule sort of way so that the next group of renaissance thinkers can pull us out of the dark age that we are on the cusp of now.
8. Woodswoman by Anne LaBastille
A modern day Thoreau without the weekly trips to town to eat at his mom’s place! This woman built her own log cabin in the Adirondacks in the 1970s, and tells many interesting stories about the beauty and danger inherent in such a life. It’s great.
9. Great Ocean: An Authorized Biography of the Dalai Lama by Roger Hicks and Ngakpa Chogyam
One of my personal heroes, the Dalai Lama is a remarkable person with a remarkable story, and this book covers it all, including the Chinese takeover of Tibet and the resulting struggle for independence.
10. The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram
“Long awaited, revolutionary…. This book ponders the violent disconnection of the body from the natural world and what this means about how we live and die in it.” –Los Angeles Times It’s been awhile since I read this book, and after flipping through it I can tell that it’s time to read it again. It’s hard to describe, but the opening quote by Gary Snyder sets the tone:
As the crickets’ soft autumn hum
is to us
so are we to the trees
as are they
to the rocks and the hills
Update for 2005: "The Contrary Farmer" by Gene Logsdon
Top Ten Books
It will be shorter if I tell you now that I do not adhere to any religion and do not care to. My church is nature, plain and simple. Outside of my relationship with my husband, son, and others few in number, my truest happiness is found in the forests and deserts. Having said this, my book list will be much easier to understand.
1. Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
If I HAD to pick a religion, it would be Buddhism, and this is the first book that introduced me to the real-life implications of its concepts. It also set the course of my life. After reading it, I moved out of the cities forever and went (almost) right into the forest. It is far and away my favorite book, and the most important to me. My favorite line? “…it’s impossible to fall off mountains, you fool…” The many pencil marks in this book highlight passages that remind me of the life I really want to lead, the one I feel a little further from all the time. There’s so much more I could say.
2. Call of the Wild by Jack London
I reread this during a 3-week stint on the Appalachian Trail and it was just perfect! The premise, of course, is living in Man’s world, or heeding the call of Nature. Allow me to share a bit:
And closely akin to the visions of the hairy man was the call still sounding in the depths of the forest. It filled him with a great unrest and strange desires. It caused him to feel a vague, sweet gladness, and he was aware of wild yearnings and stirrings for he knew not what. Sometimes he pursued the call into the forest, looking for it as though it were a tangible thing, barking softly or defiantly, as the mood might dictate. He would thrust his nose into the cool wood moss, or into the black soil where long grasses grew, and snort with joy at the fat earth smells….But he did not know why he did these various things. He was impelled to do them, and did not reason about them at all.
3. High Tide in Tucson by Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara K. is my favorite author. I’ve loved all of her books, and this varied collection of non-fiction essays is my favorite. I wish I could remember who I loaned it to….
4. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
The story of three women trying to make the world a better place in their own way. I saw portions of myself in all three – a wildlife biologist living in a cabin in Appalachia, documenting the reintroduction of a predator; the young widow left with a farm and doubting in-laws, and the old woman who grows organic apples, much to the chagrin of her patriarchal neighbor. BK weaves their stories together in a book that is positive without resorting to sap. Underneath it all is the rich and erotic (but never raunchy) presence of nature.
5. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
Ed Abbey is not just an author, but the fabled leader of radical environmental groups everywhere. He is most famous for “The Monkey Wrench Gang,” about “eco-terrorists” who try to stop development in the west by destroying the machinery of “progress.” Desert Solitaire is his love letter to the desert, written while working in Arches National Monument outside of Moab, Utah, “the most beautiful place on earth.” I read most of this book on top of a mountain overlooking Moab, where Abbey lived most of his adult life.
6. A Book of Bees by Sue Hubbell
Kirkus Reviews called it “A melodious mix of memoir, nature journal, and beekeeping manual.” It is yet another ode to nature, with bees as the stars.
7. The Twilight of American Culture by Edwin Morris
My guess is that the books on all of our lists had luck on their side – they managed to be there right when we needed to read them. This is the last book that I read, and it’s all about timing. Morris makes the argument that our culture, while seemingly “vibrant,” is actually rotting thanks mostly to the enormously negative influence of corporate-led consumerism. He offers no quick and false fixes for the mess we’re in; rather, he encourages the readers to preserve what is beautiful and meaningful in our culture in a time-capsule sort of way so that the next group of renaissance thinkers can pull us out of the dark age that we are on the cusp of now.
8. Woodswoman by Anne LaBastille
A modern day Thoreau without the weekly trips to town to eat at his mom’s place! This woman built her own log cabin in the Adirondacks in the 1970s, and tells many interesting stories about the beauty and danger inherent in such a life. It’s great.
9. Great Ocean: An Authorized Biography of the Dalai Lama by Roger Hicks and Ngakpa Chogyam
One of my personal heroes, the Dalai Lama is a remarkable person with a remarkable story, and this book covers it all, including the Chinese takeover of Tibet and the resulting struggle for independence.
10. The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram
“Long awaited, revolutionary…. This book ponders the violent disconnection of the body from the natural world and what this means about how we live and die in it.” –Los Angeles Times It’s been awhile since I read this book, and after flipping through it I can tell that it’s time to read it again. It’s hard to describe, but the opening quote by Gary Snyder sets the tone:
As the crickets’ soft autumn hum
is to us
so are we to the trees
as are they
to the rocks and the hills
Update for 2005: "The Contrary Farmer" by Gene Logsdon
posted by lulu | 7:11 AM
2 Comments:
So, you are simply copying and pasting old posts?
Why don't you just provide a link to them and give your faithful readers even less to read?
I know this sounds harsh, but I am also a bit frustrated by my own lack of blogging--except on weekends.
As ordered by Master Lulu I must make an abject and public apology for misrepresenting the post above as an old one.
She would NEVER do such a thing because she cares about YOU, the reader. Slackers like me would link to old posts all of the time and do it with a facade of quickly providing access to older, but relevant, thoughts. But since Lulu never rehashes old ideas and is always fresh and new here @ ALiaBoRaM, she could not conceive of doing such a thing.
To see how someone can take advantage of the unwitting website reader and use the internet airwaves solely for their own personal agrandizement, please visit www.whywontyougrow.blogspot.com. You will likely be shocked and horrified by the callous manner in which the proprietor abuses his readers.
I thank you for providing me this space to humble myself.
Post a Comment
<< Home