Day 1202: Edward Abbey

[eve_prime]

So, I've been rereading parts of a lot of environmental books / nature writing, and I thought, I loved Desert Solitaire when I read it before, why not reread the whole thing for fun? Unfortunately, I'm only a third of the way through and I'm thinking that I'm too old for this. Some of the writing is beautiful, some of the points are great, and yet sometimes he's too much of a jerk. The man was married five times, after all, and often he seems a bit too pleased with himself. I wonder if other people have the same experience - loved it when they were young, then rolled their eyes too much when rereading it as a more mature adult.

(I've got lots of other great things lined up to read, but for bedtime reading I prefer something I've read before. Maybe I should look a little harder.)

Comments

[kaishin108]

Married 5 times?! That makes you wonder just what kind of a partner and person he is.

[eve_prime]

Also, get this. He wrote the book to tell about his time as a park ranger, which was April 1 to October 1 on two consecutive years. The way he writes it, he's just combined the years into one, which makes sense because it's not presented as a diary; it just starts with spring things, then goes on to summer things, etc.

BUT. In his actual life, his job started on April 1 that first year, then he left briefly in mid-April for his first child to be born, then his wife took the baby back home to New Jersey to be with her family. Then after his six months in Utah doing his job, he was kind of reluctant to get back together with them I guess? And she got mad, so the second year when he was a park ranger, she and the baby were there in the trailer with him. AND HE NEVER MENTIONS THEM. To be fair, she also wrote a book about her time there in the desert and didn't mention him, but still. They divorced soon after that second summer.

[kaishin108]

He sounds like women are devalued in his life, jeez!

[eve_prime]

It sounds like he was fine with his female colleagues, but in his personal life he just wanted hot young things, evidently.