Books: Desert Solitaire

Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire **** - I remember before I had left Arches National Park I had added this book to my list.  I don't remember how I learned about the book.  No matter.  I loved Arches National Park.  So did Edward Abbey.  And this was before the implantation of roads and other improvements to make it more tourist friendly to the American public.  This book is a love letter to the undisturbed, pre-commercialism Arches.  He didn't visit; he lived there.  As a ranger for the park service.  For six months.  It was published in 1968.  His book is a collection of detailed descriptions and experiences, of what he saw and didn't see, of being alone but not loneliness, of those big existential life questions, of the Big Brother that he saw as the American government.  He writes beautifully.  He is honest and blunt.  He has a great sense of humor ("So I lived alone.  The first thing I did was take off my pants.  Naturally.")  Like Abbey, I hiked to Delicate Arch.  I couldn't put into words what I saw; Abbey does.  In fact, he beautifully captures the thoughts and emotions of that experience.  And because I shared that experience with him, it made the entire reading of this book that much more wonderful.  He discusses everything, including local folklore and the finding of a dead man.  We will never get to experience the American southwest like he did.  He immersed himself, took off his pants, and let it be, whether it was floating down the Colorado on an inflatable boat or hiking through the La Sal Mountains.  In that respect then, this was not only a love letter to the American southwest but also a protest against the American government.  This book is over 40 years old.  He predicts what happens to Arches and the national forests (and he's right).  In a way it is sad.  You have to thank him for writing this "elegy" or "memorial" as he calls it as we'll never experience the wilderness like he did. It was a rare book for me: it didn't read as a book but as if Abbey himself was talking to me.  His message remains pertinent and powerful and I heard it loud and clear.