I'm having such a tough time deciding my feelings about Desert Solitaire and Abbey . First, I have to admit I guess I am bias against desert regions because I think it's dry, hot, and I don't particularly enjoy it there. I don't have a problem with the book and find Abbey's description of the landscape beautiful. I think the narrator and autobiography aspect of this book are what I'm debating about. First, my issue with Abbey is I have no compassion for him and I frankly don't care for him. Not to say that I don't like this book or that I don't like him, it's just something about his narrative or maybe his stories that I don't care for. I think it was Cait that said with nature we often get a romanticize version of it, and maybe that is why I'm not adjusting well to this book. There is just something about this book that as I'm reading it, I just get annoyed and I don't care about Abbey or his experience. I enjoy hearing about the landscape and animals, but as Abbey gets himself involved I become uninterested.
It might have something to do with Abbey's constant rambling or his self-righteousness or the fact that he thinks he has it so much better than us, but he is human. I also feel like his writing is all over the place and yes, he wants to talk about a lot and that is fine. I think he sometimes doesn't know or aware of what he's saying so that leaves me to not care either. But in his defense this could all be the framing of the book and the way he intended for us to view it. It's the desert, it's desolate, dry, it can seem empty, lonely, a bit crazy, or drive us a bit crazy. So at times, his writing style and narrative contributes to the wild nature of life in the desert and all the things going on with him and in his head. I I haven't finished the book yet, so many my opinion of him and his words will change. I'm trying to figure out if there is something specific that he wants us to get out of this or maybe this is what it is and we have to take it for surface value like him.
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