From: Herberg_David@tandem.com (David Herberg)
Subject: Re: Abbey bashing. 
Organization: Tandem Computers, Inc.
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 01:04:37 GMT

Edward  Abbey wrote three types of stuff:
1. Novels
2. Desultory political phillipics
3. Equally desultory travelogues

I have absolutely no use for his first two classes of writings, including 
_The_Monkey_Wrench_Gang_, but I find his "I went there, I did that" style 
of travelogues hard to put down.  _Desert_Solitaire_ is in the third 
category.  A good travelogue reveals as much about the writer as it does 
about the places he visits.  _Desert_Solitaire_ succeeds on both counts.  
Yes, as a man he is full of contradictions.  And it is just that 
*humanity* that leaks through the pages that makes me devour his words.

In article <1992Nov10.185820.25091@news.uiowa.edu> 
donath@herky.cs.uiowa.edu (Matt Donath) writes:
> As far as I can remember, he does the following things in the book:

        > Says that he'd rather kill a man than a snake and then kills
          a rabbit for no other reason than pleasure.
Yes, and he was talking about the internal contradictions going on at the 
same time all through the experience.  He wanted to know what the pleasure 
that repeat pillagers/wildlife killers/developers get, so that he could 
rail against them with better understanding.  Or so he said.  He also 
never did it again.  Guilty, your honor, but sorry about it.

        > Carves initials in the Aspen trees (on severl occasions).
        > Rolls a tire into the Grand Canyon.
I missed these incidents.  Guess I'll have to review the book.

        > Burns out a canyon with a careless fire.
Yup.  This was a side canyon on a float trip down Glen Canyon.  He put it 
in there to illustrate that even so destructive an act as his complete 
carelessness with fire that destroyed the vegetation in that side canyon 
is absolutely *nothing* compared with the official destruction resulting 
from the damning of the Colorado.  The burned-out canyon in question is 
now 450 feet underwater, along with some 90 other major side canyons.

        > Says he doesn't like to disturb a snake and then keeps it
          inside his trailor.
He kept it *under* his trailer.  I see no inconsistency here.  The sanke 
slithered uner the trailer, he left it there.  Others might have 
exterminated the thing.

        > Goes on several hikes without adequate water.
        > Foolishly jumps down into a canyon and almost doesn't make
          it back out.
Yup.  He's done some boners, just like you have.  They're fun to read.  I 
even caught myself wondering whether he was going to make it out OK.

        > Gets enjoyment out of the death of a poor old hiker who is
          lost while hiking.  
I didn't get the feeling that he got enjoyment out of the old man's death. 
 I read the account like it was written by an eyewitness reporter with 
absolutely no emotional attachment.  I will admit that zero emotion is 
closer to enjoyment than is abject sorrow.

        > Rails about how much he hates cities and then winds up by
          saying how much he misses them.
        > Escapes the solitude of the desert by hitting the bars in
          town once a week.
Yes, he's human.  He needs other people; we're built that way.  He's just 
experiencing the internal conflict generated by his love/hate relationship 
with other people.  He claims no moral high ground, with the exception of 
those who destroy the wilderness for monetary gain.  He admits his foibles 
and in so doing makes himself more believable and his writing more 
enjoyable.

Thanks for the posting, Matt.  There may be as many opinions of Abbey's 
writings as there are readers, and very likely more.

David Herberg, Herberg_David@tandem.com
Newsgroups: rec.backcountry