Wind, Sand and Stars

"Their words were not the same, but their truths were identical. Why has this high communion never yet prevented men from dying in battle against each other?"

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Wind, Sand and Stars

Before this year, I didn't know much about Antoine de Saint-Exupery aside from the fact that he wrote The Little Prince. He lived the most interesting life. He flew mail from France to Africa, and from Argentina across the Andes into Chile. He was in and out of Spain during the Spanish Civil War. He wrote the Little Prince, and in 1944, just a year after, he disappeared while flying over the Mediterranean.

In Wind, Sand and Stars, de Saint-Exupery recounts his youth as a pilot and his early flights into Africa. He tells the stories of friends who died, and some who almost did, as well as a few of his own close calls, recollects the horrors of Civil War Spain, and discusses many of his philosophies on life. 

I loved this book. It is one of the best travel adventure books that I have ever read. His writing style is beautiful, his storytelling phenomenal, and his personal philosophies are profoundly interesting. I can definitely see why it was named a National Geographic top 10 best adventure books of all time.  It was exciting, moving, and beautiful. It didn't feel dated. 

I loved his philosophy that nature is never good or bad. There is no drama in nature. That drama, that morality, those feelings of happiness and horror only occur when you throw a human in the mix. It was extremely interesting. I loved the way that the book was structured in such a way. It moved from him learning to read and feel the weather, the solitude of the desert, and the beautiful stillness he felt to his conflicting emotions surrounding the war in Spain and all of the violence, with the senselessness of it all. It was beautiful.

Lessons in Empathy

I am a member of the Rebel Alliance. It the book club I'm in. We started it with the intent of having intellectual conversations about contemporary books dealing with contemporary problems. Millennial's dealing with millennial issues (imagine it as our Millennium Falcon).

I love this book group. I love the people, I love the books, I love the discussion. But tonight my feathers got a little ruffled...a lot ruffled.

The book we had read was Delicious Foods, by James Hannaham,  a book about addiction and poverty and racism. It's a story about a boy named Eddie who's mother turns to drugs after her husband is brutally murdered. She then gets spirited away to a farm called Delicious Foods where she is forced to work to pay for room and board and drugs. The story is told from the point of view of the mother, the son, and the drug.

We were discussing the character of Darlene, the mother. In the story Darlene was in college when she had met Nat, who was dating her sorority sister. They fell in love, Nat seeing Darlene behind her sorority sisters back. Darlene tells someone about her being in love, and once the word gets out the public hazing begins. Her sorority sisters begin ostracizing and playing harmful, destructive pranks on Darlene. As they escalate, becoming more and more violent, Darlene and Nat draw into each other until they decide to leave the college and move. They start a new life, open a grocery that becomes a community hub, they have a son and live a happy life together. Then, when Eddie is six, Nat is brutally murdered for trying to instigate social change.

The beginning of the segue began when Amelia (names have been changed) told us that she didn't think Darlene was a strong character. When we inquired as to why she said that it was because she went behind her friends back and stole her boyfriend, she relied on him and he protected her when the threats and violence from her peers became too much, she didn't finish college, she relied on Nat and fell apart after he died, and because she turned to drugs as a coping mechanism. Amelia said that she was a feminist and she thought that women who couldn't be independent were weak.

Several things about this bothered me. And bothered me a lot. I could sympathize with Darlene. She hadn't cheated, her boyfriend had, and yet she was the one being slut shamed for it (which, for those who don't know, is not OK). When she was being ostracized, Nat supported her and protected her, which makes him sound like a pretty good friend and boyfriend. When it got bad they left and went and made a life together, which sounds like the normal and reasonable thing to do. They started a business, had a child, and, from what the story told us, made a happy life together. Then when the love of her life was brutally murdered, Darlene had a hard time coping and turned to drugs to try to make it day to day.

All of Darlene's reactions seem reasonable to me. She lived her life the best she was able, she made a good relationship out of a bad start, made a place for herself in the community with her husband and son, and was traumatized when violence touched her life. I don't feel like these make a woman weak.

I began to think about it more. It wasn't just the differences of opinion on this character that bothered me. It was the underlying assumption of what it meant to be a strong independent woman.

I consider myself a strong independent woman, I work hard, I have friends. I have also been shamed by others based on my sex life, and, whether or not it was any of their business (it wasn't), it sucks. I have relationships that I feel enrich my life, and I would be devastated if the people I love died. Does this make me weak?  

This discussion led to the existence of strong women in literature. Amelia expressed how she didn't like how the Harry Potter books were so popular, and how Hermione should be the main character because she had her act together. She used the analogy that if she had a coworker who she did all the work for, it would be wrong if the coworker got promoted and got all of the reward for her hard work. This analogy bothered me. It made me angry. It was so unsympathetic to the actual story, to how relationships with people actually work.

I may be biased. I love Harry Potter. It taught me so many lessons about right and wrong, about perseverance, courage, friendship, racism, classism. I gained from it strong male and female role models. Dumbledore's and Lupines leadership, Harry's perseverance and sacrifice, McGonigal's compassion, Snape's bravery. Even though Harry was the main character, I think I learned the most from Hermione.

Hermione the only character who constantly had her shit together for all seven books. In the first book she is called bossy when she is just trying to help people, called a show off when she works hard and succeeds ("its Levi-oo-sa."). She makes friends with Ron and Harry, who value her for her smarts and her caring.  She solves almost every problem in every book. She stands her ground, and is not afraid to be assertive for the causes she cares about (S.P.E.W.). She has meaningful, lasting, relationships, where both parties bring something to the table and enrich each others lives. I think that she makes a wonderful role model for both boys and girls.

The conversation shocked me. While I agree that I would like to see more female role models for both boys and girls, I think that its important to have balance with it. I think its important to have books where both sexes work together, and have meaningful relationships. I think that we need to learn from both men and women in literature, because I don't think that values are gendered. I don't think that the places we can learn from are gendered.

This conversation was so strange because while Amelia was unhappy that women in literature were weak (at least in her mind) or not getting the recognition that she would like, she was not granting the characters any credit for what they had achieved (in Hermione's case), or any sympathy for what they were experiencing (in Darlene's). This struck me as ironic, as women in real life are experiencing these same struggles: equal work for equal pay, or empathy after a rape ( victims blaming is still far too common).

Thinking about this discussion made me realize how important empathy really is. Reading fiction is a lesson in empathy, as you are actively trying to understand how a character, sometimes multiple characters at the same time feel. This can be hard, especially if you don't do it enough. People are complex, they don't "have the emotional range of a teaspoon (Hermione)." Reading fiction is important because we need to practice empathy so that we can use it in our every day lives, on non-fictional people. We need to realize that not everyone is in the same place, feeling the same things. They are all going through life the best they know how, with the tools they have at the time.

I have been privileged in my life with reading. My parents read to me often as a child, and encouraged my love of books. I had a wonderful local library that stocked everything from Star Wars to The Song of the Lioness Quartet, Hatchet to Redwall. I had teachers that encouraged me to read diversely, to see and attempt to understand things that I could never experience because I was born the "right" color in a powerful country. I've had many opportunities to practice being empathetic. Others may not have had these same opportunities. Their experiences may be slightly different, and so will their perception. This is a good thing. This is what leads us to such interesting discussions.

There is, however, always room for improvement. These discussions, while sometimes infuriating, are an opportunity, to teach and learn and grow, to practice what you've learned. People are have had different experiences, they see the world through different lenses. I need to try to be just as empathetic to her point of view as I want her to be with the characters I read about. I need to try to see things from her point of view, and perhaps, through discussion, she will come to understand mine. If everyone could be a little more empathetic, I think the world a better place. I need to practice a little more, and hopefully, next time, the conversation will push my buttons a bit less, and I will try to be more empathetic.

Between the World and Me

"Thus America's problem is not it's betrayal of "government of the people" but the means by which "the people" acquired their names"

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Between the World and Me

Racism is a difficult subject in America. It is a scar that will not heal, a conversation that is often held in two different languages: the language of systematic oppression, a communal implicitness of those who benefit whether they know it or even agree with it, and the language of "I" am not a racist, I don't see it so it doesn't exist. These two languages make it difficult discuss, the words sliding past each party. It is something that also gets swept under the rug. Americans, citizens of the greatest country of the world, can do no wrong, and therefor we should feel no shame. It's our "heritage." This bothers me.

In Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates writes a letter to his son explaining how black bodies have been exploited to build America, and what it is like to live with that exploitation, how to make sense of the violence. He explores his own awakening and growth and explains how we can honestly deal with our countries racial history (regardless of race) and to free ourselves from this burden. He is honest, poetic, and the way he explains the things he has experienced and the way he felt is wonderful. 

This book should be required reading. This is important. With Texas passing bills that allow slavery to not be listed as the main reason for the Civil War, and claiming that it was states rights ( a states right to what?) this needs to be read. With the confederate flag being flown over courthouses, and the defense is that its heritage (the south will rise again?) and that people are proud of that heritage, I cannot help but wonder if they truly understand that the heritage is the systematic oppression of people, a denial of their rights to their body. I think it needs to be read because police are not held accountable for the brutality and murders that seem to happen every month on the news. This needs to be read because so many refuse to have to conversation because "I'm not racist."

This book was beautiful, and humbling. It made me think of things in a way I hadn't. And its not written to make us feel ashamed. It reads as a way for us to overcome the wounds of our past to make a better future. We must leave behind the hubris that is America and think that we should find ways to do better instead of thinking we have already achieved excellence. We should have the conversation, and start talking about solutions. Because where we are now as a country is not good enough.

Isaac's Storm

"...when the hubris of man led them to believe they could disregard even nature itself."

Isaac's Storm

Erik Larson

It's funny to think that man could disregard nature, but it is something that we as a collective species do all the time. We settle in areas that are hit seasonally by storms, and plan seasons in basins with limited water. With the changes that are occurring in climate, these problems are just going to get worse. However, these problems of thinking we can weather (no pun intended) whatever nature throws at us are not new. Even as far back as 1900, when our understanding of meteorology was in its infancy and next to nothing, we assumed that we could weather the worst storms, and that we had seen the harshest weather phenomenon that would ever occur. The hurricane that decimated Galveston on September 9, 1900 proved us wrong.

In Isaac's Storm, Erik Larson ( you may now him as the author of Devil in the White City) gives us a play-by-play of the events that occurred leading up to and during that storm, and explores the lives of the key players, namely Issac Cline, the resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau ( which was then in its infancy). Using telegrams, documents, records, and letters Larson recreates what it was like in the city before, during, and after the storm and why the Bureau responded as it did to the few misunderstood warning signs, and how the disaster shapes our knowledge of hurricanes today.

I really liked this book, more than Devil in the White City. I am very interested in weather, and hurricanes are a phenomena that I don't ever experience living in the mountains. Larson's storytelling is superb, the way he balances all the characters, the science, and the emotional loss that the characters experienced was amazing. It's estimated that 6000 people died from this storm. I think people often forget how powerful weather is, especially in this day an age when we believe we can get through anything with the right equipment. I think that this story was very important,

 

Galapagos

"He wasn't going to write Beethoven's Ninth Symphony anyways."

Kurt Vonnegut

Galapagos

I think the coolest thing about reading Vonnegut is how all of his characters in all of his books are related and interact. In Galapagos Leon Trout, the son of sci-fi writer Kilgore Trout, tells the story of the end of humanity as we know it, and the beginning of the new race of humans spawned from the passengers of a wrecked cruise ship in the Galapagos Islands.

I loved this book. I love Vonnegut's writing and storytelling. He believed that all characters should be likable and that nothing should be hidden from the reader. The result, especially in this book, is phenomenal. You know from the beginning of the book that there is an apocalypse and that all of the survivors are descended from the passengers on the cruise ship, and that humans have evolved to live shorter lives, and not to have large, troublesome brains that could lie and have useless opinions that "were as likely to govern people's actions as hard evidence, and were subject to sudden reversals as hard evidence could never be." You don't know the events that lead up to this, though, and it leads to a wonderful kind of suspense (this kind of suspense is also abundant in the Kingkiller Chronicles by Rothfuss).

This book also looked at how inconsequential our lives can be, and the quiet desperation that can stem from that feeling of supposed meaninglessness. It also looked at how profoundly influential our decisions can be, even in the long run. The struggle between these two ideas in the book were so wonderful and insightful, as I think most humans struggle with this question. As David Mitchel said "we are just a drop of water in a limitless ocean." And for the most part that may be true. But we should try to make a difference, to do things for good, because maybe we are that one drop that tips the balance.      

The Joys of Literary Travel Adventure

I love traveling. It opens up the mind to new ways of thinking, new ideas. There is always so much to learn and so much fun to be had. I love books too, for the same reasons. This is why I love the sub-genre of literary travel adventure. It mixes all of my favorite things about traveling and books, two things that are very personal to the people experiencing them. It's like having a conversation with the author about a book that greatly influenced their life.

This genre has been gaining steam over the past few years, and here are some of my favorite titles so that everyone can get in on the action.

Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas

This book rocked my socks off. The author has just graduated from college and is having a hard time coming to terms with the large amount of student loans he owes, the lack of high paying jobs available that won't crush his soul, and the high cost of living (I'm sure that many recent graduates, myself included, can relate to this). He turns to the lessons in Henry David Thereau's  Walden and lives out of a van to keep costs of living low and to pay back his student loans as quickly as possible,

This book is so wonderful. Its funny, witty, relevant, and poignant. The author's voice alone makes this book worth reading, and his travels are amazing, from Alaska to the south. I think this is a must read for anyone who liked Walden, the outdoors, or is a recent graduate (regardless of the amount of debt accrued).


Finding Abbey by Sean Prentiss

This was an extremely charming story of a man trying to figure out what he should fight for and where he should make his stand by retracing the steps of Edward Abbey. If you haven't read Edward Abbey, you really should. His books are charming, exciting, emotional, and they portray a deep connectedness to the land in the west. Cactus Ed was definitely a man who knew how to make a stand. Sean Prentiss retraces Abbey's steps and communicates with Abbey's friends in order to track down Abbey's secret desert grave.

This book is the cutest midlife crisis story I have ever read.

Walking the Bible by Bruce Feiler

In this travel adventure story the author retraces the steps of the greatest story ever told, the first five books of it anyways. This book is a mixture of literary deconstruction, travel adventure, and history lesson. I loved it. It goes in depth into the first five books of the bible while the author examines his own faith as he travels through the Middle East. Well written and witty it handles the geo-political and religious tensions of the area with grace and humor, and is a great read no matter what you believe in.

Spinster by Kate Bolick

This book, while not strictly a travel adventure, is one that still needs to be on this list. It is the authors coming of age story as she explores what it means to be a single woman in this day and age, and she tells the story through a string of authors and how their books influenced her. This book was amazing! Insightful, funny, important (I am still thrown off when people ask me when I'm gonna settle down and have kids. It's an "If" everyone, not a "when") this is one that made me laugh as well as make me think. It was so interesting to see how these different authors shaped Kate Bolick and how she reacts to the way that women, especially single women, are treated in today society. Here's a little taste to get you hooked:

"Whom to marry, and when it will happen- these two questions define every woman's existence, regardless of where she was raised or what religion she does or doesn't practice. She may grow up to love women instead of men, or to decide she simply doesn't believe in marriage. No matter. These dual contingencies govern her until they're answered, even if the answers are nobody and never."

Kate Bolick

Spinster

I love this genre and I can't wait to read more books along the same lines. If you have any literary travel adventures that you loved please leave the title in the comments below!

Walking the Bible

"For as long as people have walked, they've walked to get closer to their gods."

Bruce Feiler

Walking the Bible

"Walking is good for the soul."

Andi Barendt

The Bible is probably the most influential book ever written. Regardless if you believe in God, it has inspired several different religions, been the reasoning behind many different wars and peaces, and driven many individuals in their daily lives. Here in America the stories in the Bible are distant, taking place in a far off land. For those who live in the Middle East they are much nearer.

In Walking the Bible, Bruce Feiler travels through the Middle East, following the stories told in the Five Books of Moses, or the first five books in the bible. Because of this I think that Walking the Torah would be a much more accurate title, but Walking the Bible is much, much catchier. It's a travelogue/ Bible deconstruction as the author tries to get to the root of the stories  while at the same time examining his own faith in the modern world.

This book was charming. It was really neat to see the historical origins of the stories, as well as how the faith is tied to the land, specifically the desert. The author did his research, and traveled to some very interesting places (I very much want to go visit St. Catherine's in the Sinai peninsula) all while handling the religious and geopolitical tensions with grace. 

I really liked how this book described the role of the desert in the Biblical text, how it looked at its mysticism and harshness and how this played a role in the stories of the Bible, almost as if the desert were its own character. It was something that I could really relate to living in the south west of America. We run into similar feelings of awe in western literature dealing with our own deserts (Abbey and anything about Everett Ruess) and it definitely makes more sense why the Mormons wanted to colonize the state of Deseret rather than find a more hospitable place to live.

This book was charming. I'm a big fan of the Literary Travel Adventure as a genre and this book definitely belongs in that group.

Black Earth

"It is tempting to imagine that a simple idea in the minds of simple people decades past and thousands of miles away can explain a complex event."

Timothy Snyder

Black Earth

Several years ago I was floating through Westwater Canyon with my friend Doug. The conversation was on the affairs of our nation and all of the disasters that were continuously circulating the news, from the wars in the Middle East, to climate change, to the latest school shooting. He then said something that I will never forget: "America is a state of fear, one that feels and acts like pre-Nazi Germany." That statement took me off guard, because even though I know a lot about World War II, and I know a lot about the Holocaust, I didn't understand it. I didn't understand the events that led up to it, or how the events that could lead up to something so horrendous could have even happened. I don't think many people do. I also think, that this is a huge error on our part, to write off such a complex event as something so simple, something we as a country are supposedly immune from.

Black Earth, by Timothy Snyder, is the most important book I've read this year (possibly even more important than Missoula). It is an in depth look into the history of the Holocaust, which is more complicated than I ever thought. It wasn't just a racist ideology implemented by a man with enough power to kill millions in mechanized death camps. It was infinitely more complicated. We often forget, or aren't even taught, that the "denial of citizenship, usually by the destruction of states, was what permitted the mass murder of the Jews." 

Looking at such an in depth history of the holocaust is terrifying for me. I think this is because of how much it has been swept under the rug. It's been acknowledged, but in a simple form that denies the complexities that are always present when human beings are involved. Most of the murders were committed by a bullet in the back of the head, and that takes an awful lot of murderers. It wasn't a secret that it was happening either. In eastern Europe, people knew, it was public and prevalent. 

Black Earth explains why we should take the Holocaust as a warning. Many of the preconditions that existed then exist now. Limited resources (food and potable water) to climate change all create different new crises. People look for people to blame for their hunger, or for reasons to justify taking the resources from others. We must look back and understand the Holocaust if we ever want to prevent one happening in the future. We must learn from our past if we are to preserve our future.