Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey is widely considered a classic in the outdoors, non-fiction genre, and hence I had to read it. It’s actually been quite some time since I last put it down, finishing it last Summer while I was volunteering full-time at the remote Algonquin Wildlife Research Station. There couldn’t have been a better time for me to read this book, as it follows Edward Abbey during his stint as an Arches National Park Ranger living remotely as well. It definitely helped me with the immersion as I somewhat felt like I was following in his footsteps, or attempting to at least.
Edward Abbey is a somewhat divisive person and is very forthcoming in Desert Solitaire, having opinions that even had me scratching my head at times. But above all else, he truly loves nature and I think many of us can relate to him in that way. Even though some of his ideas can seem extreme, they are rarely, if ever, malicious and always put true conservation of wildlands at the forefront, perhaps a mindset more people these days can share in on.
Ideas like (and I paraphrase)- “there shouldn’t be cars allowed in parks to not only cut down on pollution/infrastructure but also to cause people to move through them at a slower pace and thus appreciate them more”, to “sunglasses only provide an unnecessary barrier between your eyes and actually seeing nature in its true and beautiful form”, are simultaneously out-there and not totally impractical enough to be mighty fun and thought-provoking to read through. Even if you slightly or totally disagree, it’s this kind of earnestness that I feel is lacking in modern-day political literature. It is okay to disagree, and Abbey makes it fairly clear that he doesn’t care one way or another so long as you at least hear him out first (although he’d probably be pretty disappointed if you finished this book and did not walk away caring a little more about America’s parks).
I don’t really know how else to go on with this review without spoiling each and every one of the many essays within. If you are passionate about the outdoors and want to read a piece of classic literature in regards to this subject, one that will very likely give alternate opinions on things you already thought you had all figured out, then I can’t recommend it enough. I’ll even go so far as to say that Desert Solitaire is one of those books you should just read to say you’ve read it since it’s commonly regarded as a cornerstone of ideas in the discussion of conservation policy.
