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evaorbit's review against another edition
slow-paced
4.0
I liked this books message of taking action and sabotaging what needs to be sabotaged. I’m inspired by the action that they took. I liked the characters but needed more depth. Also the plot was slowwww. Still I feel like even more of an environmentalist than I was before!
bookishwendy's review against another edition
3.0
I took this one on a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. It was the perfect read for the setting -- or would have been if I'd have been able to read more than 2 - 3 pages each night before the sun set (headlamp batteries must be saved for emergencies). And if I were a guy. And it were still the 70s or maybe 80s. I love Abbey's Desert Solitaire so much, but something about this novel rubbed me the wrong way at times. Mostly the childish, objectified Bonnie. Also, the radical "save the earth by blowing things up" message just doesn't have the same resonance after 9/11, you know?
But then one of the desert descriptions, a snark on Utah, or some shard of Abbey's dark wit (or one of his stupid puns, God bless him) would make me smile and keep me reading. Some of the best bits are the meta-appearances of Park Ranger Edwin Abbott, the handsome, young and officious nuisance who appears occasionally to arrest the Gang for stealing raw meat or carrying dynamite.
And yet... as you float down a beautiful canyon, past three sites where dams were *nearly* built, and Redwall Cavern and Vasey's Paradise and Havasu Creek, and you think about Glen Canyon now buried under the silt of Lake Powell, you have to wonder was lost forever. So as a mere individual I really do get the gut of this book -- the frustration of powerlessness and the desire to wreck industry the way it has wrecked nature. So this is basically a fantasy novel in that respect (and also due to those rather nauseating hookups the male characters all either have or fantasize about with the one female).
All the outdoorsy guys I know love this one, and I can totally see why.
P.S. For the record, as of July 2014, that infamous coal elevator and automated train serving the power plant in Page, AZ, are still very much in operation some 40 years later, as witnessed by yours truly. Though perhaps the end for it is near: http://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/2014/07/28/epa-approves-plan-curtail-operations-navajo-generating-station/13277331/ Well, maybe in 30 more years.
But then one of the desert descriptions, a snark on Utah, or some shard of Abbey's dark wit (or one of his stupid puns, God bless him) would make me smile and keep me reading. Some of the best bits are the meta-appearances of Park Ranger Edwin Abbott, the handsome, young and officious nuisance who appears occasionally to arrest the Gang for stealing raw meat or carrying dynamite.
And yet... as you float down a beautiful canyon, past three sites where dams were *nearly* built, and Redwall Cavern and Vasey's Paradise and Havasu Creek, and you think about Glen Canyon now buried under the silt of Lake Powell, you have to wonder was lost forever. So as a mere individual I really do get the gut of this book -- the frustration of powerlessness and the desire to wreck industry the way it has wrecked nature. So this is basically a fantasy novel in that respect (and also due to those rather nauseating hookups the male characters all either have or fantasize about with the one female).
All the outdoorsy guys I know love this one, and I can totally see why.
P.S. For the record, as of July 2014, that infamous coal elevator and automated train serving the power plant in Page, AZ, are still very much in operation some 40 years later, as witnessed by yours truly. Though perhaps the end for it is near: http://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/2014/07/28/epa-approves-plan-curtail-operations-navajo-generating-station/13277331/ Well, maybe in 30 more years.
mariscrane's review against another edition
3.0
Eh, not everything aged well in here, but an enjoyable enough read. Kind of unlikeable characters. Want to check out more of Abbey’s nature writing, though. Three and a half stars!
mattbeatty's review against another edition
4.0
Classic Abbey. He finds new and amazing ways to describe sunrise, sunset, night sky, desert, canyon, river, et cetera, over and over. The man is amazing. His descriptions haunt me and stay with me. He's also a genius--he knows intricate details of war, guns and ammunition, health and medicine, climbing, whitewater rafting, 4WD vehicles, botany, zoology, very specific names of remote ridges, cliffs and canyons, all of the sciences. He's a master of all trades.
I like that he pushes boundaries. He switches tense all the time, runs around with free indirect discourse, stream-of-consciousness, jumping into and out of characters. He is self-referential at times, makes exploratory use of language, with many puns and plays on words, alliteration, combines new words into compound words and portmanteaus. His use of language reminds me sometimes of Cormac McCarthy (a huge compliment to Abbey, perhaps a blow to McCarthy), and even James Joyce. Maybe I'm off my rocker, but I see it in him.
The man does have some rascist and misogynist tendencies. Bonnie Abbzug is very stereotypical in terms of feminine beauty and desires (the little love-jumper). Would she really have fallen in love with Hayduke, the same Hayduke about whom I'm reading? Also, he belittles the Indians constantly, especially through Doc Sarvis. Calls them names, insults their lifestyle. All this beautiful, wondrous talk about the southwest and canyonlands country, and only *once* in the entire book does he mention an Anasazi ruin. No petroglyphs or pictographs or anything above and beyond that one brief mention. I don't know why he loved the desert so much, but found so little to love in the Indians, the desert's original keepers.
Also, I think that Abbey wrote himself into Hayduke. Now personally, I'd much rather be Seldom Seen Smith than Hayduke. Hayduke is impulsive, illogical, destructive, and rude. Smith knows the wilderness inside and out, including scientific names and locations and uses and has experiences with all the types of terrain the southwest offers. He thinks and analyzes and is logical. The opposite of Hayduke in many ways. I guess perhaps Hayduke + Smith = Abbey. That would make more sense, that he show two somehow complementary but very differing sides of his own character. Hayduke does have some qualities that are worthy, and he can be a sympathetic character at times, but as the primary protagonist I question him sometimes . . .
In fact, that's part of the appeal of this book. I question the actions and motives of the protagonists. I am very much an environmentalist, a conservationist with an *enormous* love and passion for the southwest, southern Utah in particular. But ecoterrorism isn't, and probably will never be (?), my thing. Maybe partially. But sometimes--I'll be honest--I'm rooting for Bishop Love and his Search and Rescue Team. They'd be heroes if they found the Monkey Wrench Gang! They'd pull those criminals right out from their vandalistic shoes. You know--not really. But it makes the novel fun to have the heroes be in reversed roles. Usually you root for the law enforcement to catch the criminals.
I think this would make an excellent screenplay. It has humor, seriousness, romance and a love triangle, beautiful scenery, plenty of action and swearing and tension and suspense and so on. Good job my friend and mentor Edward. Good job.
I like that he pushes boundaries. He switches tense all the time, runs around with free indirect discourse, stream-of-consciousness, jumping into and out of characters. He is self-referential at times, makes exploratory use of language, with many puns and plays on words, alliteration, combines new words into compound words and portmanteaus. His use of language reminds me sometimes of Cormac McCarthy (a huge compliment to Abbey, perhaps a blow to McCarthy), and even James Joyce. Maybe I'm off my rocker, but I see it in him.
The man does have some rascist and misogynist tendencies. Bonnie Abbzug is very stereotypical in terms of feminine beauty and desires (the little love-jumper). Would she really have fallen in love with Hayduke, the same Hayduke about whom I'm reading? Also, he belittles the Indians constantly, especially through Doc Sarvis. Calls them names, insults their lifestyle. All this beautiful, wondrous talk about the southwest and canyonlands country, and only *once* in the entire book does he mention an Anasazi ruin. No petroglyphs or pictographs or anything above and beyond that one brief mention. I don't know why he loved the desert so much, but found so little to love in the Indians, the desert's original keepers.
Also, I think that Abbey wrote himself into Hayduke. Now personally, I'd much rather be Seldom Seen Smith than Hayduke. Hayduke is impulsive, illogical, destructive, and rude. Smith knows the wilderness inside and out, including scientific names and locations and uses and has experiences with all the types of terrain the southwest offers. He thinks and analyzes and is logical. The opposite of Hayduke in many ways. I guess perhaps Hayduke + Smith = Abbey. That would make more sense, that he show two somehow complementary but very differing sides of his own character. Hayduke does have some qualities that are worthy, and he can be a sympathetic character at times, but as the primary protagonist I question him sometimes . . .
In fact, that's part of the appeal of this book. I question the actions and motives of the protagonists. I am very much an environmentalist, a conservationist with an *enormous* love and passion for the southwest, southern Utah in particular. But ecoterrorism isn't, and probably will never be (?), my thing. Maybe partially. But sometimes--I'll be honest--I'm rooting for Bishop Love and his Search and Rescue Team. They'd be heroes if they found the Monkey Wrench Gang! They'd pull those criminals right out from their vandalistic shoes. You know--not really. But it makes the novel fun to have the heroes be in reversed roles. Usually you root for the law enforcement to catch the criminals.
I think this would make an excellent screenplay. It has humor, seriousness, romance and a love triangle, beautiful scenery, plenty of action and swearing and tension and suspense and so on. Good job my friend and mentor Edward. Good job.
bwagler's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
trentthompson's review against another edition
5.0
Loved the prose (esp. the dialogue and humor), plot, and point. Kind of makes me want to get into trouble...
Excerpts/quotes that I loved:
- [Hayduke] made coffee on his tiny Primus stove. “Chemicals! Chemicals! I need chemicals!” he chanted (p. 32).
- Hayduke: We’ll work it out as we go along. Let our practice form our doctrine, thus assuring precise theoretical coherence (p. 89).
- Doc: If constructive vandalism turns destructive, what then? Perhaps we’ll be doing more harm than good. There are some who say if you attack the system you only make it stronger. Hayduke: Yeah—and if you don’t attack it, it strip-mines the mountains, damns all the rivers, paves over the desert and puts you in jail anyway (p. 142).
- Hayduke: My job is to save the fucking wilderness. I don’t know anything else worth saving (p. 291).
- Hayduke and Abbzug camped illegally (not even a fire permit) against all regulations far from the blacktop down a closed-off fire road under the aspen trees. They woke up late and had breakfast in bed. Birds singing, sunshine, et cetera. Afterwards she said, “now I want something to eat” (p. 311).
Excerpts/quotes that I loved:
- [Hayduke] made coffee on his tiny Primus stove. “Chemicals! Chemicals! I need chemicals!” he chanted (p. 32).
- Hayduke: We’ll work it out as we go along. Let our practice form our doctrine, thus assuring precise theoretical coherence (p. 89).
- Doc: If constructive vandalism turns destructive, what then? Perhaps we’ll be doing more harm than good. There are some who say if you attack the system you only make it stronger. Hayduke: Yeah—and if you don’t attack it, it strip-mines the mountains, damns all the rivers, paves over the desert and puts you in jail anyway (p. 142).
- Hayduke: My job is to save the fucking wilderness. I don’t know anything else worth saving (p. 291).
- Hayduke and Abbzug camped illegally (not even a fire permit) against all regulations far from the blacktop down a closed-off fire road under the aspen trees. They woke up late and had breakfast in bed. Birds singing, sunshine, et cetera. Afterwards she said, “now I want something to eat” (p. 311).
aitzin's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
zodwallop's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I hated every character in this book. It felt like NIMBYism taken to the extremes.
But the book is very well written. It is entertaining to read even as I got sick of listening to Seldom and Heyduke opine.
It feels very 1970's in the same way that Tom Robbins does, with the writer at times intecting his personality into the narration without talking directly to the reader.
But the book is very well written. It is entertaining to read even as I got sick of listening to Seldom and Heyduke opine.
It feels very 1970's in the same way that Tom Robbins does, with the writer at times intecting his personality into the narration without talking directly to the reader.