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meganzc's review
4.0
"The nomadic oil geologist and the peripatetic prospector are both part of a culture which is rooted directly in an ancient and inescapable tradition of dependence upon the land."
Life in Alaska has impelled me to reflect upon the land with an urgency and frequency I've not previously experienced. The vast landscapes here fulfill a need I never recognized. I have found myself longing for a log cabin in the woods where once I coveted chic apartments on trendy city blocks.
I suppose then that I'm not surprised that the first book published by the Alaska Humanities Forum meditates on life and land. It is what you do here, at least that's my impression 6 months in.
I enjoy reading essays that are decades old, when I know how things end and the writer does not. It's fun to feel clairvoyant, the Cassandra of open-to-entry land claims and pipeline policy.
In any case, it's neat to follow the leaps of logic that are now so strange, but which must have once seemed only natural:
"...without growth, gross inequalities in the distribution of wealth in this country would become starkly clear [ok, I'm with ya]. From this it's evident that the future of capitalism and perhaps all industrial society is intimately staked on the question of nuclear energy - no other way to keep up growth. This leads to the disastrous fast breeder reactor... and the fast breeder leads to a police state [wait, what?]."
This paragraph is followed by "I repeat this well-known information to..."
It's fascinating what some people once considered well known.
The essays are of varying quality, but all interesting for different reasons. I particularly enjoyed "Poetry of the Land: Humor and Hard Times" which was delightful. True to title, I laughed frequently while reading it, the kind of laugh you might let out after being punched in the gut. If you're wondering what I mean, I recommend checking out Archibald MacLeish's "Empire Builders" - http://books.google.com/books?id=KI0ESFOvi5QC&pg=PP12&lpg=PP12&dq=empire+builders+archibald+macleish&source=bl&ots=b5324rXy_e&sig=K6i2ArRrTVOe23XGm7iF9FLpVTE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vmZlVOjBMoLkoASZqICwDA&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=empire%20builders%20archibald%20macleish&f=false (you'll have to click on the link to see page 269).
"The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in Perspective" was also notable for putting forth a compelling argument that the act was not quite the departure from historical Native policies that it is often claimed to be.
I also enjoyed the more personal reflections of John Haines and Margaret Murie.
All in all a worthwhile read.
Life in Alaska has impelled me to reflect upon the land with an urgency and frequency I've not previously experienced. The vast landscapes here fulfill a need I never recognized. I have found myself longing for a log cabin in the woods where once I coveted chic apartments on trendy city blocks.
I suppose then that I'm not surprised that the first book published by the Alaska Humanities Forum meditates on life and land. It is what you do here, at least that's my impression 6 months in.
I enjoy reading essays that are decades old, when I know how things end and the writer does not. It's fun to feel clairvoyant, the Cassandra of open-to-entry land claims and pipeline policy.
In any case, it's neat to follow the leaps of logic that are now so strange, but which must have once seemed only natural:
"...without growth, gross inequalities in the distribution of wealth in this country would become starkly clear [ok, I'm with ya]. From this it's evident that the future of capitalism and perhaps all industrial society is intimately staked on the question of nuclear energy - no other way to keep up growth. This leads to the disastrous fast breeder reactor... and the fast breeder leads to a police state [wait, what?]."
This paragraph is followed by "I repeat this well-known information to..."
It's fascinating what some people once considered well known.
The essays are of varying quality, but all interesting for different reasons. I particularly enjoyed "Poetry of the Land: Humor and Hard Times" which was delightful. True to title, I laughed frequently while reading it, the kind of laugh you might let out after being punched in the gut. If you're wondering what I mean, I recommend checking out Archibald MacLeish's "Empire Builders" - http://books.google.com/books?id=KI0ESFOvi5QC&pg=PP12&lpg=PP12&dq=empire+builders+archibald+macleish&source=bl&ots=b5324rXy_e&sig=K6i2ArRrTVOe23XGm7iF9FLpVTE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vmZlVOjBMoLkoASZqICwDA&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=empire%20builders%20archibald%20macleish&f=false (you'll have to click on the link to see page 269).
"The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in Perspective" was also notable for putting forth a compelling argument that the act was not quite the departure from historical Native policies that it is often claimed to be.
I also enjoyed the more personal reflections of John Haines and Margaret Murie.
All in all a worthwhile read.
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