Decided I’d been hanging around LA too long, and took off to the wilds of New Mexico and the Navajo Reservation. Started Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman.
Elizabeth Gilbert is the Eat Pray Love author, right? Seems like there was a lot of “self righteous” evaluation of that book, too. I am all about living off the land etc, though, so I will check it out.
And yes, Into the Wild is wonderful. There is also a movie, which is wonderful, and if you can get your hands on it the book full of Chris McCandless’ photos and poetry. That is out of print and going for about $100 on Amazon, though. His sister recently wrote a book about their childhood experiences, and PBS did an accompanying documentary which, while designed to plump the sister’s book, shed a lot of light on the whole story.
Hope you enjoy The Bear’s Wife, Ivylass. I sure did 
Finished Disclaimer. Thank heavens. I can’t say it was a bad book, but I wish I hadn’t read it. I found it awfully depressing. If these folks had all been eaten by werewolves or something, I’d have been cool with it, but realistic destruction of family relationships? Ugh. Irritatingly written in present tense. And furthermore, if you’re a person who appreciates trigger warnings, you might want one on this book.
I was aware that some people thought Elizabeth Gilbert seemed self-righteous in her Eat Pray Love memoir, but I wasn’t bothered by her writing one bit. I absolutely adored Eat Pray Love, and I really don’t think I would have changed a thing about it.
My problem with Eustace Conway, the subject of The Last American Man, is that he comes across as having disdain for people who live a stereotypical lifestyle. He remarks at one point that people are enamored with him because “they’ve never seen a real person before,” which I found pretty condescending, and he’ll make comments at other places that imply that everyone wishes they could live like he does, but they’re just too scared and ignorant to.
And what really bothers me about that is that I’m reading about times when he pretty much survives off of hand-outs from the very people who live this standard lifestyle. He can’t afford food, so he will gladly take whatever food other people want to give him. He can’t afford land, so he’ll request that he set up a teepee on someone else’s land. (In his defense, he does sometimes pay rent for the land he lives on, and he does capture his own food.) But the attitude reminds me of some people I know, who quit their jobs and embark on some exciting adventure, like going on a road trip, and they survive by squatting in other people’s houses and asking for favors. Then they write books or post on social media about how they’re living their dream, and offer other people guidance for how they, too, can follow their dreams. But the reality is that they can only live their dream because they’re depending on people who are holding down a steady, mundane job to offer them food and shelter. That rubs me the wrong way.
But I’ve gone off on a bit of a tangent. In terms of the book, I really wouldn’t have a problem with Eustace Conway if he acknowledged that different people have different lifestyles that they prefer, and this is the way he likes to live, but he has no problem with other people living differently. It’s the fact that I detected an air of superiority about him, that he thought of everyone who didn’t live in the woods as somehow inferior to him, that left a sour taste in my mouth. And that, I think, is really the difference between this book and Eat Pray Love. I never at any point got the impression that Gilbert was fancying herself superior to other people with different lifestyles.
And again, just to reiterate, I am still reading the book and still enjoying it. Thus far, I recommend it. I just wanted to provide a bit more explanation.
That makes me think it’s possible Elizabeth Gilbert feels the same way you do–and is writing the character accordingly.
Yes, I agree, Sattua, and I don’t really fault Gilbert for it. Regardless, it does make him rather like an unlikable character in a novel: even if the book is well-written, an unlikable protagonist can dampen the overall experience.
I finished Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman. It was quite good, perhaps not one of his best but a good read nevertheless.
I think I need to read someof the manga piled on my headboard before the cat aka Demon Cat knocks it down on my head one night.
I read this book several years back, actually before *Eat-Pray-Love *came out, and like you found Conway irritating, especially at first; I think your point of view on that is accurate.
I will say that as the book goes on the author reveals information that may provide a little more context regarding why Conway is the way he is. Whether that will change your perspective or not, I’m not sure.
(I’ll also add, with some trepidation because I don’t want to start a debate here, that I think part of the problem is with the author: when I read The Last American Man it seemed to me that Gilbert was having difficulty understanding Conway, getting into his head, figuring out what motivated him, and I think the book suffered from that lack of connection between author and subject. Unlike you, I thought *Eat-Pray-Love *was dreadful, and one of the reasons was my sense that Gilbert showed little ability to write about others with a sense of compassion or understanding…the Conway book fit that pattern. I realize that my views on Eat-Pray-Love are not necessarily those of a majority… :))
Someone in an earlier thread had mentioned Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, which my son had given me a copy of a while back, and I finally got around to reading it. Enjoyed it, mostly, more than I expected to. It’s kind of fun to look back on some of the things that were going on in 1960: the development of superhighways, the rise of mobile homes, etc., etc. I rather admire Steinbeck’s “it is what it is” philosophy throughout much of the book, in which he describes these societal changes as not necessarily good and not necessarily bad, just change. (He does not include racism as part of “it is what it is,” though, and he sees plenty of that.) And Charley sounds like a wonderful traveling companion…
The other book I read recently was actually a reread. Back in the mid-nineties my wife and I both read a novel with the wonderful title “I Still Miss My Man, But My Aim Is Getting Better” (by a writer named Sarah Shankman). It takes place in Nashville with a country music background; the plot basically deals with getting the aspiring-singer-songwriter heroine to succeed in the music world and oh/yes to get away for good from her loser husband and find romance instead with a local cop, which she does in part with the help of the former Patsy Cline, now a spirit/angel of some sort and very interested in helping the career and life of the heroine (who was born the exact minute Patsy died).
I remember loving it back when, and my wife does too: quirky characters, some very funny scenes, the information about the country music world. This time, though, I found it tiresome: too self-consciously quirky, too self-consciously “Southern” (at one point we get the entire menu of the meat-and-three where a character is working), too insistent about the specialness of the country music industry. It just wasn’t grabbing me, and in fact it was annoying me, and so after a while I put it down. I don’t suppose the book changed, so the difference in reactions would be all on me. Never sure just how I feel about that!
Another of Elizabeth Gilbert’s books is The Signature of All Things. Though compelling, I read it not entirely liking the actions of the main character. But I also kept thinking that if characters did everything I believed they should, I’d probably get tired of reading about them after a short while. I did admire her scientific mind when it came to botany and her specialization of mosses in particular.
I’ve finished The Light Between Oceans, another book where the characters didn’t do as I wished but I liked it overall. I jumped right into The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti and am enjoying that. I think I’m about a third of the way through already.
Meurglys, Off the Map sounds quite interesting. I’m going to see if I can get it from the library for my e-reader.
The film adaptation is excellent.
I haven’t seen the movie, but will take the recommendation and run with it. Thanks.
I did like the book, quite a bit.
Just FYI to the wind of my soul: the main character of Into the Wild, while sympathetic in many ways, does come across as a bit disdainful and condescending at times. If you find Eustace Conway difficult to read about, you might have similar difficulties with McCandless. Not to dissuade anyone from reading it…
Thanks for the warning. I’ll probably still read it, but just make sure to take a nice long break between books!
Just finished Sandman: The Doll’s House by Neil Gaiman. So MUCH better than the first volume, the stories hung together and the characters were far more interesting, even the Cereal sic Convention. Morpheus was 100 times more interesting and powerful feeling. The violence suited the narrative and lacked the gratuitousness of volume 0ne.
Finished An Officer and a Spy, by Robert Harris. About the Dreyfus affair. Very good. Harris is a master of historical fiction. I’ve always heard of the Dreyfus affair but didn’t know that much about it. In his Author’s Note, Harris asserts that not even the most minor character in the book is wholly fictional.
Sometime this weekend, Monday at the latest, I’ll start Red Sparrow, a post-Cold War spy novel by veteran CIA field officer Jason Matthews.
I’d say that seems to be the style these days (especially in fantasy novels which is a lengthy rant in and of itself) but then I remembered I’m reading *Ivanhoe *by Walter “Word Avalanche” Scott.
I spent today reading Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch. The first 3 quarters of the book was one of the best books I’d ever read and then he hit a wall… characters ran around and destruction and riots ran amuck and honestly the only reason I finished it was there were only 30 pages left.
I think I will at read at least the next book before making any solid decisions on the series.
I read An Officer and A Spy recently as well, and second your recommendation. I knew a bit about the Dreyfus Affair going into it, but Harris really brings it to life. If Harris has written a bad book I haven’t read it, he’s one of my go to authors when looking for new things to read.
I’m almost finished reading Jack Vance’s *Demon Princes *series, it remains excellent. Next up is *The Long Sword *by Christian Cameron, of which I know nothing.
Opinion of Christopher McCandless does seem pretty much evenly split between those who thought he was an admirable free spirit just trying to get away from it all, or a damned idjit who went in harm’s way without knowing what the hell he was doing and pretty much got what he deserved.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Cuckoo’s Calling and am on the waiting list for The Silkworm. It was pleasant surprise for me after being unable to make it though Casual Vacancy.
I’m currently reading a recommendation from my daughter-in-law, Orient by Christopher Bollen. It is a mystery set in Orient, a small town out on the very northeastern tip of Long Island, and deals with the struggle between the long time residents and farmers vs. the rich part-time residents and newcomers from the city.