Lance's comments (member since Feb 04, 2008)

Lance's comments from the Nature Calls group.

I certainly seek them out, Tom. I've restrained myself from discussing on this forum for exactly the reasons you have outlined. I wasn't sure whether this forum would be into it. Nature Calls... are we here to discuss what we love so much about inspiring nature writing or to condemn those that would threaten what we love so much? For me personally, I can't just be dreamy about something I am passionate about while watching it be consumed by greed. On this forum, I restrain myself, but I have found other forums that are more specific to the unpleasant side of all this. As far as such books go, I like to see an author's passion, and I think we should all take nature's destruction personally. We need nature. We are nature. I get frustrated with author's that lack the courage to point the finger. I can't read this stuff all the time. It is unpleasant and depressing, but it is important. I like to think of myself as a happy and pleasant person, but there is a time and a place for anger. It is warranted and it is appropriate. When places we love are assaulted, turning a collective blind eye is all that is needed for it to continue.

I am something of a recent convert to the church of nature. Kind of...actually, it is something that has been gradually happening for many years, and echoing Tom here, reading Monkey Wrench Gang put me past the tipping point a few years ago. But looking back, I have to say that the seed was initially planted about 15 years ago when I read Into The Wild. That book really never let me go. Throughout all the business and computer college courses, school never did beat that book out of me. And Monkey Wrench Gang brought it all back. I've been outside ever since. The third book I'd have to credit is A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson. Before reading that book, backpacking really hadn't occurred to me. AT? What's that? It goes THAT far? Well, that sounds like fun!

Thanks for noticing. All very enjoyable and enlightening with exception to maybe Salmon Without Rivers. That's a bit slow, but I wanted to know. I will definitely be checking out other books on the groups' shelf.

Cheers!

My favorites have got to be The Last Season by Eric Blehm. I really dig it. Great story, excellent writing. Next is Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert. This is a classic. It goes by in a flash. I just could not put it down. Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey is an all time fav, too. It is fiction, but that was really the only way for Abbey to say what was really on his mind. I started Last Child in the Woods some time ago, but never finished.