Long Shore: A Psychological Experience of the Wilderness

by Jane Wheelwright

The historic Hollister ranch — 39,000 acres in Santa Barbara County, California — belonged to the authors family for more than 100 years, until 1961 when the family was forced to subdivide & sell the property. This book is a tribute to those once-wild lands & an evocative contribution to our understanding of the psychological & philosophical importance of all wilderness. This unusual collaborative work by a mother daughter — both Jungian analysts raised on the ranch — blends childhood memories, journal excerpts, & rich insights to reveal just how deeply humanitys psyche is rooted in the natural world.

Hardcover

First published March 13, 1991

Reviews

[Mary Hannibal]

I got a lot out of this book, partly because the authors are struggling and straining after something they don't quite ever grasp, and it was interesting to just wonder what exactly they are after and why it eludes them. The writers are mother-daughter Jungian analysts and they recount in alternating voices the story of losing the family ranch in Hollister, California, then regaining a small piece of it. I think it would have been more satisfying if they had just told the story without framing "meanings" around it, but they are trying to define a dimension of value in the land we all know is there, without being quite able to say why or what it is.