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Just the other week I finished reading Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs by Wallace Stegner (whose novels are wonderful by the way), and in sever
by pjungwir 10y ago
Just the other week I finished reading Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs by Wallace Stegner (whose novels are wonderful by the way), and in several of the essays collected there he writes about how the defining characteristic of the West is "aridity". He complains about how we have over-settled the land, how our presence is based on exploitation, the Gold Rush, mobility, and impermanence. He talks about how the green that irrigation provides can't last. "Thoughts in a Dry Land" was from 1991; these problems aren't new, and I doubt we'll ever "solve" them. And the population keeps growing. I hope the things you mention do indeed help!
- gkop 10y agoThe canonical and excellent read on the subject is Cadillac Desert.
- polotics 10y agoread Water Knife! (or wait for the movie adaptation)
- scruple 10y agoThis reminds me of the style of writing in Desert Solitaire, which expressed what seems like many of the same thoughts back in the late 60s about the American west. I'll have to check out Stegner, thanks.
- pjungwir 10y agoAngle of Repose is amazing. Crossing to Safety is really good too, although not about the West. I still haven't gotten to Big Rock Candy Mountain, although I think he might be best known for it.