Edward Abbey - below: the first edition of "Desert Solitaire" a glimpse of the "Arches" Abbey while doing the shooting, near the dam Glen Canyon Dam, Brice Canyon.
"No, wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of it, of what has been preserved over time, things that were originally deliberately separates himself from his roots and betrays the very principle on which it is based "
"If we can learn to love the space with the same intensity with which we are obsessed with time, we discover a new meaning of the phrase 'to live as men,'"
(Edward Abbey)
Desert solitaire. A season in the wilderness 1969, published in Italy by Franco Muzzio Editore, is a book by Edward Abbey, American author and environmentalist known for The monkey wrench gang, cult novel that became a manifesto of the American counterculture 70s, and which preceded and inspired the direct action of environmental organizations like Earth First. Abbey can be considered one of the last great wilderness American visionaries of the twentieth century (along with names like Leopold, Douglas Olson, etc...) A key pillar, therefore, of the Wilderness Movement. The book is based on the experience that the Abbey did in the sixties as rangers, living for months in a trailer in the area of \u200b\u200bArches National Monument, which unfortunately is a wonderful area just then preparing to face the invasion of "industrial tourism on a large scale." Abbey's book is a hymn to the dignity of the desert and its wild place that deserves to be preserved in its integrity against the encroachment of consumer civilization. Desert solitaire is both a journal of exploration and adventure experiences solitary in nature, a story about the life of cowboys and Indians, an essay by radical environmentalism and a reflection on the relationship between industrial society and wilderness.
Abbey Already on the front page immediately communicate his passion for " the desert plain of rocks" ... that he itself as "the most beautiful place on earth" . Abbey shows an aspect that occurs in many other American naturalists and explorers, to bind to a particular place rather than wild nature in general. Thus, as the place John Muir favorite was ideally the Yosemite Valley, with Abbey instead enter in the majestic scenery and desolate canyons and stone arches. "Every man, every woman, carries within itself the image of an ideal place, the right one, his true home, known or unknown, real or imaginary (...) As for me I choose Moab, Utah. I do not mean the city itself, of course, but the surrounding territory - the land of the canyon. The rocky desert plain. The red dust and the burnt cliffs and the lonely sky, all that lies beyond the end of the road. " The propensity that this place inspired by Abbey is to dive total in the primordial nature of the desert, a direct contact and lived in solitude, sought not only to escape from the hustle and bustle of urban civilization, " but also to confront, immediately and directly if it is possible, with the primary elements of existence with the primordial and fundamental, with the solid base that sustains us "... with a stripped nature of human categorization that "I am bare the mix with a world that is not human and yet, somehow, survives untouched, detached, separated." A world that not everyone can understand and therefore seek to reduce and "tame" in size and human categories: perhaps because, as suggested by Abbey, this world "not to scare its dangers and its hostility, but for something much worse, for its relentless indifference" . The territory of the Arches for Abbey refers to the awareness of the "wonderful", actual size, tangible, so different from the spaces in which man usually lives but easily within reach, if you can understand . "A natural object strange, beautiful and fantastic as Delicate Arch has the curious ability to remind us - the same happens with the rock, the sun, wind and wild landscapes - that there There is a different world, far older, bigger and deeper than that in which we live (...) for a while 'we are again able to see, as the child sees a world of wonders. " ;
For Abbey is the real Paradise on earth, "if only we had eyes to see" ... and is the only paradise that we need.
The wild world, in its vastness, resize the human need to live in society and even lead to moments of solitude suffering ( "There are times when you feel alone. How can I deny it?" ), in the wilderness seem to loosen the ties that bind us to the civilized world, the loneliness becomes the privileged way to "recover if same ": " but in the midst of such an extension could not think of Albuquerque. All human things are mixed with the sky and disappeared over the mountains and I felt like I still feel - that a man can never find, nor need, a company better than himself. " Abbey adds that " best of solitude, the only thing better than solitude, is society" . Abbey reflects on the relationship between nature and society, not by rejecting the company itself, because society does not identify only with the noise of the city and with all the limitations and charges incurred by individuals, but also with "coexistence human in general. I mean the company of a friend or more friends or a loving woman. " For Abbey also the same feeling of love for the wild is no stranger to the "civilization": "how could I be against civilization if all that I defend and revere as myself - including the love for nature at its primitive - is included in that term? " The question not arise against humanity, TECHNOLOGY and science in itself, but against "mania man considered the center of the universe, anthropocentrism, the opinion that the world exists solely for his benefit, not I had nothing against science, applied science, but against evil. " Abbey a step in civilization contrasted against Culture, meaning the term civilization in a positive, " Civilization is the life force of human history, culture quell'inerte mass of institutions and organizations that accumulates around the life tends to progress and overcome it ... " . It can be said in essence that the Civilization by Abbey, encompasses every thrust and libertarian critique of the individual aa tense stand and assert his case against the "power".
Man lives in society, therefore, man is a gregarious animal, "but we can not accept, for Abbey, that he always needs to live at close quarters with others to feel safe . Otherwise, men should be treated in the ungulates, a "flock of sheep." And if you can not accept this, to live authentically as humans is therefore necessary that there are wild places. That's so that nature becomes a necessity essential for man ... "vital to our lives as water and good bread" . For Abbey we need wild places we will not go though never in contact with them. But the important thing is that this possibility is guaranteed for all.
Man lives in society, therefore, man is a gregarious animal, "but we can not accept, for Abbey, that he always needs to live at close quarters with others to feel safe . Otherwise, men should be treated in the ungulates, a "flock of sheep." And if you can not accept this, to live authentically as humans is therefore necessary that there are wild places. That's so that nature becomes a necessity essential for man ... "vital to our lives as water and good bread" . For Abbey we need wild places we will not go though never in contact with them. But the important thing is that this possibility is guaranteed for all.
"We need a refuge even if we do not serve ever. E 'possible, for example, that during my life I never go to Alaska, but I'm grateful it's there. We need the possibility of escape as surely we can not help but hope .... " Abbey arrives also envisage the "policy" that the wilderness could one day hold, in case you need to escape from oppressive and authoritarian regimes: a thesis quite a few 'imaginative but ultimately has some truth ... Just think, as Abbey says, referring to Vietnam and Cuba, the guerrilla armies that "in the wilderness had their logistics base for resistance to centralized power."
The wilderness becomes a space-limit, , "other," alien to the categorization of civilization and for the same reason the place of freedom for the individual who wants to find the contact with the primordial elements of the world in which they live. Abbey is an anarchic, rebellious spirit, and seems to include the destruction and taming of the wilderness as one of the many manifestations of the totalitarian power of the modern "industrial civilization." In fact, this book is a bit of Abbey 'as the swan song of a' wild area that is about to disappear. E 'Abbey himself to say in the introduction: "Most of the things I speak in this book have already disappeared or are disappearing fast. This is not a travel guide, but an elegy. A commemoration. You hold a tombstone. " points mentioned by Abbey in Desert solitary began to suffer the invasion of mass tourism and industrialization. Arches will be constructed within the territory of parking lots and roads to promote mass tourism, while the Colorado River will be impeded by the huge dam in Glen Canyon. A chapter of the book (Down to the river ) is dedicated to the story of his trek by canoe made by Abbey along with his friend, along the course of the wonders of Colorado. "The world of the canyon becomes more beautiful every hour, as we approach the end. We believe we have forgotten, but we can not forget - the consciousness houses such as strontium in the bone of our bones - that the Glen Canyon was given the death sentence. "
The wilderness becomes a space-limit, , "other," alien to the categorization of civilization and for the same reason the place of freedom for the individual who wants to find the contact with the primordial elements of the world in which they live. Abbey is an anarchic, rebellious spirit, and seems to include the destruction and taming of the wilderness as one of the many manifestations of the totalitarian power of the modern "industrial civilization." In fact, this book is a bit of Abbey 'as the swan song of a' wild area that is about to disappear. E 'Abbey himself to say in the introduction: "Most of the things I speak in this book have already disappeared or are disappearing fast. This is not a travel guide, but an elegy. A commemoration. You hold a tombstone. " points mentioned by Abbey in Desert solitary began to suffer the invasion of mass tourism and industrialization. Arches will be constructed within the territory of parking lots and roads to promote mass tourism, while the Colorado River will be impeded by the huge dam in Glen Canyon. A chapter of the book (Down to the river ) is dedicated to the story of his trek by canoe made by Abbey along with his friend, along the course of the wonders of Colorado. "The world of the canyon becomes more beautiful every hour, as we approach the end. We believe we have forgotten, but we can not forget - the consciousness houses such as strontium in the bone of our bones - that the Glen Canyon was given the death sentence. "
In the chapter "A controversy," Abbey will review the management of nature parks nazonali period. He points out how the policies of the parks are targeted to commodify the wilderness, opening them up to what he calls "industrial-scale tourism." Mass tourism involves the construction of paved roads with car parks, ticket offices and equipped paths: all the things that demean, insult and spoil the beauty of the monumental Arches. And the money to build roads, says Abbey, always jumps out, and maybe there is no place for staff to ensure the protection and information services in the park. Abbey is not a fundamentalist and as an alternative a different type of tourism that does not compromise the environmental integrity of the wilderness. In the book, Abbey made concrete proposals, argued that in some places: "1. No more cars in national parks. That people walk. Or go on horseback, bicycle, mule, wild boar - anything as long as leave-out cars and motorcycles and other motor vehicle (...) 2. No new road in national parks (...) Where there are already those roads will be reserved for bicycles and the means needed to carry out essential services within the parks, such as the shuttle ... (...) 3. Putting the rangers (...) people will need guides. There will always be a minority adventurous eager to proceed alone, and no one should put obstacles in its path that everyone assumino their own risks, for the love of God, you lose, you Buschini some sunshine, who wander astray, to drown, to be eaten by bears, buried alive under avalanches, have all rights and privileges of every American free. But others, most, most of these new outdoor activities, will need and require assistance, along with appropriate education and guidance (...) In addition to this type of practical help the rangers will also be a bit 'naturalist, to build up the group that is entrusted with the human and natural history of area in detail and outline. The warnings and proposals for Abbey current sound terribly still, forty years later, because the issues he raised in this book are missing in national parks, Italy and the world. For all his foresight, love and passion for the wilderness, his indomitable spirit and libertarian anarchist, but his irony and sympathy, Abbey reminds us that to live authentically by "men" we can not take to heart the cry for help of nature resonates everywhere today (for those who can hear) last pristine areas of the planet ...
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