Desert Solitaire Summary - 1142 Words

Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness is the work for which Abbey is best known and by which he is most frequently defined. It contains his views on a variety of subjects, from the problems of the United States Park Service to an angry indictment of the evils of technology masquerading under the guise of progress. No voice is more eloquent in the praise of Americas remaining wilderness nor more vitriolic in attacking those who would exploit and destroy it for profit. In the introduction to Desert Solitaire, Abbey informs his readers that he has combined the experiences of three summers spent as a park ranger at Arches National Monument into one for the sake of narrative consistency. He writes that the first two summers were good†¦show more content†¦Abbey and Newcomb camp at the mouth of the Escalante River, where it joins the Colorado. Newcomb remains behind to fish for catfish while the adventurous Abbey explores upstream. He wanders up the labyrinthine canyon past untouched cliff dwellings of the Anasazi, the ancient people who inhabited the land before the Navajo. He realizes that these, too, will be submerged under the flooding water of the Colorado. Moreover, Abbey points out that the waters of Lake Powell will irrigate no land, will grow no crops. Instead, the trapped water will produce power—power to make possible the continued urban sprawl of Phoenix and Albuquerque—and provide an aquatic playground for well-to-do suburbanites, whose noisy powerboats will drown out the cry of the red-tailed hawk, the calls of the killdeer and sandpiper. When Abbey returns down the canyon at nightfall to rejoin his fellow adventurer Newcomb, he is greeted by the smell of cooking catfish and the night sounds of the river. He reflects that this is all the paradise that is needed. The beauty of the place is heartbreaking, as is the tragedy of its imminent disappearance under mud and water. As Abbey and Newcomb approach the construction zone of the dam, a large sign that Abbey derisively dubs â€Å"first billboard erected in Glen Canyon† reminds them that government, in the service of greed, is willing to prosecute those who would trespass on the march of progress. The lyricism ofShow MoreRelatedCountry Note Book of China17054 Words   |  69 PagesMountains (33%), plateaus (26%) and hills (10%) account for nearly 70% of the countrys land surface. Most of the crys arable land and population are based in lowland plains (12%) and  basins  (19%), though some of the greatest basins are filled with deserts. The countrys rugged ter rain presents problems for the construction of  overland transportation infrastructure  and requires extensive terracing to sustain  agriculture, but are conducive to the development of  forestry,  mineral  and  hydropower  resources