|
|
| weblog/wEssays archives | home | |
|
Where Is This? (May 26, 2006) 
Today's location, like my little novel I-State Lines, is about finding one's identity within the American landscape. Like the person who designed the structure in this photo, and my protagonist Daz, I too sense a deeply enervating falseness in the standard American landscape of bloviated, pretentious McMansions with fake columns built of fake materials and inauthentic shantytown malls designed to create a false world of consumer desires. Between the cellphones glued to passengers' ears and the TV screens in the minivans, and the cooled-cocoon interiors of identical fast-food and mall outlets, the disconnect between the typical American citizen and the American landscape seems almost complete. Although it is not widely remarked upon, we humans form what can only be described as a spiritual identity with our landscape; and to the degree that we lose touch with that landscape and live in buildings utterly detached from any sense of the land they rest on, then we become, regardless of our religious faith, spiritually bereft. A novel which describes the deep relationship we establish with the landscape we live in happens (perhaps not by chance) to be one of my favorite books: The Enigma of Arrival 
by V.S. Naipaul. While the book is set in the author's adopted country of England, its themes of
detachment, belonging and place are universal.
In the U.S., I think this "siting of the soul" can be illustrated by stories of people raised on the Great Plains who find the presence of mountains disturbing. In a similar fashion, mountain-dwellers may feel out of sorts in a big-sky prairie landscape. For me, the touchstone is the Pacific Ocean. Although I have lived beyond visual range of the Pacific at times, I cannot imagine being more than a few miles from that limitless expanse of sea. For other Americans, it might be wetlands, or a river or a lake or broken canyonland or tidy orchards; but each of us locates our deepest identity within an American landscape. Now that graduation season is upon us, please consider giving a copy of my little book or Naipaul's wonderful novel (or both) to the graduates on your list. Sure, I want the sales. (Big deal, a $1 a copy; I could do better on a street corner with a tin cup.) But more important than that is the theme of the book, which is exploring the American landscape as part of the process of finding one's life work and one's identity. How does this relate to graduation? Here's what an independent bookseller, Keri Holmes, had to say about I-State Lines: "The story works on so many levels, it's hard to summarize. Summer vacationers looking for a "Road Trip" story won't be disappointed. High School and College juniors and seniors pondering their next steps will be inspired."You can order the book from Ms. Holmes' bookstore, The Kaleidoscope: Our Focus Is You which happens to be in Iowa. Though physically sited at 112 1st Avenue NW, Hampton, IA 50441 (Tel: 641-456-2787, Fax: 641-456-2809) it is available to you via the miracle of the Internet. (Shipping is free on all orders, and you can't beat that.) Or if you have an open order at amazon.com, you can of course add I-State Lines 
to your order.
Be the first to identify the locale behind me, and I'll send you a collector's copy of my book I-State Lines. So email me! For more on this subject and a wide array of other topics, please visit my weblog. 
copyright © 2006 Charles Hugh Smith. All rights reserved in all media. I would be honored if you linked this wEssay to your site, or printed a copy for your own use.
|
||
| weblog/wEssays | home |