Allison Braden
Barry Lopez writes eloquently about issues every thoughtful traveler faces and, importantly, leaves many questions unanswered. I appreciate his approach to ways of knowing and his self-awareness when discussing injustice and inequality, but I wish he'd included more reflection about how his ability to visit, enjoy, and report back from these places is predicated on people like me not being able to visit these places in the same way. He's undoubtedly been blessed with institutional and financial support, and I wish he would have brought his characteristic self-awareness, as in his thoughts on class and exploration, to a discussion about who gets to travel the way he does. We're lucky that he does—his dispatches and observations are a gift to those of us who don't have the means or connections. But I would love to experience the peace of Antarctica, too, and I can't help but feel that, because that was such a sacred experience for him, Lopez would prefer instead to close the door behind him.
Can I say on January 15 that I've read the best book I'll read all year? I think so. This has become one of my all time favorites.
I listened to the audiobook and it was almost too soothing. I slept through/tuned out a lot, but what I heard was accessible, poetic, and comprehensive.