Category: Adventure (Page 2 of 3)

Sit down. It’s time to talk about consciousness.

My husband is falling asleep across the table from me, in full view of the bar.

In his defense, we have just left a giant party that we attended in order to raise money for The Jackson Free Clinic, an incredible organization for which he regularly busts his ass. He is tired. He took a test today to end a rotation, and “only made a B” [insert my eye rolling here]. Tomorrow he starts a new rotation at the hospital and he is already dreading the all-night shifts, and here am, at this loud bar, making him drink whiskey and eat fish tacos because I just had to find out why there were so many movie trailers outside, and the only way to be cool about it is to pretend we were already planning on coming here anyway, and “oh, what are these trailers doing here? Filming a movie? How inconvenient!” (It’s a horror movie, by the way, and I am very disappointed that I am not now fast friends with at least one of the Affleck brothers.)

JacketTo top all of this off, I will not shut up about octopuses. You heard me right, I cannot shut my pie hole about the spineless cephalopods crawling around on the ocean floor, and my poor, exhausted husband is trying so hard to pay attention. In his defense, he really does care because he is, after all, a man of science. Circumstances are simply preventing him from giving me his full attention. Why do I have such a wealth of knowledge about the ageless octopus, you ask? It is because I am still coming down from the book high that came from finishing Sy Montgomery’s new masterpiece The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness (which was just longlisted for the National Book Award in the nonfiction category).

Montgomery, author of several acclaimed books like The Good Good Pig, brings such a personal element to this book about ancient cephalopods that it is impossible to not be swept away on the journey with her. Early on in the book, Montgomery explains the history in the scientific community of ascribing consciousness to animals. Until recently, scientists have been wary to put too much stock behind attributing specific and complex personalities to animals due to the fear that we would simply project our own human ideas of what consciousness is, and completely misunderstand the science behind why animals do what they do. If an animal like the octopus shows extreme intelligence, it is so tempting to assume that they have the same complex feelings that humans do, and that is a big no no.

So how is it possible to go on an incredibly personal journey when your writing is prefaced with this giant warning about not getting too emotional? Surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly at all), setting aside our ideas of human consciousness and making room to understand a completely new and alien kind of intelligence is transformative. Montgomery was able to learn to love the octopuses that she came into contact with in a fresh way, a way that made room for an unfathomable, yet nevertheless emotional, bond.

Although it is impossible to completely detach and not project at least some human feelings onto the octopus, several things were made clear to me throughout reading this book. Octopuses are each unique; shy, adventures, solitary, grumpy, or playful. They get itchy. They get bored. Octopuses remember. They seem to take comfort in the presence of an old friend, relaxing and asking to be petted when visited by someone that they like. They forget things in their old age. Their arms contain roughly two thirds of their neurons, meaning that each of the eight arms kind of does have a mind of its own. They taste with their skin, which is how they recognize the humans that they fear/enjoy, and how they hunt the waters around them.

Sy Montgomery fell in love, specifically with two or three of the giant Pacific octopuses housed at the New England Aquarium in Boston. The aquarium is a sprawling, magical complex with exhibits ranging from feisty penguins to grumpy eels, and a webcam fixed in their Giant Ocean Tank, which you can watch here (I have had trouble doing anything else today, especially when Myrtle, the ancient sea turtle who lives in the tank, swims up the camera and rolls around flirtatiously in the water). Montgomery also forged friendships with the volunteers, regular members, and staff that surrounded her, and tenderly peeked into each of their lives, making the book both rich and sad at times. These people bonded over their love of the mysterious octopuses that brought them together, and they left each day mystified and changed.

This nonfiction book about octopuses and the cosmic questions that surround consciousness made me cry. CRY. And I laughed, too, totally in love with how little I know, and at the intoxicating thirst for knowledge that this book gave to me.

It’s hard to explain this strange combination of new facts and the overwhelming feeling of smallness that this book gave to me over drinks while my husband is falling asleep. But don’t worry, I’ve already bookmarked about 100 articles and videos on the miracle that is the octopus, and we’ll be exploring them very soon. To my husband: hope you weren’t planning on reading the Sunday Times this weekend, because I’ve got other plans for us. Time to talk cephalopods.

Three books for your bedside table

I normally write my blogs on one book at a time. BUT! Today I thought I would share three books that I’ve recently read and really enjoyed.

One book has been made into a movie, one is currently being made into a movie, and the other…well, this author has several books, and two of his books have……yep, been made into a movie!

So, if you’re planning on seeing any of these films, I thought I would introduce you to the authors’ books first.

One.

Ron Rash’s Above The Waterfall.

Jacket (3)Although this particular book has not yet been made into a film, two of Rash’s other novels, Serena and The World Made Straight, have. Yep, you’re remembering the one with Jennifer Lawrence (yeeeeeees) and Bradley Cooper. I watched “Serena” a few weeks ago (on the lovely Netflix) and it really made me want to check out some of Rash’s other books. I’m really in love with the fact that his books are set in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina; this sets everything up for a beautiful story. In Above The Waterfall Les, a sheriff just on the edge of retirement, must deal with the ugliness of crystal meth cooks throughout his mountain town, while also dealing with an elderly local that is being accused of poisoning a trout stream. Becky, a forest ranger who seems to have a dark past, weaves in and out of the story in a rather beautiful way. Rash cuts back and forth from Les’ dealings with the law, to Becky’s love with the nature and mountains around her. Both Les and Becky seem to have difficult pasts, but both are being brought together, not only with defending the elderly local, but also for their love of the natural world they live in.

If you’re looking for a quiet, yet entertaining read…give this one a go!

P.S. Ron Rash will be here tonight at 5:00 for a signing and reading!

Two.

Cheryl Strayed’s Wild.

Jacket (1)This book came out as a film in 2014, and if you haven’t seen it…..read the book first! (Although, the movie is good, too).

My husband and I recently took a trip to Washington and spent a few days hiking around Mt. Rainier. Within those few days, we quickly decided we wanted to do this again…and soon. We’re already trying to gather up backpacking gear and looking up trails to get ourselves started. Our goal is to hike the 93 miles of the Wonderland trail (around the base of Mt. Rainier) one day. Which….will definitely take some training. I figured, why not read about Cheryl’s time on the PCT trail with little, to no training? This book is definitely going to identify more with individuals that are interested in either hiking or backpacking. But, Cheryl was also an advice columnist before becoming an author and this book is filled with metaphors, quotes, and stories that will inspire one to pull themselves back up if they are down. The main reason that Cheryl started her journey on the trail was based on grief, she was grieving her mothers death and her divorce. My favorite part of Cheryl’s writing/journey is how she ties in the nature around her to her healing process. For example,

“Crater Lake was a mountain with a heart torn out, that eventually healed— like myself”

If you’re interested in maybe picking up hiking, or you possibly already backpack and hike, you should definitely pick this book up. If you’re wanting a good story with a ton of brilliant metaphors throughout, take a chance on this one, and I think you’ll really enjoy it.

Three.

Emma Donoghue’s Room.

Jacket (2)Room is being made into a film and will be out nationwide on November 6th, 2015. Please, please read the book first! Because, I’m not completely sure how well this book can be made into a movie and still have its full effect.

In Donoghue’s Room, Jack and his Ma live in an 11×11 foot room morning, day and night. This room has been their prison since Ma was 19 and all of Jack’s life (because he was born in that very room). Ma and Jack eat, sleep, sing, play, read, cook and bathe in this room, since “Old Nick” kidnapped Ma six years before. What makes this story so interesting (and why I think it may be difficult to adapt into a film) is that it is told from the perspective of five-year old Jack, who has never been outside of Room. Just pick this book up and read the first paragraph…here’s a taste of what Jack is like:

“Today I’m five. I was four last night going to sleep in Wardrobe, but when I wake up in Bed in the dark I’m changed to five, abracadabra.”

The only things that Jack has ever known is Ma, Room and all of the things that are located in Room. To Jack, there are a million things to do in Room (read, water Plant, play Track, sleep, color), but for Ma, she is continuously thinking of the Outside and her life before being put in Room. There are two different perspectives on life coming from Ma and Jack throughout this book and it’s an awesome read. I couldn’t get over how incredibly content Donoghue made Jack’s reality feel to him, I wanted to scream “There’s a whole world out there, Jack!”. But, he wouldn’t have understood that. His Ma has to slowly introduce Jack to things throughout the book before finally getting him to understand that she had not always been in Room.

Please pick this book up and read it before the movie comes out….I really think reading this is going to make the movie so much better for you!

So, there ya go. Three new books to add to your pile! Please find me in the store and let me know how you like one, two or all three!

THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS, by Mordecai Gerstein

I was sitting in my little cubby behind the fiction desk at the beginning of the month when it hit me. Yet another anniversary of 9/11 is upon us. How can yet another year have flown by distancing us from the most deadly terrorist attack on American soil? The emotions, man. AND IT’S BEEN 14 YEARS. How can so many years have passed already, when I can remember September 11 of 2001 so clearly? In that moment of realization I just sat and let the painful memories wash over me. Each year I seemingly transport seamlessly back to my 10 year old self, where the magnitude of the atrocity is new and fresh. I fully expected to continue in this mindset as we approached and then passed this anniversary, in similar manner to the previous 13 I have experienced. Something happened though that reshaped my mindset of the historic twin towers that I couldn’t have imagined; my miracle appeared in book form.

JacketI received my daily stack of customer special orders that needed their owners’ notification of their arrival. As I generally do, I skimmed each title as I progressed through the stack. I may occasionally read an inside cover as well if I find it particularly interesting (this is how my own reading list becomes so spectacularly lengthy.) There was one book on this day that stopped my progress in its tracks. The title of the book was The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, a Caldecott Medal award winning children’s picture book by Mordecai Gerstein. I didn’t fully know what I was looking at; just a children’s book on the twin towers. Immediately my curiosity was piqued. I halted my work; I knew this was a book I needed to read at that moment.

As I discovered, The Man Who Walked Between The Towers recounts the French aerialist Philipe Petit’s acrobatics in the early morning hours of an August day in 1974. Petit, with assistance from cohorts, stretched a wire between the towers in an attempt to cross between the two as the sun rose. I became enthralled with the story as I was pulled into that hour that Petit entertained passers by a quarter of a mile up in the sky as depicted with the captivating illustrations within.

Something happened as I read this story. I was no longer only filled with pain and sadness when I thought of the twin towers, I was now also filled with the wonder, amusement, and even joy of this story. I was hit with a realization that filled me with a surpassing hope in this painful anniversary. Terrorists may have taken almost 3,000 lives on that September day, but they could not take everything. They can never take away the joyful moments that took place in and on the twin towers; I’m sure this incredible story is just one of many that could be told. This is the one that I know though, and I want to share it with you all. This is a book for all ages, but I think it can be especially important for children. It is important for them to know and remember the atrocities of 9/11, but also to know that there is always more that can never be taken away by evil.

A sincere thank you each and ever year to the first responders of 9/11. And my deepest sympathies to the family members of the victims. #neverforget

*On September 30th, a movie on this story will be released titled ‘The Walk.’

 

Environmental Creative Nonfiction: a fascinating niche of literature despite its horrendous umbrella term

First off, introductions: Hello all, there’s a new Maggie of Lemuria in town!

Well, not really. You might recognize my face. I’ve been in and out of the Lemuria rotating staff since the summer of 2013 before my senior year of high school. After a summer internship in Oz, I worked part-time as a senior, learned enough to provide an extra hand to wrap or work Oz during the holidays, and here we are. I just keep coming back, even after my freshman year at Ole Miss. I’m working on an English degree my parents still disapprove of.

Okay, glad we got that out of the way.

Recently, I’ve become acquainted with the genre of “environmental creative nonfiction”. Bear with me- it’s a fascinating niche of literature despite its horrendous umbrella term.

When I say environmental creative nonfiction, I’m talking about adventure pieces by John Krakauer, Cheryl Strayed’s wilderness memoir Wild, and Rick Bass’s diary-style Winter: Notes from Montana. What these pieces have in common are their personal narratives of growth and experience as influenced by their environment. The environment becomes a character within the work because it plays such a crucial role in where the piece goes.


unnamedOne of my favorite pieces within this highly specific genre is David George Haskell’s
The Forest Unseen. I was first introduced to this work in Nature Writing, an English course I was lucky enough to weasel my way into during my second semester. I was mostly in it for the chance to get some real writing critique and a trip to Costa Rica (lemme tell you friends, it was awesome), but I was lucky enough to also be exposed to some really phenomenal works of nonfiction.

David George Haskell is a professor of biology at Sewanee, and The Forest Unseen follows what he refers to as “A Year’s Watch in Nature”. Haskell observes a one-square-meter patch of old-growth forest, referred to as the mandala, for an entire year. The work is divided into chapters concerning specific anecdotes and aspects of life in the mandala, from fungi to insects to plant and animal interaction, touching on how all are linked together in a complex web. Everything is intensely researched and backed up with scientific fact. There are detailed descriptions of life cycles, bizarre adaptations, histories of scientific discovery. But what makes The Forest Unseen such a phenomenal book is Haskell’s skilled weaving of the scientific and the spiritual.

It begins with Haskell’s use of the term “mandala”. Mandalas are small circular sand drawings that are representative of the entirety of the universe and are in the tradition of Tibetan monks. From this one concept, Haskell brings into his book a complex layer of spirituality. He alludes to many different branches of faith and their relationship to the environment, discusses the nature of souls within the concept of the natural world, and draws parallels between his observations and religious concepts. By discussing spirituality in relation to science within the concept of the mandala, Haskell connects humanity to the environment, something we so often tend to view as some inconceivable other.

I want to put this book into everyone’s hands. I look for any excuse to recommend it to someone, but it is such a hard book to quickly summarize. It is about so much. It is about humanity and the environment and religion and science and the relationship between it all. It is about the past and the future. It has the power to speak to you if you let it.

In short, Haskell transforms a potentially dry, textbook subject into an ethereal reading experience (okay, maybe it’s a bit dry at the beginning but you can’t have everything). He creates intoxicating yet informative prose that reads like a poetry collection and a textbook. He brings the environment he observes to life, lets it breathe on the page and gives it a voice. Haskell has me head-over-heels in love with environmental creative nonfiction, and I have a feeling this is going to be a rather drawn-out love affair.

The Desolation of Blog

NOTE: This blog contains spoilers to the film.  Avert your eyes and go see the film before continuing.

maxresdefaultThe final chapter of the Hobbit came out in theaters and I liked this one the best out of the 3 films.  I liked it the most because it was most true to the book, but only in the sense that 90% of the film was briefly recounted to Bilbo after the battle by Gandalf.  Bilbo was knocked unconscious and slept through the entire battle in the book.  The sloppy way they added the elves to the film and a few lazy love interests (no the least of which was Bilbo and Thorin’s bedroom eyes they kept giving each other) made the Tolkien-nerd inside me angry.  The last thing I was disappointed about what the lack of Tolkien’s  songs that made it to the film.  The Dwarves singing in Bilbo’s house are the only songs in the trilogy.  I felt like cutting all of the songs from the films was a bad move especially because it made sense with the tone of the films and kids movies should always have songs in them in my opinion.

 
Smaug+the+adorable_fb20ef_5007628On to what I liked about the film: the battle with the Necromancer is great.  Watching Saruman, Elrond and Galadriel kick Sauron’s ass is great- if a little short.  I would have loved to give them some more camera time.  Finally, the death of Smaug is epic!  The way he wrecks Lake Town is beautifully done and Smaug looks exactly how I imagined him in my head.  I felt they really captured how massive and terrifying he was.  The battle of the 5 armies is well done and the Scottish dwarves riding their war pigs was awesome.   Even though they dragged this book into a trilogy I can forgive them because they brought my favorite book of my childhood to the big screen and did a good job of it.  Thank you Peter Jackson, now put the franchise down and walk away.

 

 

Written by Daniel 

A City Ramble in the Spirit of Robert Walser

robert walser 483

“We don’t need to see anything out of the ordinary. We already see so much.” -Robert Walser

I first came across Robert Walser’s writings in the 2011 edition of Microscripts. He had an affinity for writing short stories and essays using an early German script called Kurrent. I tried to forget about this beautiful book, Microscripts, but I never really did. And now my love for Robert Walser freely abounds with the gorgeous new book A Little Ramble: In the Spirit of Robert Walser, published New Directions. As with all of Robert Walser’s writings, you will want to take A Little Ramble in slowly.

If you’re interested in Robert Walser, leave a comment below. We will be getting in more of his books in the next week that will find their place on Lemuria’s shelves and maybe yours, too!

Robert Walser can make me feel really sentimental as my walking paths in Austria come very close to his paths in Germany and Switzerland. Surely, he walked some beautiful ways in Austria, too?

mountains in vorarlberg 483

I don’t quite live in the picture-postcard Austria any longer but we do have many beautiful places in Mississippi. And maybe they are all the more special because they are not as obvious. Over the past few weeks I have been enjoying my own little ramble in downtown Jackson along the levee and down some beautiful paths along the Pearl River. Enjoy Robert Walser’s ramble in words and my ramble in photos below.

A Little Ramble:

I walked through the mountains today. The weather was damp, and the entire region was gray. But the road was soft and in places very clean. At first I had my coat on; soon, however, I pulled it off, folded it together, and laid it upon my arm. The walk on the wonderful road gave me more and ever more pleasure; first it went up and then descended again. The mountains were huge, they seemed to go around. The whole mountainous world appeared to me like an enormous theater. The road snuggled up splendidly to the mountainsides. Then I came down into a deep ravine, a river roared at my feet, a train rushed passed me with magnificent white smoke. The road went through the ravine like a smooth white stream, and as I walked on, to me it was if the narrow valley were bending and winding around itself. Gray clouds lay on the mountains as though they were their resting place. I met a young traveler with a rucksack on his back, who asked if I had seen two other young fellows. No, I said. Had I come from very far? Yes, I said, and went farther on my way. Not a long time, and I saw and heard the two young wanderers pass by with music. A village was especially beautiful with humble dwellings set thickly under the white cliffs. I encountered a few carts, otherwise nothing, and I had seen some children on the highway. We don’t need to see anything out of the ordinary. We already see so much.

-Robert Walser

levee wildflowers 483

path to the pearl river 483

 

Inspiration behind the Dog Stars

The Dog Stars may be Peter Heller’s first foray into fiction, but it is actually his fourth book to be published. Heller’s first three books are high-stakes adventure nonfiction; Heller’s first-hand knowledge of real near-death experiences serve him well in his crafting of Dog Stars. Hig, the fly-fishing bush pilot hero of Dog Stars, could easily be a character in Heller’s other books. (Not to mention Hig’s gun-slinging sidekick, Bangley).

Like an extended episode of Animal Planet’s Whale Wars, Heller’s Whale Warriors records the two months spent aboard the eco-pirate ship, Farley Mowatt. Hunting Japanese whaling ships in the Antarctic, the book is not only an anthropological jump into the lives of the men and women who are fighting (literally) to protect the wonders of our world, but is also a high-seas adventure which is immediately engrossing.

In much the same way as Whale Warriors captures an American sub-culture with vivid character portraits, Kook follows Peter Heller as he  surfs his way up and down the Pacific coast and works to become a shredder (a really good surfer, for those of us not in the know).

Check out this video from Peter Heller’s website as he explains the inspiration behind Dog Stars:

 

Peter Heller will be at Lemuria TODAY! at 5 PM for a signing with a reading to follow at 5:30 PM. Stop by and get your copy signed.

If you can’t make it, but you want a signed copy, you can reserve one here, or call us 601.366.7619

Summer Running

We’ve been getting some interesting new running books in this summer — here’s two I thought were worth highlighting.

Eat and Run — Remember Scott Jurek from Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run? He’s written his own book, Eat and Run, about his career as an ultramarathoner while eating only a vegan diet. He covers his childhood, his early success in running, the transition to veganism, and the addiction to races that test not just his physical ability but his psychological strength. A good read from one of the most prominent ultramarathoners.

Running with the Kenyans — It’s difficult not to compare Adharanand Finn’s book to Born to Run. It’s largely the same formula: journalist seeks to regain his love for running by visiting a tribe/country renowned for near-mythical running ability, meets characters, finds wisdom. But this formula works. The reader ends up with a nice mix of a travel memoir and a sports/adventure book, with a little inspirational wisdom tossed in. I’m looking forward to this one.

Wild

Dare I?

Should I write a negative review?

I try not to. It’s not an issue of dishonesty. I simply won’t post any review of a book I don’t think I can recommend honestly. If you come into the bookstore, I wouldn’t hand you all the books I think you wouldn’t like, and so I wouldn’t do that here either.

But it’s a little more complicated than that with Cheryl Strayed’s Wild. I don’t think it’s a bad book…I just think I’m the wrong reader for it. Or, at least, the wrong reader for some of it.

What I mean is that I’m a sucker for a good adventure book. Jon Krakauer, Sebastian Junger…I love that stuff, and that’s what I thought I had in Wild. The prologue was very promising — a short story of the day Cheryl Strayed lost her boots over a cliff on the Pacific Crest Trail. And then I started the first chapter. Some legitimately heart-wrenching family stuff. “Okay,” I thought, “we’ll get some background for the author, and then we’ll get straight to the good outdoor adventure.” And for a while, I was rewarded.

Then there was some more family stuff. Then a bit of hiking. Then some marriage and relationship history. More hiking. Back to family stories. Some drug use. Childhood memories. Whining about blisters from hiking.

And then, somewhere between the drug use and the childhood memories, I realized that the book isn’t really about an outdoor adventure at all. Wild is about transformation, or finding oneself, or loss, or healing, or any of number of things that have nothing in particular to do with the outdoors or adventure.

This was a disappointing revelation to me.

Undoubtedly, this reveals more about me than it does about the book. I can live with that.

If you enjoy the writings of Jon Krakauer or Sebastian Junger; if you read Outdoor magazine; if you want man facing nature at its most unforgiving and extreme…look elsewhere.

On the other hand, if you enjoy emotionally raw, honest memoirs; if you read Jeannette Walls or Mary Karr; if you want the author to spill the ugly details of her life…give Wild a shot. Just ignore the hiking boot on the cover.

Bicycling the Natchez Trace

Bicycling the Natchez Trace is in its third edition and for good reason. Even before you get on the trail you will get caught up in the engaging mini history lessons from author Glen Wanner. Wanner has been traveling all 500 miles of the Natchez Trace from Mississippi through Alabama and Tennessee, noting the Indian mounds to Civil War battlegrounds to the simplicities of small town southern life for many years.

Glen Wanner emphasizes the variety of bicycle tours available on the Natchez Trace. Cyclists can go on a several-hour tour to a several-day tour. You can load your bike up on your car and then hop off for a self-contained cycling tour.

If you do decide to go for a long tour, Wanner details every suggested tour with information on distance, terrain and accumulated elevation, historical highlights and recommendations for camping, lodging and food.

 

We are truly lucky in Mississippi to have one of the premier cycling roads in the country. Surely one of the best ways to follow the paths of Indian hunters, Mississippi boatmen, pioneers settlers, soldiers and even outlaws is a cycling trip on the Natchez Trace.

Here is an account of cycling on the Natchez Trace in Mississippi: http://roadslesstraveled.us/NatchezTraceMS2.html

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