Book Review: Heaven Is Under Our Feet September 12 & 13, 2012

I first got my copy of this book about two decades ago. I was a young buck, and a new member of my community college's Environmental Club. there was a girl there, a very attractive girl, who had gotten very involved with the whole Walden Woods Project. She gave us updates, organized trips (I was sorry that I had not been a part of the trip, or trips, that she took up there), and overall, kept us abreast of what was going on there. She also ordered a bunch of these books, and I ordered my copy through her.

Well, the dust has settled. The Walden Woods Project managed to win those battles, and at least this small patch of woods has been preserved, perhaps to fight another such battle someday.. The cute girl has moved on to her life. For my part, I am a grown man, with child. Years and years have passed.

So, why go back to this book? In fact, I had never read it back then. Barely even looked at it, really, if memory serves correctly. Maybe I made a half-assed attempt at reading it, I'm not even entirely sure. But I did not succeed, and it was quickly forgotten.

Yet, I kept my copy. It is one of the relatively few reminders I have of those times, of the Environmental Club, and of her. I had a crush on her (by now it must be obvious), but I denied it to myself and to her at the time. So, perhaps I made a deliberate effort to try and push it away, out of my thoughts.

Well, that can't last forever, right? And so, a few years ago (I'm thinking, if my memory serves correctly, either in 2008 or 2009), I decided to pick it up again. I had read some individual pieces. The one by Kurt Vonnegut, who had become one of my favorite authors. The one by President Jimmy Carter, and the one by Ted Kennedy. Perhaps one or two others, and I had perused through others. But finally, I decided to read it for real, from cover to cover.

And you know what? It was actually really good. I enjoyed it immensely. At times, it could be humorous. At other times, it was focusing on personal recollections and memories, and not just of the woods at Walden, either. Still more often, it was informative, in some way or another - even to the point of being preachy, presumptive and pretentious in some cases (I don't want to mention which piece or author I'm referring to here, but if you have read or will read the book, there's probably a decent chance that you can guess who).

All in all, in fact, it is an enjoyable read.

The book starts off with a Foreword by President Jimmy Carter, who introduces the subject matter, and how it relates to the wider issues that Walden is symbolic of and, thus, related to, however indirectly. Then, Don Henley, who's strong activism really gave momentum for the Walden Woods Project and the movement to preserve the woods, gives a suitably long Preface, talking a bit about his own childhood and attachment to nature, and ties it in with the larger issue of how our traditional attitudes towards nature, and the environmental degradation that this has caused, and finally, comes around to why it is so important to preserve Walden Woods for future generations.

There are historians and environmental experts that contribute their words and wisdom in this book. Edmund Schofield gives a good background history of Walden Woods, and Anne LaBastille details her experiences with actually watching a species of birds go extinct (she may have been the only scientist to actually literally observe such a thing, over a period of decades).

I personally enjoyed the now late Senator Ted Kennedy's piece, which reflects rather fondly on family outings to Walden Woods dating back to his childhood, and then goes on to talk about the influence that Thoreau's words had on his two famous brothers, before finally tying it all in and addressing the wider issue of Walden Woods and it's significance, symbolic and otherwise, in the present age.

Author Jim Harrison's piece was also quite strong, as he details his own experiences in the rural northern peninsula of Michigan. Actor and longtime activist Robert Redford very capably and eloquently addresses the major environmental concerns, many of which have not really changed in the decades since this book was released.

I very much enjoyed Wesley Mott's piece. He is an expert on both Thoreau and Emerson, and thus, was able to lend a bit of a scholarly feel to the book, explaining a bit some of the differences and popular misconceptions about the two men, and their ties to one another. Richard Fleck discusses his experiences on Maine's Mount Katahdin, and explains how he felt closer to Thoreau during his own climb there.

The late James Michener also has a very intriguing contribution that is rather unique in it's approach. He mentions some strange, but thought provoking, facts initially and points out unconventional arguments to illustrate the crime of species going extinct. Finally, he finishes with a personal account of some cool experiences on a trip to Africa. He lends a strong voice of advocacy to the importance of conservation overall.





So, here continues my long focus on Concord-related items, and this is the second part of a review for a book that I enjoy reading and find at times inspirational, at times almost too much with a barrage of depressing facts and the sense of being overwhelmed by all the people and incentive and ambitions that have gone largely unchecked, and led to this mess that we are in now.

Others reflect on their own personal stories, and many do so to great effect.

I left off at James Michener last time, so let me resume a bit.

George Frampton urges us to make ethical progress and to create a land ethic, rather than recklessly squeezing out every last penny that we can from our own natural resources. 

Tom Cruise starts off a rather lengthy piece by reliving his experiences in a visit to the Amazon, before going on a long list of the changes that we need to make, or at least the changes that he would like to see. 

Gary Trudeau contributes certainly the most unique visual of the book,  drawing a cartoon.

Alan Edmond is former Town Manager of Concord, and he talks of his experiences in a former Eastern Bloc nation, looking for guidance on the new economic policies of the West. 

John Nichols provides some humor in his piece, talking in an exaggerated, modern jargon, and dismissing everything that Thoreau has to teach us (tongue in cheek, however). Mike Farrell marvels at the power of such a cause, and the movement, to bring so many diverse people together for a common cause. 

Bette Woody gives a personal account from her own life, before getting to some scary facts, while John O'Connor just launches into the broken political/economic system that we find today, and advocates some of the measures that he feels will preserve the environment for many a year to come. 

My apologies for the rather broken out style of this review. I am not sure if it is working, but since this is not exactly a work of fiction or anything, but rather, a series of essays, it seemed prudent to break down the essays, and to give my thoughts of some of the most important and powerful ones (according to me, anyway). 

I will continue this soon again, but am right at the moment too tired to keep going.