A Bit Bookish

The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a thought provoking book. Being someone who loves solitude and being alone, but at the same time enjoys people as well, I wanted to try to understand a little better why someone so young (age 20) just walks away from life, disappears into the woods, and doesn't talk to another person for almost 3 decades. Not sure I understand it any better even now that I've finished the book. But what a fascinating read it is. What is the role of solitude, the value of suffering, the diversity of human needs? What is the balance between social obligation and the need to retreat? This quote by the author really made me think about sociability and its place in our lives-- "Modern life seems set up so that we can avoid loneliness at all costs, but maybe it's worthwhile to face it occasionally. The further we push aloneness away, the less are we able to cope with it, and the more terrifying it gets. Some philosophers believe that loneliness is the only true feeling there is. We live orphaned on a tiny rock in the immense vastness of space, with no hint of even the simplest form of life anywhere around us for billions upon billions of miles, alone beyond all imagining. We live locked in our own heads and can never entirely know the experience of another person. Even if we're surrounded by family and friends, we journey into death completely alone."


View all my reviews