The River Why

David James Duncan
Quote:

That was the thing about Nature: make one lousy rule to describe it and it’ll contradict you even if it has to transmogrify and metamorphosize and bust its ass to do it. And so what? If anybody grew wise enough to grasp the real immutable laws of Nature, Nature’d only rear back and strike ‘em dead before they got anybody to understand them.

I recalled sentimental paragraphs wherein authors bootlessly lament departed fisher friends; I recalled adventures where some angler meets his death by some unfortunate outdoors accident, or, more frequently adventures wherein some angler hears of another angler who heard of an angler who met his death by some unfortunate outdoors accident, thus keeping the Grim Reaper at a pleasant distance while we readers, like overstuffed cattle in the slaughterhouse corral, ruminate the cudlike morals Death’s victims leave as their legacies to Angledom—pithy maxims like: “Don’t make Fred’s mistake: wear a life jacket” or “Don’t pull the fatal boner Arnold pulled: carry that compass in the woods at all times”

I don't think I have ever read a book more exactly in the style of writing I like than The River Why. But I am putting it up here for more than its style. The River Why has good thought in it too. I thought about comparing it to Walden, but the only way Thoreau could have written something like this was if he had been about twenty years younger and high as a kite. I think a hundred and fifty years of social relaxation and retardation have also helped to produce The River Why instead of Walden. Whatever the case, there are always stories of men who cannot stand that great invention we call civilization. These men usually get angry, retreat in a girlish huff to some remote area--almost always within a few miles of the thing they got huffy at--and discover that they didn't hate civilization at all. With the exception of Daniel Quinn, who apparently does hate civilization, these hermits end up ruminating their minds off and finally slapping their knees with jovial hands as they say, By Golly, I miss Mom, Pop, and little Jimmy.
The River Why spends a good deal more time than these others though on the metaphysical topics. Retreat from society to discover the self, retreat from civilization to discover the metaphysical. The lens Duncan uses to look at metaphysics is definitely the mystics, but if you are up to a discussion of shadows as twins and Garden Worlds where Garden Angels all burst into white flames at the sight of a Queen, well then, you might just be able to enjoy The River Why.
Duncan will surprise you though, no matter what you come looking for: humor, love, Zen, Daoism, and some fishing; environmentalism, psychology, mentology, emotionology, drunkenness and human nature; bartering, home-made whiskey, dogs as philosophers, philosophers as dogs, God, salmon, and five-year-olds' confidence. The wandering and wondering journey Duncan takes you on covers more ground than a river in a hundred years, about as much as the quivering wavering trickle of water down your windshield, asking that great question of its changing path and unlike both streams, ending in a place that will likely surprise you. For instance, one of the best personal adds I've ever read:

Will the girl who ran from the guy who recited Izaak Walton in the tree please contact Gus on the other river he named. He has your rod and fish and wants to return them. He is totally harmless, but urges you to bring a loaded gun if frightened, as long as you come. Thank you.

One last rumination of my own: I think thought about metaphysics sometimes is very like climbing a mountain on a cloudy day to look at the sun. There are about as many mountains as there are people who would like to climb them. And along the way, almost everyone gets a good peak at the burning sun. Some end up hiking above the clouds for quite a long time, while others only get caught in the fog and don't see much more than a luminescent brilliance. But none of them ever get to the sun because they climbed the mountain. It may help them get a better tack on the sun, figure out where it's shining, perhaps even what the sunlight feels like, but the mountain never reaches the sun. The River Why is a hike up a mountain, not an especially tall mountain, but I guarantee you will get above the clouds.