The Desert
John C. Van Dyke
New York: Peregrine Smith, Inc., 1991 [reprint of 1901 edition]; Pp. xxxvii, 233

In 1898, the asthmatic art historian rode into the Colorado desert with only a pony, a dog,
his guns, and some supplies. This book is a result of his nearly three-year journey, or
rather, aimless meandering across the deserts of California, Arizona, and Mexico that nearly
killed him. The book, however, is not a diary of adventures like Powell's THE EXPLORATION
OF THE COLORADO RIVER AND ITS CANYONS, and it is not a survivalist account. Rather, it is
the result of quiet but intense contemplation of the majestic vistas that consumed the
traveller. The narrative is divided into twelve topical chapters, each dealing with
one particular aspect of the desert: first impressions, geology, history, light and color,
the sky, animals, birds, plants, illusions, and, of course, mountains. The style is a bit
dated, but is very deliberate and subtle. Having been in Utah's wilderness recently, I
cannot help but wonder at how perceptive Van Dyke's lyrical account is.


"...there is a simplicity about large masses --- simplicity in breadth, space and
distance --- that is inviting and ennobling... The weird solitude, the great silence,
the grim desolation, are the very things with which every desert wandered eventually
falls in love... the beauty of the ugly was sometime a paradox, but to-day people admit
to its truth" (p. 19);
"The shadows of foliage, the drift of clouds, the fall of rain upon leaves, the sound
of running waters --- all the gentler qualities of nature that minor poets love to juggle
with --- are missing on the desert. It is stern, harsh, and at first repellent... It is
a gaunt land of splintered peaks, torn valleys, and hot skies. And at every step there is
the suggestion of the fierce, the defiant, the defensive. Everything within its borders
seems fighting to maintain itself against destroying forces. There is a war of elements and
a struggle for existence going on here that for ferocity is unparalleled elsewhere in nature"
(pp. 25-6).
"...nothing ever rots or decays in these sands. Iron will not rust, nor tin tarnish, nor
flesh mortify. The grass and the shrub wither and are finally cut into pieces by flying
sands" (p. 41).



@BOOK{dyke-1901:desert,
    TITLE     = {The Desert},
    AUTHOR    = {John C. {Van Dyke}},
    YEAR      = {1991 [1901]},
    PUBLISHER = {Peregrine Smith, Inc.},
    ADDRESS   = {New York},
    ISBN      = {0-87905-395-X},
    NOTES     = {Pp. xxxvii, 233, introduction},
}