~ 74 ~ archetypes of escape: the family driving vacation, MLT is the archetype on the other end of the scale: the cabin in the woods. One of the most compelling things about MLT is the way Best manages to capture the sense that the natural landscape, even as it expresses its changing moods, is still unavoidably haunted with some of the characters we carry with us. Anyone who loves nature, or used to love nature and has lost the connection along the way, will feel a sense of renewal from this collection. Best weaves together his reflections on nature and his love of a woman, so that sometimes the reader sees them both cast in a shared light, creating an interesting effect. A great example of this effect is found in “Mead Lake, This Night:”
when I call to the bay the echo says something new. when I asked do you love me, you said yes that was something new too.
And then again, in “Mead Lake, This Morning:”
thin blue january sky burns above ice fishermen reading their entrails of ice for whatever might be found there. the lake is growing stronger, booming beneath our feet, while the woodsmoke from a distant cottage thins into the denuded trees. the crows are kvetching as usual. the island is doing whatever it is islands do, an embodiment of islandness, and i miss you. i miss you.
In striking contrast to the way the landscape and the wildlife were sort of background scenery in SS as I passed through, here those things are brought to the foreground. However, the real beauty and grace of this collection is created by an abundance of fine, fine writing. In one passage, Best writes: your laundry is slowly crawling out of the hamper and back to your body just to smell you again.
There’s no other way to fairly describe it; that’s a spark of brilliant writing. In addition to the details of nature — including mosquitoes, caterpillars, the buzzing of bees,