"We search mountaintops and valleys, deserts and oceans, hoping sunrises and long views through the canyons will help us discover who we are, or who we still want to be. The language of your hearts reflect that of creation because in both are fingerprints of God."
[Actual rating: 2.5 Stars]
This book explores the journey of life and what fatherhood means, the wonder of looking up at the stars, camping in the West,etc. I think that this book has the potential to be an insightful and introspective piece of travel memoir art, if it's read at the right time to the right audience. However, being a female teenager, nothing in this book interested or applied to me personally, and so that's why I found it hard to get into it.
My favorite passages were those where Thompson describes all of the motorcycle rides with his grandfather and sees canyons, valleys, and tunnels. Those seem to be heartfelt, and his grandfather is a wise old man who brightened some of the dull stories and also gave us insight into the kind of contemplation that was taught to him, and in return pass this on to his two sons.
Generally though, I found myself skimming through most of these short camping stories, because a lot of the moral lessons are repetitive. Things like how he wants to be a better father by exposing his sons into the wild west and all the dangers that come in, how he has these moments with God that change him to be a better person. That's all good and nice, however this type of reflection would have been more suited for a short novella or even longer essay.
On the other hand, in memoirs I like when all of the other characters are fleshed out and seem realistic, not paper-cut with roles. That's what it seemed to be here; the wife fulfills the life partner and romantic elements that are needed, supporting her husband in all of her endeavors. We don't even get one insightful shred about how their relationship actually functions, we don't really see the individual personalities of his two sons (the only details being that they're eight and ten years old).
Overall, if you enjoy travel memoirs that talk about landscape and faith, this just might be the book for me. For me, however, it fell incredibly boring and flat as a result of this disconnection.
**Thanks to bloggingforbooks and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinion are my own.**
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