Author: TravellinPenguin

THE STRANGER IN THE WOODS
The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit
By Michael Finkel
203 pages. Knopf.

This was one of the books I checked out of the library recently.  Christopher Knight was 20 years old, living in Maine with his family when he drove off one day in his new four wheel drive his brother recently co-signed for him.

He went as far into the Maine woods as he could possibly go, following as many trails with his vehicle as possible.  He put the keys on the console, walked into the woods and wasn’t seen again until 27 years later.

This true tale is an amazing study about the life of this man who yearned to disappear from life as he knew it.

The story is riveting. How many of us wish we could live in nature and disappear at times. This man did it. Not only did he succeed at the isolation but he lived this life in Maine. Maine has extreme winter conditions.

Michael Finkel is a journalist who was taken with this story when it broke in the media. The book opens when Christopher Knight who survived by stealing food and other necessities from the various cabins around North Pond lake he camped near,  was finally captured by the police. He was able to set up an extensive camp, surrounded by harsh terrain and large boulders. He was close to civilisation but still disappeared. If he would have had a mobile phone he’d of had reception.

He sneaked into the cottages around the lake and took what he needed. He always felt guilty about his stealing but did so anyway. He was meticulous in dress and deed. He once came upon another in the woods and said “Hi” as he passed him. This was his only word spoken in that time. He stated he did not talk to himself.

Michael Finkel lives in Minnesota. He flies to Maine several times. He manages to weasel his way into the life of Christopher Knight but they never become friends. He corresponds with him by mail. Over several years he manages to get the story from this man. I thought the author was at times overly intrusive in this man’s life in order to: either understand his story or just finish his book… or both.

The story is about Christopher’s life in the woods. How he survived. There is a lot of research in the book about others who have lived solitary lives, been hermits, been religious recluses.  There is a good bibliography of other books on this topics. Some I would like to also read.  The book is a quick read. It is a fascinating story and there is much food for thought. I found once I began this story it stayed with me and I could not put it down for long. I found it sad when he was finally captured.

Not everyone believed the story. I did. I thought it all rang true. I could understand what this man felt and I also understood the diagnosis the psychiatrists gave (to a degree). Not everyone is cut out to live within society as most of us know it. Some personalities just don’t cope.

The book is uneven in places. I had a few questions that finally got answered, for the most part. When I finished the book I googled the news articles around his case.  He was prosecuted for the many thefts of homes over the years. However it was reasonable as he only ever stole what he needed. Warm clothes, batteries, sleeping bags, food.

In the end he was sentenced to 7 months jail of which he served while waiting for trial. He had more years on his sentence but all were suspended. He had to complete community service and he had three years probation. His probation ends in March 2018. I wonder if he will disappear again. His age is now 50. It would be a harder thing to disappear as a 50 year old than a 20 year old.

His family never knew what happened to him and were most surprised when he surfaced. He was still living at his original home with his mother, now in her 80’s when the book was published.

I don’t think I’m ever going to forget Christopher Knight or his family. The whole family is unusual.  But they are good, hard working people. They just don’t like anyone in their business and they don’t socialise a lot.  If you enjoy stories of people who live life outside the norm then this is an interesting read. 

I heard about this book so while killing time in the city the other day I had a good look at it in the library.

I enjoyed the art work but the format of the book is quite formulaic. The author, Steven Miller has made a Table of Contents list of the various dog breeds. It seems once he made the list he then searched for art work to put on each two page spread describing what he found.  He had a great deal of success with most pages but a few of the pages I thought were scraping the bottom of the barrel.

While there are a lot of dogs in Australian art (it seems), there does not seem to be enough to do justice to every specific breed of dog.  If you love dogs, as we do in this household, then you will enjoy the vast majority of the art samples in this book.

The information about the art work displayed is a good overview.

I spent over an hour in the library looking at the pictures and reading a bit of the comments about each breed and the art information. Personally I didn’t love it enough to take it home and keep it for another three weeks.  It would be a nice general gift for the hard to buy for dog lover in your life.  Just be prepared for a few less than ideal examples.  I include some of the pages below. You can make up your own mind. I do respect that taste in art is very specific and people seldom agree about what is lovely and what is not.  Worth looking at.

Apologies for not identifying artists. I didn’t have enough time to compile all the information on the day. All of the information is in the book. I just wanted to give you an overview of the book. 

I had to take my motorbike into Motorworks for a service the other day. It was to be a lovely,  summer day so starting out at 8:00 am I rode it in. I knew it wouldn’t be ready for several hours. As I also scheduled an eye appointment for later in the morning I thought I would do a bit of street photography around Hobart.

This is my day.

Heading into Hobart I passed the Guide Dogs Memorial Park. Their office is nearby. A tribute to Guide Dogs that have passed on. 

This is a closer look at the park. A sign in braille and a foundation that has dog tags on it with various dog’s names. 

Down the street a bit further I came across the Cat Cafe. Based on the Melbourne cafe, only smaller, one can go in and have a coffee and cake and spend time with the cats.  The cats are from the Cat Rescue Centre and I believe may be adopted if someone falls in love with one.

This is the mural on the front of the Emergency Vet Clinic just down the street from the Cat Cafe.  It is open nights and weekends. 

I walked farther along the Main Street (Elizabeth St) into Hobart and passed this mural on an alley wall. It is attached to a cafe. 

Another block down the street I came across one of the large university buildings. The students have made an angel out of recycled, shredded paper. It is very tall. I couldn’t fit all of it into my camera phone frame.

Around the corner I stopped by the Red Cross Op Shop for Books. They have a wonderful selection but I only look at the shelf that has the “older authors” on it. I picked up a small book of Australian Short stories for $1.50.  It had lots of notes and the stories read had been ticked off in the Table of Contents. 

Next stop was the Hobart Library (Tasmanian State Library). I had a book of Dogs in Australian Art Work that had come in so I picked it up. As I had more than an hour to wait before my eye appointment I read most of it and took notes and photos. I will put up a second post of this book.

After my eye appointment I walked to the bottle shop to pick up a couple of bottles of wine for Christmas cheer to my favourite second hand book sellers, Mike and Richard of Cracked and Spineless.  It is a wonderful book shop and if you are visiting Hobart and love books, drop in to see them.  (Link here for their wonderful Facebook Page. They sell a lot of books on FB)

I passed this electrics box on the way to the bottle shop. There are many of these boxes around the city, controlling traffic lights? Electrics? I am not sure. They were a dull grey in colour. The city commissioned artists to paint all of them with different themes and they are a pleasant sight for pedestrians. This one represents my favourite Wildlife Sanctuary- Bonorong. (Link Here) Bonorong has trained thousands of wildlife rescuers, including myself. They rescue more than 6000 animals per year that have been injured or are sick.

It was time for some lunch. I walked along the waterfront. You can see what a lovely day it was. Enjoyed some sushi and a cold drink on the verandah overlooking the wharf.

As I had spent more than three hours in town and my bike still had a couple of hours service to go I decided to catch the bus home. (20 minutes away).  I rode back into town a couple hours later with a neighbour on a school run to pick up her child back in the city.

I spied this bus driver leaning against a wall taking a break.  He was engrossed in a Lee Child crime book. I love sneaking photos of people reading books and this one did not go unnoticed. Lovely to see people reading when they have a few minutes.

Last but not least the Christmas Tree down at the wharf.  I will never get used to having Christmas in the summer time with long daylight hours and not much cold.  It almost seems out of place. You would think after 30 years I would get used to it. Enjoy the day and hope your Christmas plans are running smoothly.