Dakota

December 10, 2009
Book of the Day: Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, by Kathleen Norris
Grade: B-
First published: 1993
1-word review: Solitude
8-word review: Desolation brings enlightenment, but only for a few.

The western part of North and South Dakota is, perhaps, the most desolate, unforgiving location in the United States, even more so than Idaho. Populations shrink as farmers and ranchers struggle to make a living with nutrient-poor soil, harsh winds, little rain, and temperatures that range from well below zero to well over 100 degrees over the course of the year. Gossip and back-stabbing reign as residents struggle to find a reason for their hardship.

Still, Kathleen Norris has found peace in this place. She uses a strange mix of realism and idealism to describe her life in Lemmon, an isolated town of less than 2000 people in northwestern South Dakota, right on the border with North Dakota. She left New York City in the early '70's to take over the farm she inherited from her grandmother, and she has lived there, with her husband, ever since. She has evolved into a craver of solitude, even becoming an oblate (a sort-of part-time monk) at a Dakotan Benedictine monastery, despite herself being a Protestant. She comes to see herself as inseparable from place. Place defines her and molds her.

Here's a photo of western South Dakota. Click for a much bigger picture.


Here's an abandoned North Dakota farmhouse, a common sight nowadays, although the grass is usually not so green.


The only thing I didn't like about this book was Norris's too-frequent tendency to quote other writers. This became a distraction. Furthermore, she has too simplistic and rosy a view of other writers and intellectuals with degrees from prominent institutions. I understand her point about locals being resistant to new ideas, but maybe new ideas can sometimes be bad ones, even (frequently especially) if they come from well-educated people.