Multiconstruct

Last night I missed a stair, rolled my foot, and ended up with a solid sprain. I hit it with RICE which has given me some unexpected time for reading.

I had picked up Steve Wiegenstein’s novel The Language of Trees. It’s the third of four (so far) in his historical fiction account of a utopian community in the Missouri Ozarks. I’ve been savoring the series with a little pause between each one.

It hits all the right notes. I am a long student of American utopian communities in general and Missouri ones in particular. I had read the founder of the Oneida Colony John Humphrey Noyes’s excellent history of American utopian communities when I was a first semester freshman and it made a big impact on me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Humphrey_Noyes

Steve Wiegenstein is also a fan. When the Columbia Men’s Book Club read his book of short stories he came to the meeting to talk about his book and he ended up joining our esteemed body. Being with friends with Steve makes reading his stuff a treat but the books stand on their own.

I love the Missouri history and geography and this book covers the very short and very brutal time when the old growth stands were cleared in 20 years. As devastating as the Civil War in many ways, I’m looking forward to learning something as well as exploring an important and sad time in history.

What I like most about reading Steve is his keen insight into the human condition. His characters are flawed and real and he captures the awkward struggle of navigating through life with the dialectics of our dreams and commitments and societal expectations and the yearnings of our hearts as well as anyone putting pen to paper.

You should catch the first book of the series for sure. https://www.stevewiegenstein.com/