Entering the Grove by Kim R. Stafford, Gary Braasch (review)

Reviews 279 pettiness and dishonesty. But in another, “Nineswander’s Fence,”the narrator, now a young man home from college for the summer, learns that the effort of preserving that integrity in a world ofunscrupulous adultsjust maybe worth the struggle. The four remaining stories, with one exception, grouped together at the end of the book, are peopled by adults, yet Sodowsky’s unpromising view of moral and spiritual confusion continues. In them, Sodowsky’s adults drift through desultory affairs, empty relationships, and barren marriages while “still groping,”as Robert Flynn points out in his fine afterword, “for those identities that the young so easily believe their elders have already achieved.. . . ” In “Interim in the Desert”Sodowsky traces the converging trajectories of a handful ofpeople in an isolated West Texas college town where the story’smost notable character, a retired physician named Virginia Stone, has come to die. Her “interim” lasts more than a year, however, and before her death, she becomes the catalyst for significant changes in the lives of the story’s central characters, Andrew and Barbara Cowin, and ultimately sends each off toward paths of self-actualization which neither had anticipated nor could have real­ ized prior to her arrival. The conclusion may “feel” slightly abrupt, but Sodowsky’s examination of smug complacency is admirable. There is good writing here, especially the stories of adolescence where Sodowsky, winner of the 1982 Texas Institute of Letters annual award for short fiction, is at his best. On the other hand, the novella, while offering a painfully honest glimpse into the psychology of stagnation, suffers to some extent from beingjust that: one wishes Sodowsky, instead, would have opted for the novel’s format where his story’s major themes could have received the development they richly deserve and its characters fleshed out to more credible dimensions. BILL D. TOTH Victor Valley College Entering the Grove. Text by Kim R. Stafford and photography by Gary Braasch. (Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith Publishers, 1990. 123 pages, $34.95.) Entering the Grove explores, through Kim Stafford’s meditative prose and Gary Braasch’s keen photography, the beauty, wisdom, and comfort of trees. The book entices its readers to enter the grove and recognize humanity’s kinship with trees, and the consequent responsibility: “Trees are guardians of the Earth, and we are the guardians of trees.” Kim Stafford presents twelve personal essays in search of the tree of all trees. Like Thoreau, Stafford finds truth in trees. He has sought their compan­ ionship to comfort him. Hisjourney among trees and their kin is more than one man’spilgrimage, and his observations are memorable and often quotable. Not 280 WesternAmerican Literature infrequently does the reader pause to read aloud; Stafford’s trees “sip fog from the wind and swallow iron from the earth.” Stafford’s essays do not create a strong sense of place as much as they recreate experiences, thoughts, and insights. Stafford does not present his premises as battle cries toward humanity’s arrogant and blatant despoiling of the earth. Instead, he walks the reader through the doorway created by two pines, to use Muir’s metaphor. Instead of direct instruction, Stafford demon­ strates the power of observation, of taking time to examine and discover for oneself. Gary Braasch shares Stafford’s attitude. His truly exceptional photographs capture his careful observation and appreciation for the wonder ofwoods. Each photograph’s color and composition represent our kinship with trees. Sections of prose alternate with sections of photography, each complementing the other. It is not surprising to note that the text is printed on recycled paper. An epilogue suggests what the reader can do to save trees and lists the names and addresses ofagencies to write to for information. The book’s essays and photog­ raphy are meant to inspire readers tojourney in the company of trees and share an active concern for their global preservation. MARYELLEN ACKERMAN Cape Cod, Massachusetts Runaway: A Collection of Stories. By Mary Clearman Blew. (Lewiston, Idaho: Confluence Press, 1990. 201 pages, $8.95.) Runaway is full of penetrating wisdom; the insights are delivered in strong, modest prose that illuminates character while staying out of the reader’s way. There are...