John Muir was born in Scotland. When he was eleven, his father moved the family into the wild Wisconsin forest, which ended Muir’s formal schooling. Instead, “when I was about fifteen or sixteen years of age, I began to grow hungry for real knowledge,” and he became obsessed with reading. This is all from Chapter VII of The Story of My Boyhood and Youth (1913).
What did a hard-laboring farm boy read in the five or ten minutes a day he had for reading? Math books, religious books (approved by his father), Scott’s novels (hidden from his father), poetry:
I remember as a great and sudden discovery that the poetry of the Bible, Shakespeare, and Milton was a source of inspiring, exhilarating, uplifting pleasure; and I became anxious to know all the poets, and saved up small sums to buy as many of their books as possible… I think it was in my fifteenth year that I began to relish good literature with enthusiasm, and smack my lips over favorite lines, but there was desperately little time for reading, even in the winter evenings – only a few minutes stolen now and then. (119)
I did not make that discovery until I was eighteen, or later. Mmm, smack, smack. That’s some gooood poetry. And so on.
Muir is nothing if not a problem-solver, and he solves the problem of his limited time by ingeniously exploiting a promise of his father’s:
“If you will read, get up in the morning and read. You may get up in the morning as early as you like.” (120)
Young Muir begins awaking at one o’clock in the morning, which gives him plenty of time (“Five hours to myself… five huge, solid hours!”) to read and do all sorts of other things, including making a homemade saw, inventing clocks (having “learned the time laws of the pendulum from a book”), inventing a clock that “could be connected with a bedstead to set me on my feet at any hour in the morning; also to start fires, light lamps, etc.”
This is pretty much what we all did when we were fifteen, yes? Working in the fields, or chiseling an eighty foot well from sandstone, from dawn to dusk, going to bed at eight, and then, in the middle of the night, reading Shakespeare and inventing clocks. Yes, pretty much.
Like the autobiography of E. O. Wilson (Naturalist, 1994) I read a couple of years ago, the primary task of The Story of My Boyhood and Youth is to give some sense of how John Muir (boy) became John Muir (famous naturalist). And then there is the corollary: why have I not become a famous naturalist? Muir’s memoir (Wilson’s, too) is an admirable success. It decisively answers that question.
Page numbers from the Library of America collection of Muir's work, Nature Writings.
Mr. Muir was obviously of tougher stuff than I for I too come from a rural background where long, physical days limited reading that I wished to do. While he got up in the middle of the night to read, I was sleeping, trying to ready myself for another day of hard work. Interesting he was capapble of such hard work on so little sleep. More power to him.
ReplyDeleteSadly, this fine post comes on the eve of a major vote in California to defund many of our public parks rather than increasing taxes on the wealthy and the giant corporations.
ReplyDeleteJohn Muir was arguably one of the most tireless, innovative and dedicated champions of any cause the US has ever had. Nothing to do with books, but watch the Ken Burns documentary National Parks: America's Best Idea. Much of the first 2 or 3 episodes is about John Muir and they're all very anecdotally rich.
ReplyDeleteThese are such different responses to what I wrote. So, thanks for responding. Very helpful. More Muir tomorrow - back to Yosemite.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teenager, I took what I think is the more common route to eke out more reading time: staying up late. I wasn't doing any manual labor during the day, of course, but I still don't know how I did it. Going to school and work on 4 o 5 hours of sleep? These days I could not manage on so little rest.
ReplyDeleteThis is real hunger. I wish I had such a hunger for knowledge. Hope it isn't too late at 30.
ReplyDeleteI've only read Travels in Alaska, but his exuberance and energy (physical, spiritual, mental) come out of every line. He smacks his lips over sleeping every night on a glacier (brr!) the same way he does over Milton here.
ReplyDeleteJenny, I believe that is just what I tried and failed to write about moments ago. Try again tomorrow, that's my motto! The LoA volume does not include Travels in Alaska, but it does have a 40 page article on Alaska that I presume expanded into the book.
ReplyDeleteNana - at 30! Boy oh boy, I hope that is not too late! No, I know 30 is not too late.
nicole - your father did not order you to bed at 8 on the dot? Muir's father was an odd character. Muir does a nice job of de-monsterizing him, of making some brutal behavior seem funny. Of course. Muir himself was an odd character.
I'm an early riser but not that early! Getting up at 1 a.m. just to read and invent things? That's ambition and dedication and obviously why I'm just a regular schmuck and not famous for anything. I've got a number of Muir's books on my Kindle that I thought would be fun to read "sometime." I think sometime might be happening sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteIs it disheartening to learn to learn about the habits of people like Muir - "I can never match that!" Or is it a relief - "I didn't squander my great talents after all - I was never that talented to begin with!"
ReplyDeleteHaha, I love that you don't think *both* those statements are disheartening!
ReplyDeleteAs long as there is a reason, I am content.
ReplyDelete