book review - The Valkyries (Paulo Coelho)

Another semi-random grab off the library shelf - I recognised the author's name and that I've been meaning to read some of his stuff for a while. Then I read the back and it was basically a trip out into the Mojave Desert to find a female Hells Angels chapter, so I was pretty much hooked. I've been to the Mojave Desert, it is awesome, and one day I will go back.

Nagdammit - keep trying to upload a picture of the Mojave but LJ is having a fail session. Never mind - my camera was crap back then.

Anyway, yeah. The book was interesting and engaging, even though I didn't particularly like the direction it steered towards at the end. Sort of reminiscent of Carlos Castaneda, in that it made me think, but dominated more by the story than by the spirituality, which isn't a bad thing ;) You got a great feeling for the space and alien-ness of the desert, which is what always utterly fascinates me about them. If you grow up in green and pleasant valleys, large open expanses of inhospitable rock are either your worst nightmare or pretty damn entrancing. It's also what gives me a grudging admiration for the US at times - they are descended from the sort of people who would look at a vast featureless expanse of inhospitable rock, and think, "hmm, what's on the other side".

I'm gonna track down more Paulo Coelho.