Salishan

Review by W. J. Rayment / ConservativeBookstore -- Michael Hollister writes sweeping works that span large periods but are able to focus on topic and place. Salishan is an engaging epic novel that depicts one family as it settles and lives in Oregon.

It begins rather mystically with the Indians who lived and died in Oregon before the "pale face" found the place. But soon we are transported to a logger in Maine who slides onto a saddle and heads for the new promised land of the west, where resources are abundant and ready to be picked up and used by anyone with the gumption to get there.

Jedidiah Bowman does get there after a difficult transit of the Oregon Trail. He claims several hundred acres of land and settles in the forest and then begins to ply his trade as a logger. Now we are treated to interplay between the white settlers, the Indians, and the land itself. This book is as much about the land and the trees as it is the characters who march across its pages.

Hollister is not afraid to deal with subjects that are highly controversial, the labor movement during the depression, the spotted owl, management of the national forests, and even global warming. Where he touches on these subjects, he weaves their effects into the story and shows how the characters deal with such manifestations as eco-feminism. He also weaves facts and their repercussions into the work, illustrating, for example, slipshod research of the spotted owl advocates.

Perhaps the most salient point made in this novel, is that change is ever present, and that it is the environmentalists who are bent on resisting it. They want to keep the forest from changing, but by doing so, they are resisting the natural laws of evolution. The policies they institute nearly always have a damaging effect rather than the intended effect. Take for example the idea that the national forests should not be thinned, and the underbrush cleared. This has simply allowed the build-up of fuels that have fed huge fires, destroying more timber than would have been harvested using common sense forestry practices.

Though "Salishan" does make political points, it does not read like lecture hall notes. It is a grand and sweeping work. It is well plotted and peopled by believable characters. Loaded with ideas and analysis, it is a great way to come to understand Oregon, The National Forests, and some of the controversial issues now facing the nation.

Salishan, by Michael Hollister is available at Amazon.

Also by Michael Hollister: Hollyworld