Open Midnight: Where Ancestors and Wilderness Meet

by Brooke Williams

Open Midnight weaves two parallel stories about the great wilderness—Brooke Williams’s year alone with his dog ground truthing wilderness maps of southern Utah, and that of his great-great-great-grandfather, who in 1863 made his way with a group of Mormons from England across the wilderness almost to Utah, dying a week short. The book is also about two levels of history—personal, as represented by William Williams, and collective, as represented by Charles Darwin, who lived in Shrewsbury, England, at about the same time as Williams.

As Brooke Williams begins researching the story of his oldest known ancestor, he realizes that he has few facts. He wonders if a handful of dates can tell the story of a life, writing, “If those points were stars in the sky, we would connect them to make a constellation, which is what I’ve made with his life by creating the parts missing from his story.” Thus William Williams becomes a kind of spiritual guide, a shamanlike consciousness that accompanies the author on his wilderness and life journeys, and that appears at pivotal points when the author is required to choose a certain course.

The mysterious presence of his ancestor inspires the author to create imagined scenes in which Williams meets Darwin in Shrewsbury, sowing something central in the DNA that eventually passes to Brooke Williams, whose life has been devoted to nature and wilderness.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Nature

232 pages, Paperback

Published March 14, 2017

Reviews

[Steven Peck · Rating 5 out of 5]

If the universe had appeared to me (in some suitable form to make me comfortable) and said, “Steve, I’m really feeling the need to make a book for you to enjoy. What would you like in it?”

I would have thought very hard for a while. Maybe a few days, then I would have said,
“So Universe, here is the book I would like you to provide. First, make it about my favorite area, you know, around Moab, where I’ve spend so much of my life wandering. And send me a good guide, not some visitor. I want the book from a perspective of someone who knows the land, its life, and environs. Someone who has lived among the red sandstones and whose heart beats with the rhythms of the Canyonlands. Got that?”

The universe would nod smiling, “I think I know someone who fits the bill. What else?”

Well, Universe I would say, who is one of my favorite people in the universe?”

The Universe would smile knowingly, “Haha, you’re saying put Darwin in it.”

“If you are writing a perfect book for me, would it be perfect if Darwin was left out?”

“Point taken.”

“Next make it imaginative. You know, a mix of fiction and fact. Maybe an imagined interaction with someone from the past to bring perspective and meaning to what’s going on in the world today.”

“Got it.”

“Lastly make it scientifically literate, make the writing beautiful, make the stories meaningful, and show the world why the Canyonlands and Great Basin matter, make every chapter a delight, let it wander far and wide in those lands. Make everyone want to keep and persevere these lands. Show them their worth, you know?”

The Universe leans back and says, “That’s a tall order.”

I nod. Then thinking maybe I could offer the universe a small challenge, just to test its limits, I add, “So could you also add some meditations drawing from my favorite painting in the ‘Musee d’Orsay.’

The Universe laughs, “Is that all?”

Wow, it did it. It made a perfect book for me, Brooke Williams', “Open Midnight: Where Ancestors and Wilderness Meet.”

Seriously folks. Read this book. The Universe did a great job in creating Brooke Williams to create this work (I’m somehow feeling this book wasn’t made just for me. In fact, it may have been made for everyone). It’s wonderful in every way. It’s no wonder it won, 15 Bytes Book Award for Nonfiction.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book particularly fascinating because I'm a local girl in Moab, UT. My book club unanimously decided upon an old Terry Tempest novel and this book by her husband Brooke Williams. I liked reading Brooke's worldly views, I specifically enjoyed his love for Utah's back country and I liked his love for Castle Valley and other surrounding areas.
I think his time spent working for SUWA as a trail researcher and the vast other wilderness protection accomplishments he has made are monumental.
I liked hearing the details of the San Juan County trials concerning the desecration of artifacts. I almost forgot that those incidents had taken place in my neighboring community and haven't thought about it in years. I saw it all first hand in real time in the papers and the local community's shock and awe on that specific scandal and the death of Dr Redd.
I support the Bears Ears Monument and it gave me loving closure to read about such a current controversial issue that "twenty three Native American tribes" backed the establishment of the monument. I agreed with Williams when he says "For many, this monument represents a great healing for past injustices."
I found it somewhat contradictory that Brooke Williams is a Mormon and a environmentalist. I thought all Mormons in Utah were Republicans, and by comparison a lot more like the general. I enjoyed Brooke's explanation "If I believed in the life after death I grew up with, I might act more responsibly. Show more restraint. I might make painful sacrifices, hoping for at least a pg-13 rated movie of my life and a eternal kingdom with good coffee and no big box stores. " I found this passage comical. I thought the Mormon religion was basically centered around a complete buy in, 100%, I guess out loud anyways, so it's refreshing to listen to his take.
I like that at times Brooke is brutally honest, unforgiving when it comes to the antics of the 4x4 enthusiasts, and tells it like it is.
The book slowed down for me during the parts of the novel where Brooke goes in depth on our consciousness, and our second attention. It's not that I didn't buy in but I thought he explained it in a rather complex manner when it would of been better explained in its simplicity.
I cherished the end where he is under water in the river and has a transformation where he is taken to a dream and he thinks to himself you can't breath in real water, it was dream water.

Thank you for all your efforts in protecting the wilderness in my home.

[Crissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fully aware that Brooke Williams is laying out an either/or vs a both/and, I am struck with his idea of new species evolving. And this amid all the other gems in this book: his/the personal story and the collective story; the how-to of living out spirituality, of understanding and learning what is our reality; what is wilderness and how much we need it to feed us.

If only for this thought, this memoir was well worth my reading time. And will be reread. Yes, if only for this, that we are now evolving into homo sapiens convergii, as in "we're the chosen generation of the chosen species in the chosen country, and that all previous people have existed only for our benefit" p. 88; "thrives on privilege and stature and sees its type as rulers of the world. Convergi is mostly white and masculine, with laserlike focus on profit and power all the while undermining the natural system to which it no longer feels subjected... calls itself 'Pro-Life,' which refers not to all life -- nowhere near -- but to unborn children and humans who wish to be dead" p. 199

and homo sapiens divergensis, as in "lives as part of an infinite system moving toward an unknown future" p. 88; "affirms all life, is feminine, and is comfortable adapting to conditions as they change, knowing that although the future is unknown, it is filled with possibility... survives on creativity and imagination and integration... thrives on life force, knowing that true meaning comes through efforts to protect it. True meaning is the reward for protecting, supporting, celebrating life force." p. 199

Great writing. In gratefulness.

[Deseret News · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Open Midnight: Where Ancestors and Wilderness Meet" by Brooke Williams is a book of two stories. The first is the journey of the author, who is a field advocate, as he wanders the southern Utah wilderness, searching for evidence to save it from modernization. The second is the story of Williams' ancestor, William Williams, a member of a Mormon handcart company and contemporary of Charles Darwin.

As Brooke Williams tracks his ancestor's steps to the Sweetwater River, he begins to feel a spiritual intuition from another dimension. With the guidance of his ancestor, Williams explores the connection between the wilderness of the Earth and the wilderness of the human psyche. As inner and outer wildness meet, Williams learns the combination of the two may be what keeps all mankind truly human.

See full review here: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86...

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I read this book, but the back cover and even the title seemed to be misleading. While this is a tale of Southwestern Utah and the wilderness that is found there, it functions more as a spiritual manifesto than an investigation of landscape. While I didn't mind the overt leftist politics in here at all, this book is not one that I think will convince the other, more conservative side. the William Williams chapters I found to be strangely written, and the book overall lacks strong transitions and seems to be more of a hodge podge of thinking. I think that the book was expanded from some magazine articles that may have functioned well, but has since collapsed under its own weight.

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't really get into this. Based on the description, this should have been a book I could really get myself immersed into, but I didn't like the jumping back and forth of time and perspectives of this, I would have enjoyed it more, and more likely had finished it if it was melded a bit more.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Williams travels though wild landscapes in Utah and Wyoming with his dog Rio and the ghosts of William Williams and Charles Darwin.

[Rae]

Wilderness. Religion/philosophy. Second attention. Time. Darwin.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very unusual book with experiences of nature interwoven among (imaginary) historical anecdotes and family history. Appreciated the dog's role in particular.

[Jenna Beutler]

Wasn’t super into the flip flopping between random thoughts while out in the wilderness vs the entirely made up stories of his great, great grandfather. Not for me!

[Rob Melich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good but not great read. The underlying theme of past, present, future humanity and the relationship of each to Brooke and in turn the planet makes for an excellent premise.
However, the book seems to drift at times and the editorial oversight of the content and flow degrade the quality of the thinking and reading experience. There is much more in the concept of the book than in the book itself.
I found the most interesting sections of the book where Brooke moves off of the storytelling related to his desert walks and his political efforts (all important) and reflects on his own relationship to his ancestor and his main point, what we do now matters and touches the future even if we never see or know that future or our progeny.

[Maineguide · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Mr. Williams book while traveling in his area of UT, being both familiar with his wife's books and some of his work. This book is a deeply personal book where the author shares his views on the importance of wilderness not just to the environment, but to the nature of mankind itself. It is a bold, honest look at many of wilderness' threats, particularly in Utah, including politics and the LDS church.

Parts of the book are a bit of a stretch, particularly the sections where he conjures up his great-great-grandfather, William Williams, as part of a way to live more connected to the land, in the way the "ancient people" did, living story to story. While the concept is a good one--arguably even an important one -- it's also a really difficult one to pull off. Unfortunately, it's a bit clunky. He refers to this ancestral muse as William Williams throughout (wouldn't Great Grandfather be easier?) and he theorizes a lot, imagines him friends with local contemporary Charles Darwin, and uses these as a way to access some of his deepest thoughts and writings. I think he would have been much better off doing more research on that period and been more journalistic, less "surmising" . And there are a few things a bit irksome, like calling his Ford truck throughout the book by name: Ford. It gets in the way of the work.

Conversely, some of his essays are brilliant, such as the one about Corman's painting of Cain being doomed to wander the wilderness. Well researched, lending an important view on wilderness and the past (particularly as it relates to human development), and fascinating. And there were a number of the parts of the book that I underlined (which is always a good sign), like: "Whenever I encounter rock art, I feel time shrink. I feel the distance between past and present disappearing. Time thins out. For me, rock art sites are thin places. All wild places may be thin places."

I hope to see more of Mr. Williams work in the future.