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Rating: 
Summary: Building a Cabin in the Corner of Glory Land
Review: Apart from the loss of a child, few experiences are more genuinely bone-jarring than divorce in today's virtual, rubber-bumper world. David Brill knows the experience well, and his latest book, "A Separate Place," is his endeavor to expunge the pain from his system. After several years of a crumbling marriage, David sought to build a cabin in the woods, a hideaway for rebuilding a relationship with his wife. Of course, it didn't happen that way. But the cabin did prove to be a phoenix rising from the ashes of his marriage. Besides offering solace for a sinking heart, the cabin served as a haven for friends near and far and a gathering spot for holiday parties, late-night conversations, and early morning skinny dips. David weathered the travails of no-show contractors, uncooperative copperheads, and a stunning, unexpected ice storm that literally ripped the power out of his cabin, shutting him off from the outside world. All are appropriate images for the drama that was unfolding within. While this is David's book-with deeply personal insights into his thoughts and feelings as he endures the breakup of his marriage-his two daughters, eight and 10, steal the show. Logan and Challen are junior-age Falstaffs to David's Henry V. They clearly are the wisest and funniest characters in the book. And while his soon-to-be-ex-wife Susan has a role in the book, she is hardly ever seen. She's more of a stage hand than a character in the play. We learn practically nothing about her or about why she wants to be done with this marriage. But perhaps that's as it should be. Ever the protective husband, David ensures Susan's safety by keeping her at a respectful distance. Some readers no doubt would have liked to have heard her side of the story, but David was wise enough to know he could never speak for her. This is not a book about pain and anguish, although there's enough of each to satisfy the glummest readers. While it's a melancholy book, it's mostly a book about love-love of daughters, first, but also love of family, friends, dogs, fine writing, cold beer, swift rivers, old mountains, and hiking. And, by the last chapter, it's about love of ex-wives too. For those who haven't been there, David shows what it's like going through a divorce. The path he chose-building a cabin in the woods-is one not many are likely to follow. But that's of little consequence; commitment to completing the journey is more important than the road taken. David also shows how to accept life's pain and keep on moving. The only problem for his readers is that David does it with more dignity, compassion, and understanding than just about any of the rest of us will muster in a lifetime. Twenty years ago, David left his job and family for a six-month journey up the eastern spine of North America. "As Far As the Eye Can See," his account of that journey the length of the Appalachian Trail, was a charming blend of hiking, camping, friendship, and passion for life. While David is no longer the brash twenty-something who would take up a two-thousand-mile walk on a whim and a will, his enthusiasm and passion thankfully have not forsaken him. "A Separate Place" is not a weighty book, but it does show us how, with a loving heart and a gentle spirit, we can get through just about anything life throws at us. Bigger books have said far less.
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Summary: I'll take the cabin and the dog, you can keep the rest.
Review: Brill's memoir takes us on a memorable journey to the peaks and valleys of his life. On page one, he writes, "I have chronicled my journey in the following chapters, some clipped and terse, some expansive, some full of doubt and sadness, some brimming with joy. They represent points along a path that, over the course of a year and a half, led me from a crisis of faith, of midlife, of family, to a place of wilderness and peace" (p. 1). This is as much a book about pursuing dreams as it is about surviving a failed marriage.Brill proves he has never been hesitant to follow a dream, whether it's thruhiking the 2100-mile Appalachian Trail, or summitting 14,500-foot Mount Rainier. However, "over the intervening years" since completing the Appalachian Trail, Brill realizes he has lost his bearings. "I was bumbling along an errant path," he reports, "like a man lost, rather than moving free and fast and pushing hard and true toward a clear destination. I was straying dangerously close to the life Thoreau cautioned against, one of 'quiet desperation,' and was certain that I didn't want to die with my song still in me" (p. 103). With this insight, Brill sets out to satisfy his lifelong dream of building a three-room cabin in the Tennessee woods, situated amidst the hemlocks, pines, and hardwoods. In his cabin, when he's not entertaining friends, Brill reads Whitman and Thoreau, he hikes with his golden retriever, Benton, and he writes in his journal (p. 188). He writes, from his cabin, "I have come to know the arc of the moon and the star-points of the constellations . . . which glimmer through my bedroom window on clear nights. And I have fathomed that sometimes, despite Western man's push to accomplish things and conquer worlds, there are times for inaction, for floating still on one's back in a pool of cool green water and watching clouds drift by overhead" (p. 4). Brill also surveys the wreckage of his marriage from his cabin. "In my time spent at the cabin," he writes, "I have learned to gaze inward. I have mourned and wept, played and planned, schemed and reflected" (p. 4). Brill reflects upon some of the bleakest moments in his life. "My family is a casualty of divorce, a common occurrence in a society where broken marriages are said to run neck and neck with those that endure. But statistics can't account for the emotional effects of the cataclysm, which becomes a defining experience for the children and parents" (p. 1). Ultimately, after travelling through the range of emotions accompanying separation and divorce, Brill experiences personal growth. This is a good story told straight from the heart. Brill is an insightful writer. His tale might make you laugh, it might make you cry. He succeeds in examining the all-too-common subject of divorce with remarkable honesty, and he treats his ex-wife, Susan, with real compassion. If this book interests you, I also recommend Rubin's ON THE BEATEN PATH (2000). G. Merritt
Rating: 
Summary: You have got to be kidding me ...
Review: I came across this book at the local library and was intrigued by it's Walden like premise. The first half of the book, which dealt more with the building and moving to the cabin and talked about his earlier experiences in the woods, was fairly entertaining. The rest of the book was a chore to complete. It grew difficult to listen to this grown man whine and complain about his life: how he lost touch with his wife (it always seemed to be her fault), how work was interfering with his spirit, and how he shares his feelings (constantly) with his circle of friends. The chapters describing his experiences in nature in the second half of the book tended to be pedantic ("I did this. I saw that."). ."). Overall, I agree with the first reviewer. There are much better books to be read that cover these topics.
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Summary: An honest, thoughtful book
Review: I found this book on the shelf in my local bookstore, and its themes of divorce, returning to the woods, and discovering new ways to be a parent sounded like things I could relate to, so I bought it without knowing much more about it. To my delight, this book proved to be so well-written, honest, funny and spiritual that I couldn't put it down. I read it quickly over a two day span, and I was sad when it ended. David, Susan, Challen and Logan were right there with me, and I was reluctant to let them go. It is hard to go through a divorce; to write an honest and thoughtful book about the feelings and actions leading up to one takes great courage. I admire the author for sharing with us such a personal time. I also feel that his deep affection for the land, for his home in the woods, connects us with the place that all of us need to be; the place where we are truly ourselves. For me it is the ocean. When I go the ocean, I feel the same way David does when he is in the woods. As a parent of two daughters, I also understood his changing relationship with them. And the struggles in one's life that only lead to a better, stronger place. This is a book I will be recommending to an assortment of friends. I have never written a review here; this book moved me to do so.
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Summary: FANTASTIC - A Must Read
Review: I read Brill's "Far As The Eye Can See" years ago and though it was one of the best books ever written about the AT. His new book - "A Separate Place" - is even better. While insightful and funny, it will also rip your heart out at times. Thought provoking and enjoyable for anyone who loves life, family and nature. I hope we don't have to wait as long for his next book.
Rating:
Summary: A good read for us dreamers!
Review: Like many people, the idea of settling in the wooded mountains has always held a fascination to me. For that reason, I breezed through the book soon after it arrived and found it to be a fairly thorough summary of the author's experience. He recounts in some detail how he arrived at the decision to build, settling on a location, finding a builder and his excitement at seeing this hope realized. Many of us toy with the idea; he made it happen which I find immensely admirable. And I couldn't get enough of Brill's description of rural, East Tennessee! That said, his frequent departures relaying the pain of his failed marriage gave the book a dismal tone that was, to me, a little tedious. To be fair, his divorce was obviously a monumental event, marking this season in his life and shaping his decision to retreat to the woods; it warrants more than just a fleeting reference, I suppose. All in all, a very well-written and engaging book. Certainly worth reading. Four stars.
Rating:
Summary: A good read for us dreamers!
Review: Like many people, the idea of settling in the wooded mountains has always held a fascination to me. For that reason, I breezed through the book soon after it arrived and found it to be a fairly thorough summary of the author's experience. He recounts in some detail how he arrived at the decision to build, settling on a location, finding a builder and his excitement at seeing this hope realized. Many of us toy with the idea; he made it happen which I find immensely admirable. And I couldn't get enough of Brill's description of rural, East Tennessee! That said, his frequent departures relaying the pain of his failed marriage gave the book a dismal tone that was, to me, a little tedious. To be fair, his divorce was obviously a monumental event, marking this season in his life and shaping his decision to retreat to the woods; it warrants more than just a fleeting reference, I suppose. All in all, a very well-written and engaging book. Certainly worth reading. Four stars.
Rating:
Summary: You have got to be kidding me ...
Review: This book proved to be a major disappointment to me. There are far better modern day books on building a cabin in the woods and surviving (see Coming out of the Woods-Kaufman). There is Bryson's Walk in the Woods for humour and environmental insight. And as far as coming to terms with the ending of marriage grief ,stick to Heat-Moon's Blue Highways. What Brill accomplishes here is very little new ground and I don't think he has a very good way of saying it. The first 90% of this book is about how awful his wife is- reducing her to someone who dislikes him because he didn't provide her with a large home, big car and country club membership- hard to believe she would be that shallow. He wishes only to be with his kids during the good times and gets his best revelations at drunken Halloween parties. He selfishly builds a cabin in the woods and doesn't unserstand her aloofness. Maybe he should have asked her. Than after forty years he finds religion- just when its convient because he needs forgiveness. If Brill spent as much time talking and communicating with his wife and kids as much as he sits on the Rock Of Contemplation he might not have had to written this mess. This tale is too little naturalist story("We saw Foam flowers"): too one sided divorce tale( she stopped this, she did that) and too little on cabin life (I had to split the logs for the fire) to be helpful to anyone. The only thing keeping this from one star or less review is he does come to some realization of his transgressions in the end(while repairing a riding tractor no less a condescending sexist swipe at his wife again). Take my advice... read the books mentioned in the beginning of review first. If you've done that go outside and enjoy what you have learned from the masters and leave Brill to himself, I think he likes it that way.
Rating:
Summary: Brill is Shrill....
Review: This book proved to be a major disappointment to me. There are far better modern day books on building a cabin in the woods and surviving (see Coming out of the Woods-Kaufman). There is Bryson's Walk in the Woods for humour and environmental insight. And as far as coming to terms with the ending of marriage grief ,stick to Heat-Moon's Blue Highways. What Brill accomplishes here is very little new ground and I don't think he has a very good way of saying it. The first 90% of this book is about how awful his wife is- reducing her to someone who dislikes him because he didn't provide her with a large home, big car and country club membership- hard to believe she would be that shallow. He wishes only to be with his kids during the good times and gets his best revelations at drunken Halloween parties. He selfishly builds a cabin in the woods and doesn't unserstand her aloofness. Maybe he should have asked her. Than after forty years he finds religion- just when its convient because he needs forgiveness. If Brill spent as much time talking and communicating with his wife and kids as much as he sits on the Rock Of Contemplation he might not have had to written this mess. This tale is too little naturalist story("We saw Foam flowers"): too one sided divorce tale( she stopped this, she did that) and too little on cabin life (I had to split the logs for the fire) to be helpful to anyone. The only thing keeping this from one star or less review is he does come to some realization of his transgressions in the end(while repairing a riding tractor no less a condescending sexist swipe at his wife again). Take my advice... read the books mentioned in the beginning of review first. If you've done that go outside and enjoy what you have learned from the masters and leave Brill to himself, I think he likes it that way.
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