Through Painted Deserts

Just finished this tonight.  I absolutely loved it.  It's a far cry from his deep, theological ponderings in Searching for God Knows What.  It's just a story of a young man on a road trip in a VW van from Houston to Oregon, and what he finds a long the way. 

This is Miller's first book and you get to see some of where he gets the inspiration for his other two.  You read about conversations he had that sparked revelations featured in the other books.  And most of all, you get to see what a smart ass he was (possibly still is, I hope).  This book is quite funny.  It had me laughing out loud at parts.  

It's important to remember that the book is really more of a memoir of sorts.  A lot of criticism has been dealt out about it's lack of focus or point.  I disagree.  Sometimes sitting down with a clear direction in writing will get you nothing but a self help book.  I found a lot of really great insights here, that are simply from a young man, puzzling over his faith and the idea of "why" we are here versus "how."

My favorite part of the book is the "Author's Note."  An older Miller wrote it after they republished the book several years after it was published the first time.  It's basically his thoughts, looking back on his experiences as a young man during this adventure.  He writes words of encouragement to do the same, find an adventure.  He writes:

"And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some summer and some winter, some roses blooming out like children in a play.  My hope is your story will be about changing, about getting something beautiful inside of you, about learning to love a  woman or a man, about learning to love a child, about moving yourself around water, around mountains, around friends, about learning to love others more than we love ourselves, about learning oneness as a way of understanding God.  We get one story, you and I, and one story alone.  God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution.  It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?  It might be time for you to go.  It might be time to change, to shine out.  I want to repeat one words for you:  leave."

After finishing the book, I realized I have no more Donald Miller's left unread on my bookshelf, and as I closed the cover for the last time, I truly felt like I was loosing a friend.  This is the mark of a good book, of an inspired author.  He has a new book coming out in August that I am terribly excited about.

I definitely recommend Through Painted Deserts to anyone, no matter your faith, there's something in there for everyone :)

Now my ever persistent longing to road trip to Portland (and possibly never come back), has returned.  But can you blame me?

On to Pride and Prejudice!