Author Archives: John Walters

On Reading the Lord of the Rings for the Fifteenth Time; Part Two: The Two Towers

As the middle portion of the trilogy The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers has both strengths and weaknesses. I will touch on the weaknesses first, and before I do I want to emphasize that these stood out to … Continue reading

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On Reading The Lord of the Rings for the Fifteenth Time, Part One: The Fellowship of the Ring

The last time I read (and commented on) The Lord of the Rings was in 2011, and you can read those reviews of The Fellowship of the Rings, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King in my blog’s … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise by Pico Iyer

This book is well-written and takes us to fascinating places, but it is suffused with irony. Iyer tours locations that for one reason or another have been considered forms of paradise, but most of them are fraught with violence, and … Continue reading

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Handling Rejection

I have written about rejection in the past but I need to do so again. If I composed an essay every time one of my stories got rejected, I would have time to write nothing else. But this one stung. … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Thunder Song: Essays by Sasha LaPointe

Not long ago I read Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk By Sasha LaPointe. This essay collection is a continuation of the thoughts and emotions expressed in that volume, albeit arranged thematically instead of chronologically. It … Continue reading

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How Are the Mighty Fallen: Adventures on Airlines

I am not sure when I flew on an airplane for the first time, but it might have been when I went from Seattle, where I was born and raised, to San Francisco, California, to check out the University of … Continue reading

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An Earth Day Eulogy

I couldn’t be more pleased and proud to announce the book launch of my son Nestor’s first novel, An Earth Day Eulogy. It will be held on April 19th at 2:00 p.m. at Stanford Bookstore, 519 Lasuen Mall, Stanford, California. … Continue reading

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Himalayan Trek: Part Two

I walked all day. The air was clear; the temperature was warm but not hot. I ascended the hills, one after another, and crossed more bridges over streams. Most of the time I was alone. Once a Nepali laborer with … Continue reading

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Himalayan Trek: Part One

As I was nearing completion of a rereading of Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire, I was struck by his penchant to explore unfamiliar territory in the southwestern desert with a minimum of guidance and gear. He describes, for instance, venturing into … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Cold Victory: A Novel by Karl Marlantes

Not long ago I attended an author reading at Third Place Books in Bothell, a suburb of North Seattle. Since I spend my days ensconced in my apartment doing remote work at my computer, I have been searching for opportunities … Continue reading

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