It’s time for another virtual discussion for our podcast book club! This month we are reading The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel.
We’d love to hear from you – what did you think of the book? Any comments you’d like to share? Here are some questions to start us off and as always we’ll give a shout-out to you during our podcast:
- How long have you gone without speaking to a single person? Or without any human interaction?
- Something that many hermits value, and certainly Christopher Knight did, are their books. All Knight wanted from the author was a video of his bookshelf. What would a video of your bookshelf reveal?
- Some philosophers believe that loneliness is the only true feeling there is. Do you agree?
- The concept of “non-doing” is discussed in Stranger in the Woods. Is this something you have heard of? Something you work towards?
- When reading Notes from the Underground, Knight (the hermit) felt that Dostoyevsky was reaching through time and speaking directly to him. What books have made you feel that way?
- Do you ever seek out solitude, particularly in nature? How is nature both restorative and challenging for the human spirit?
Please comment below, on our various social media channels, or by emailing us at wpl-podcast@winnipeg.ca