Analysis - Road Trips Through History: A Collection of Essays from Preservation Magazine
I absolutely love this book. Dwight Young does an excellent job of keeping the reader interested, entertained, and concerned with preservation in America. His genuine passion for preservation comes through so clearly, and I would even go as far as to say contagious. I love it (did I mention that already? And yes, I also love his parenthetical interjections of witty remarks).
On a more serious note, he highlights what he feels are the important aspects of preservation. We preserve things because we find them important. We preserve things because we believe they are worth remembering. We preserve things because we feel they have significance. We preserve things because they have meaning to us. Young makes preservation a series of personal experiences. And I love that.
Preservation, for Young, is fun. It is lively. It is certainly historic districts, old buildings, monuments, and all those things preservationists are known for. But it is so much more. It is not just buildings, sites, and districts. It is the night sky, song lyrics, a way of life. It is, most importantly, a connection with our past.
I wish I could be more constructive, find some sort of criticism. I have none. I think he does an excellent job of portraying the importance of the preservation movement and its growth, but at the same time highlighting that preservationists have not won yet. I found his writing style to be enjoyable, engaging, informal, and yet serious at the right times. Perhaps, my only possible criticism is that I wish instead of a compilation of his articles this was Young's recap of his experiences. Kind of like a new and improved, extended article.
It is clear what is important to Young: preservation, in every sense of the word. I would say he is a "born preservationist." And after reading this book, I would say I am too. And maybe that is why I absolutely love this book. Yes, from time to time I like to go to http://www.historicproperties.com/ and look to see what historic homes are for sale. And yes,I may have, at one point, purchased the 1972 copy of the National Register at my library bookstore. And yes, I may have accidentally purchased the American Heritage Book of Great Historic Places...twice. If this book accomplished anything it certainly made me unapologetic for my passion for preservation.
4 comments:
I completely agree! I absolutely loved this book. He took it to such a personal level that it could be loved and read by anyone. It made me want to go find the rest of his essays that maybe did not make the book. I too had failure in finding fault with this book, and it reminded me of how a place can contain a feeling, a smile, and can mean so much.
Preservation is definitely as cool as Young believes it is. I can only hope that I find as much join in my career as he does. Like you said, for him it's a way of life as much as it is his job and I think that is why his essays are so engaging and pleasurable for us to read. He truly notices everything around him within the conext of preservation. And it's not the boring kind of preservation, but rather a thriving and vibrant area of history that, I think, isn't considered enough.
I agree with you as well I loved this book too. Your comment in your second paragraph really sums up the reason for historic preservation. Preservation for Young was fun because he took it to a personal level. He made his essays interesting and fun to read as well.
While reading these essays I was stilling in the library and started thinking about the historic places here in Tallahassee. These are places I have known about for many years but never though about as being important until I made a visit to them and learned about their history. This book made me realize just how important these places are for Tallahassee. To be able to learn about the history of Tallahassee is something I hope to grow upon and Young’s essays explain in great detail just why people preserve things
I have to agree, this was a fantastic read, I am somewhat tempted to subscribe to Preservation magazine solely for his article’s sake. His passion is definitely obvious and seeps through his writing, pretty inspiring. While important preservation does not have to be deadly serious. As Young writes preservation can be fun and exciting (history exciting, gasp!) . The fulfillment of preserving place can be quite gratifying, a reward unto itself. But the ultimate goal is the appreciation of others for your effort. I can’t imagine how satisfying it must have been to have overheard the two ladies at Whitelaw reliving their past by simply stepping into a structure. Places define us, it is only through preserving that we can fully remember where we came from and where we are going.
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