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It took me awhile to read this book. It isn't the kind of book to read fast- it's almost like reading a lot of little books at once.
Kathleen Norris writes about the Great Plains - "Dakota" (she kind of throws both Dakotas together) and her experiences living there- and she interweaves this with her experiences of the monastic life- visiting monasteries, interacting with monks, readings of ancient monks. There are 44 chapters, or sections, and some of these are very short: some are weather reports. Or journal entries. Moments/memories she jotted down while not being able to sleep. Excerpts of poems.
It's refreshing to read this- I've never been to that part of the US- so reading about the extreme weather there, the deprivations, the hardships of farmers and ranchers was interesting and new to me. Norris draws a parallel between the farmers' experience and monk life. One of my favorite quotes was at the beginning of the book:

"I had stumbled onto a basic truth of asceticism: that it is not necessarily a denigration of the body, though it has often been misapplied for that purpose. Rather it is a way of surrendering to reduced circumstances in a manner that enhances the whole person."

There are Dakotan farmers who choose to remain there, despite the unpredictability of the rains and crop harvest. There are desert monks who choose to live a life in community with other monks, thereby giving up their freedom to choose other things, "learning to love what you find there... to care less for amenities than for that that which refreshes from a deeper source."

I love the idea of living simply. Of 'making do'. And so the parts where Norris describes this mentality delighted me!

I did sense a bit of negativity in this book, though. And it made me wonder how residents from the Dakotas would react to her characterizations of them. She talked at length of their wariness of outsiders, their reluctance to adopting new philosophies, or new ways of thinking. Their mistrust of professionals. Norris made Dakotans out to be kind of hostile, backwoods types who effectively keep out 'foreigners' .. it gave me pause to think of visiting that area!

I don't agree with all of Norris' views, but I enjoyed her writing and will look for more of her books to read.