Book Review

19 April, 1998

                               Sanders’ Quest for Hope

Sanders, Scott Russell. Hunting for Hope. Beacon Press Books: Massachusetts, 1998. 200 Pgs, $23.00.

Inspired by a camping and hiking trip in the Rockies, Scott Russell Sanders’ Hunting for Hope takes his reader through a
whirlwind of spirited journeys, love, and despair in his search for hope. In the first essay of the work, Where the Search
Begins, Sanders reveals the probing questions of his children, students, family and friends. They confront him on the
question of hope with: "Suppose your daughter is engaged to be married and asks if she ought to have children, given the
sorry state of the world", or "Suppose your son is starting college and asks why he should study at all when the world
looks so bleak?" Sanders feels he "owes them an answer." In particular, Sanders feels he owes his son, Jesse.

We learn the most about him through Mountain Music essays I, II, and III. In the first, the two take a trip to the
mountains to dissolve and rectify years of quarrels. Early in the trip, Jesse yells out: "You look at everything dark. It bums
me out. You make me feel the planet’s dying and people are to blame and nothing can be done about it. There’s no room
for hope!"

In Mountain Music II, Sanders comes terms with his views: "My struggles with Jesse had convinced me of the need for
hope, a lesson I had known but forgotten in my preoccupation with loss. I owed him an accounting of all that gives me
courage and joy." Sanders queries deep into the workings of humankind by ending with: "Given all that troubles me, about
wars and waste and property and the devastation of the planet, what keeps me from despair? Where do I find promise in
recovery? From what deep springs can we draw strength?"

Tucker, 2

In his quest for hope, Sanders reveals an uncanny gift for relating to normal people. This is evident in Leaping for
Expectation, in which Sanders makes mention of a short dog he once owned named Doby: "He was a mix of breeds,
more cocker spaniel than anything else, with floppy ears and lolling tongue and woebegone eyes. My family called him
Doby because we could not quite bring ourselves to call him Dopey, which was nearer the truth."

In an encounter with a woman, Sanders recalls "her doing drugs at ten, joining a gang at twelve, and killing a rival at fifteen.
What preserved her was the believing that she might endure, and that belief saved her." Reflecting on the many people in
his life, Sanders said this of hope: "Only people who are convinced that there can be no relief from misery in this world will
fix all their hopes on some other one…I can’t give them hope as if it were a package neatly wrapped, but I can show them
where I have searched for it, and where, in moments of grace, I have found it."

In addition to his compassion and humanity, Sanders displays a unique fondness for love and emotion. In Mountain Music
III, it becomes apparent how much his wife, Ruth, means to him, and how he would one day tell her everything: "I would
tell her everything that moved me, every gift received, every lesson learned, for no journey is complete until we carry the
stories home." From the essay Fidelity, Sanders recalls the days he courted Ruth and how he memorized countless
poems: "One of the sure signs that I had found the right woman was that Ruth could listen with a straight face while I
reeled out a verse, as though it was the most normal thing in the world. The other women I knew would have headed out
the door or rolled on the floor with laughter."

Tucker, 3

As intriguing as the essay Fidelity seems, it lacks the glue needed to keep a work together. He begins with discussion of
his wife, Ruth. However, the essay loses its zest as he talks of his son Jesse, a jazz band conductor named Johnny Mekoa,
and so on. Though no one writing will be perfect, Sanders occasionally tends to do this to his essays. Even though they
usually tie together at the end, it is sometimes difficult to stay on track throughout the entire piece.

Overall, this novel of Sanders surpasses the work of other non-fiction writers. His ability to write with such a vast array of
subjects keeps the reader from losing attention and focus. Hunting for Hope is a guide for its readers to find hope within
ourselves, loved ones, and those we encounter each passing day. Sanders speaks truth in Fidelity with: "Neither standing
by truth nor anchoring one’s faith in a transcendent power guarantees that justice will vanquish injustice here and now, nor
that righteousness will roll down like an ever-flowing stream, but it does give one strength to carry on the work we believe
in, with people we love, in a place we cherish, what else do we need?"