He's not real, he's only made of moonlight.

To this day, I cannot read in a single sitting the chapter with the .

Yeah, once was enough for me. Same goes for all of The Road.

Man, I remember that...

People in Maine must not have dogs.

Fascinating read.

This is very close to my understanding of the Bhuddist concept of Emptiness. Nothing and no one, no phenomena, have any identity, any essence independent of everything else. Since we humans tie our identities so closely to other humans, it makes sense that this insight would arise in such complete and long-term isolation. Prolonged isolation is a common practice among most faiths or practices seeking personal insight.

I love this sort of thing. Almost every religion has something similar to this, whether it's losing the self in meditation or losing the self to wild abandonment (like tongues or dancing) or losing the self to the group (like in baptist worship services) or losing the self to intimate confession (like in Catholicism).

Christianity has some similar ideas too...

'The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?" Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."'

Life is much simpler when you don't define yourself by the things you own or your place in the society. You can just BE.

I think it's important for there to be a balance. I think our identities are shaped in part by the people around us. But if you go too far you lose anything uniquely identifying, and you just become part of the crowd. You need to keep part of yourself separate to keep your own unique identity. But if you isolate yourself too much, there's no one to express that identity to and your identity becomes meaningless. There's a reason people kept in isolation suffer severe mental stress.

I'm thinking like Paris Hilton on one end of the spectrum, and this hermit guy on the other.

True. I don't know how much you get into things like archetypes and the like, but even the Hermit is only meant to be a transitional character. I mean, that's basically what they all are. They're roles that we play, going back and forth between the different versions of ourselves, learning the lessons they have to offer on our path towards becoming the one that can walk through the world as if it were a "kingdom".

I thought Pratchett got it pretty good with his character Tiffany Aching's experience of oneness:
“I'll never be like this again . . . I'll never again feel as tall as the sky and as old as the hills and as strong as the sea. I've been given something for a while, and the price of it is that I have to give it back.

And the reward is giving it back, too. No human could live like this. You could spend a day looking at a flower to see how wonderful it is, and that wouldn't get the milking done. No wonder we dream our way through our lives. To be awake, and see it all as it really is...no one could stand that for long.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Wee Free Men

Or an old Zen saying: "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.

After enlightenment, steal marshmallows.

That's cool and all, but he did steal everything he had and rotted his teeth on junk food.

I must say I'm impressed he could survive so many winters in northern Maine. The temps alone are bad enough, but I hear the Stephen King monsters are the worst.

Have you read Gerald's Game? He was a Stephen King monster.

That's one of his few books I haven't read. I dig more of his supernatural stuff over his real-world stuff I suppose, mostly because he long ago became of an age where things like technology and "stuff people do these days" are starting to slip out of his grasp.

That said, I really didn't care for Doctor Sleep, as his soul-vampires didn't seem as believable as other supernatural creatures he's done. The whole "steam" idea just sounded silly when it was revealed it could be contained in canisters. Ancient canopic jars would've worked, or some other artifact, but these were like finding out that Dracula stored his leftovers in a Thermos.

I did like Mr. Mercedes, though that only worked because it was from the POV of an old guy who didn't care much for technology, and the specifics of computer functionality were kept to a minimum.

Stephen King hasn't worked for me since Insomnia. What started out as a great concept turned into a plug for his Dark Tower series. But his stuff before that? There's some good stuff there.

Holy crap, you employed Stephen King for a while? Neat! Are you a publisher? Are you the Penguin from Penguin books?

Don't be silly, Assy.


He's the Viking from Viking.

I'd have thought he'd have been the House. From Viking.

I'm actually both Simon and Schuster. Teleporter accident. Don't ask. Stephen will probably write a book about it.

That's kind of Random. How's your mom doing?

mechavolt! by North Central Positronics.

Maybe he was Vi from Vicodin.

Came here to post that exact passage.

I've had fantasies of this ever since I read My Side of the Mountain in middle school.

I read that and the sequel. Still never wanted to do it.

There was a sequel???

........

Gha. That was published the year I graduated from college. I don't think it counts.

If he really wanted to mess with the authorities, he would've said he was part of the world's most intense Hide-and-Seek tournament and then spend the rest of his time in jail demanding his trophy.

On the one hand, I also share some romantic notion of living out in the woods enjoying nature away from civilization, but on the other hand this guy is the epitome of selfishness.

Welcome to the autism spectrum!

And the world of the self-help guru.

The title is a little off - this is not the end of hermits. There will probably always be hermits. Good story tho.