Crazy for the Storm - Ollestad

 

I am a little dismayed, that Norman Ollestad’s journey of survival and discovery detailed in his memoir, “Crazy for the Storm”, has not found in its readership, at least not documented in these Amazon book reviews, the screaming parallel to the Pirzig masterpiece, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”.   Is “Crazy”, “Zen”?  Not quite.  But Ollestad's fascinating attempt at a deeper philosophy, one beyond the creative memoir, one beyond the survival narrative, one beyond the relationship with his dad and mom simply rips off the pages so painfully it hurts.  His is a journey into truth.  The fairytale truths through the eyes of a charismatic, but egocentric, thrill loving father or the real truth through the eyes of a shallow but seemingly more rational secondary father figure. The journey into truth can happen in many ways.  For Ollestad it was the profound drama of suddenly finding himself alone on a snow and ice covered mountain, miraculously surviving a light airplane crash into a desolate peak.  How can an 11 year old boy climb down off a mountain in extreme conditions and survive?  Most would not. However, the physical survival of an 11 year old boy is not what the book is about. It's about his emotional survival and his journey to discover his own truth, whether that be of the fairytale variety or something closer to reality. 

Ollestad is writing his memoir 27 years later and reflecting on these foundational moments of his life, his dad, his extreme experiences, and this other significant adult male influence in his life, his mom's boyfriend Nick.  On the one hand Ollestad has the larger than life memory of his father with all the extreme things his father would do, and take him to do, the snow skiing, the surfing, the take life by the horns and to hell with the consequences provided your are taken to a new level though the experience attitude.  And whether or not this lifestyle, which he didn't particularly care for at first, had provided him tangible life value?  One the other hand, you have Nick who is an abusive alcoholic with nothing close to the charisma of his dad, but nevertheless seems to care about safety and proper childhood development apart from the self indulgent culture of the adrenaline junkies. It is practically certain that had Ollestad not been an experience alpine skier and a kid who had been thrown into countless life and death situations by his dad, his death on that mountain top was guaranteed.  He had matured beyond his age by his survival experience and his dad deserves the credit -- if that is a good thing.  And this is the premise within which Ollestad's "...inquiry into values" rages.  If he had been raised in an over protective household, one in which he was not permitted to skateboard with older kids, for instance, his threshold for pain might have been lower and his body would have refused to cooperate on the mountain top.  On the other hand he would never have learned to lie effortlessly to his mom about the fact that he was indeed skateboarding with older kids, not to mention drinking beer, smoking pot, using foul language, and generally engaging in self destructive behavior. 

This is a decent book.  Certainly not as important as Zen, but seemingly, perhaps, with greater appeal and accessibility because it explores everyday values.  Decisions we face when we raise our kids.  Do we allow them more freedom to learn on their own or less freedom and thus more safety.  Do we protect them in order to ensure their survival now, or equip them to survive when we can no longer be there to protect them?  Ollestad grapples with these questions in reverse by examining whether or not his dad raised him correctly. Finding the answer would heal his heart.

This book is not for everyone and it does have some major problems -- it's hard to believe the thoughts of an 11 year old are as sophisticated as Ollestad remembers.  Fact or fiction it is an appealing story that should resonate with parents considering the dilemma and with the children of parents who made the decisions for them.