Books like The Other

David Guterson writes books that aren't just shaped by my native Pacific Northwest: they are the Northwest. His narratives wouldn't happen anywhere but the Northwest, as the geography defines the stories. Whether it is the nature of the island in Snow Falling on Cedars, or the incessant rain in Our Lady of the Forest, these stories are born out of Seattle and the areas within a hundred miles of it. Each of his books contains dozens of details that explain Washington State, while reminding us of how short Seattle's memory really is.In this tale of two friends, Neil and John, there are a lot of aspects of Seattle memory that are unique to that place. The wealth of early Boeing, and the ultra-rich of the neighborhoods on Lake Washington. Neil Countryman is not from that wealth, but his friend John William Barry is. Both boys share an affinity for survivalist-style expeditions in the rainforests of the Northwest, but that overlapping facet of their personalities narrows as time goes on. Neil settles into his life in Seattle with his wife, and moves from his blue collar background to teaching. John William, however, becomes a mountain man of the Olympic Peninsula, existing mostly off the land, his survival aided by the supplies Neil brings him. In exchange for this, John William leaves Neil the contents of his trust fund, leaving Neil on a scale of wealth associated with early Microsoft employees. Neil has no choice but to accept his friend's gift, but he still struggles to understand John William's strange brilliance, his genius, and his decision to live and die in the rainforest.After working the tourboats through the waterways in Seattle for a year, I have a different view of the city than I did when I lived and worked on the Eastside. Seattle is a blue collar town. The wealthy weren't the super-rich spawned by the software era, or even on a scale with the wealthy classes of the mid-century East Coast. The money in the area was from Boeing, from the small scale Pacific Northwest banks, from trade with Alaska. When I lived there ten years ago, the money from Microsoft had become ridiculous, and Amazon and Starbucks stock was making the situation worse. Seattle was becoming less isolated, less dependent on the trades that had kept it going for a century. Logging had died years ago, fishing was slowing down, and grunge was long since dead. In "The Other", Guterson takes the reader back to that smaller scale Seattle, and compares it against the Seattle of today. It is a story of Neil Countryman's quest to understand his strange friend, but it is also a testament to a Washington that is rapidly changing.