The Outsider

I recently read this book called The Outsider about a man named Dag Aabaye. It’s about the life of an 81 year old man who lives in the woods in Canada and runs for miles each and every day. Pretty wild. Then throw in that the same man fled Nazi occupied Poland (or maybe his parents were Nazi’s), basically created a sport, and was a stunt double in James Bond movies. Even wilder. It felt like his life was like if Forrest Gump was played by Brad Pitt and not Tom Hanks, if that makes sense.

To me, what kept me reading this book was two things.

1. Dag was a deeply flawed human but was so rooted in truths about who he was and what he could accomplish that he accomplished a lot of wild things in his life.

2. The author became fascinated by trying to figure out what those truths were and where they come from. First out of curiosity and then out of compassion for Dag.

It’s a search for identity. This push and pull of the author taking what Dag says, processing it and then fact checking it with people who knew him. Then the author tries to discern who might be right in the situation. As the book goes on though, it becomes less about who is right and more about uncovering the truth of Dag’s origins. The author goes back to Europe searching for the beginning of what made Dag, Dag. What he uncovers makes Dag not seem as extreme and more like someone who was just figuring it out for himself.

To me, the work the author is doing for Dag, is holy identity work. What are the beliefs that shaped us? What happened then fully affects what is happening now. This is an extreme case of what makes an 81 year old man who lives in the bus in the woods run for miles each day, sure. If we are honest though, most of us have some things that from the outside looking in, might seem a little unorthodox.

I won’t spoil the ending. I will say though, it’s neither a Disney fairy tale or a dark drama, it just kind of is what it is. Dag’s identity allowed him to do things most people could only dream of, it also left behind a wake of hurt people. I have a hunch most people think that the second part is more important than the first. That’s why identity work is so important.