Scan barcode
tiogair_rioga's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Blood
Minor: Gun violence, Murder, and Sexism
tlpaladijczuk's review
adventurous
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
4.0
jnconlan's review
Yet another story of a man driven by a desire to conquer who goes to survive in the great unknown (with the help of his friend who flies in groceries and supplies a starter cabin). Honestly watching Outdoor Boys on YouTube is more explanatory and fun in less time. Also offput by the few references to women - which were to compare to the “crazy, vacillating emotions” of women or in a metaphor for joy about how happy a man would be when his wife recovers from something and becomes “able to fulfill all her duties” again.
luckyguul's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
papidoc's review
5.0
What a terrific book! Drawn from the journals and amazing photography of Dick Proenneke, it is his account of his first year in the back and beyond of Alaska. After retiring with a modest nest egg from his work as a diesel mechanic (and a highly regarded one at that), Proenneke retired to the shores of Twin Lakes, Alaska. His friend and bush pilot, Babe Alsworthy, took him and his equipment there, and visited him occasionally, bringing supplies and letters. During the sixteen months he was there, he carefully crafted a log cabin, a woodshed, and a cache on stilts for food stores and other materials he wanted to keep away from animals.
When not working on these and other projects, he kept careful records of his observations of nature and the flora and fauna of the area. These became valuable records for others interested in the botanical and natural sciences.
Most of all, though, I thrilled at his description of the time he spent there, and I have pondered long on the wisdom of his observations about what is most important in life.
1. “Anyone living alone has to get things down to a system – know where things are and what the next move is going to be. Chores are easier if forethought is given to them and they are looked upon as little pleasures to perform instead of inconveniences that steal time and try the patience.”
2. “To look around at what you have accomplished in day gives a man a good feeling. Too many men work on parts of things. Doing a job to completeness satisfies a man.“
3. “Steady going is the way to do it. Each time you stop to rest, it is harder to go again. One careful step at a time and eventually you’re there.”
4. “I thought of the sights I had seen. The price was physical toll. Money does little good back there. It could not buy the fit feeling that surged through my arms and shoulders. It could not buy the feeling of accomplishment. This great big country was my playground, and I could afford the price it demanded.”
5. “Needs? I guess that is what bothers so many folks. They keep expanding their needs until they are dependent on too many things and too many other people. I wonder how many things in the average American home could be eliminated if the question were asked, ‘Must I really have this?’”
6. “Most people don’t work hard enough physically anymore, and comfort is not easy to find.”
7. “What a man never has, he never misses…I just season simple food with hunger…I enjoy working for my heat.”
8. “I do feel a man has missed a very deep sense of satisfaction if he has never created or at least completed something with his own two hands. We have grown accustomed to work on pieces of things instead of whiles. It is a way of life with us now. The emphasis is on teamwork. I believe this trend bears much of the blame for the loss of pride in one’s work, the kind of pride the old craftsman felt when he started a job and finished it and stood back and admired it. How does a man on an assembly line feel any pride in the final product that rolls out at the other end?”
9. “News never changes much. It’s just the same things happening to different people. I would rather experience things happening to me than read about them happening to others. I am my own newspaper and my own radio.”
10. “I have found that some of the simplest things have given me the most pleasure. They didn’t cost me a lot of money either. They just worked on my senses. Did you ever pick very large blueberries after a summer rain? Walk through a grove of cottonwoods, open like a park, and see the blue sky beyond the shimmering gold of the leaves? Pull on dry woolen socks after you’ve peeled off the wet ones? Come in out of the subzero and shiver yourself warm in front of a wood fire? The world is full of such things.”
Later on the day that he left his cabin behind for the first time in sixteen months, Proenneke recorded this in his journal: “That night during a gathering at Babe’s place, I felt a civilized cold germ taking hold.” He didn’t stay away long and spent most of the next thirty years in the cabin on Twin Lakes. I don’t blame him, and somehow I yearn to do the same.
Note: In a few months, an unedited collection of Proenneke’s journals from 1970-1984 will be published. I am looking forward to it.
When not working on these and other projects, he kept careful records of his observations of nature and the flora and fauna of the area. These became valuable records for others interested in the botanical and natural sciences.
Most of all, though, I thrilled at his description of the time he spent there, and I have pondered long on the wisdom of his observations about what is most important in life.
1. “Anyone living alone has to get things down to a system – know where things are and what the next move is going to be. Chores are easier if forethought is given to them and they are looked upon as little pleasures to perform instead of inconveniences that steal time and try the patience.”
2. “To look around at what you have accomplished in day gives a man a good feeling. Too many men work on parts of things. Doing a job to completeness satisfies a man.“
3. “Steady going is the way to do it. Each time you stop to rest, it is harder to go again. One careful step at a time and eventually you’re there.”
4. “I thought of the sights I had seen. The price was physical toll. Money does little good back there. It could not buy the fit feeling that surged through my arms and shoulders. It could not buy the feeling of accomplishment. This great big country was my playground, and I could afford the price it demanded.”
5. “Needs? I guess that is what bothers so many folks. They keep expanding their needs until they are dependent on too many things and too many other people. I wonder how many things in the average American home could be eliminated if the question were asked, ‘Must I really have this?’”
6. “Most people don’t work hard enough physically anymore, and comfort is not easy to find.”
7. “What a man never has, he never misses…I just season simple food with hunger…I enjoy working for my heat.”
8. “I do feel a man has missed a very deep sense of satisfaction if he has never created or at least completed something with his own two hands. We have grown accustomed to work on pieces of things instead of whiles. It is a way of life with us now. The emphasis is on teamwork. I believe this trend bears much of the blame for the loss of pride in one’s work, the kind of pride the old craftsman felt when he started a job and finished it and stood back and admired it. How does a man on an assembly line feel any pride in the final product that rolls out at the other end?”
9. “News never changes much. It’s just the same things happening to different people. I would rather experience things happening to me than read about them happening to others. I am my own newspaper and my own radio.”
10. “I have found that some of the simplest things have given me the most pleasure. They didn’t cost me a lot of money either. They just worked on my senses. Did you ever pick very large blueberries after a summer rain? Walk through a grove of cottonwoods, open like a park, and see the blue sky beyond the shimmering gold of the leaves? Pull on dry woolen socks after you’ve peeled off the wet ones? Come in out of the subzero and shiver yourself warm in front of a wood fire? The world is full of such things.”
Later on the day that he left his cabin behind for the first time in sixteen months, Proenneke recorded this in his journal: “That night during a gathering at Babe’s place, I felt a civilized cold germ taking hold.” He didn’t stay away long and spent most of the next thirty years in the cabin on Twin Lakes. I don’t blame him, and somehow I yearn to do the same.
Note: In a few months, an unedited collection of Proenneke’s journals from 1970-1984 will be published. I am looking forward to it.
susanp's review
5.0
Just reread this with my husband. We both love this book and the video, "Alone in the Wilderness."