Scan barcode
laurabishopha's review
3.0
That she is a grand pioneer and her adventures are worth the read can’t be disputed, but it’s a bit of a slow slog.
dinsdale's review against another edition
4.0
When I first started reading I was unaware that author Margaret Murie was such and icon of nature conservatism. She is known as the "grandmother of the conservation movement"! She helped establish The Wilderness Society, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and received numerous awards over the year including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998 by President Clinton.
Two in the Far North is about Margaret's adventures in Alaska throughout most of her life, beginning as a nine-year old in 1911 and ending with her last visit 1975, in her 73rd year! (She lived to be 101.) Her stories are told though a series of highly detailed monologues and diary entries. She describes Alaska, and its flora and fauna beautifully. You feel like you were right there with her, freezing your bum off (during most of the year, anyway). The experiences she shared were interesting as stand alone stories, but what made them more interesting was how some things changed in subsequent visits over the years. Travel in the artic was always inherently dangerous, but as technology advanced from 1911 to 1975 some of the danger was mitigated and the wilderness became more accessible. For instance, on her first trip through Alaska the modes of transportation were steam ship and dog sled, and the steamer could only make it so far up the wild rivers. Eventually, the railroad cut through Alaska and later float plane could deposit you on any lake you wished to visit. (This became a worry (and motivation) of Margaret as she feared the increased accessibility would lead to this beautiful country being overrun by developers or mining/ oil companies.)
Along with her descriptions of natural Alaska, she provides insight in to the lives of the early settlers and native Alaskans who she met and lived amongst. Life on the frontier was harsh and cold for much of the year as one would expect. We upper-Midwesterners think we are hardy. This was winter living turned to 11. She met her biologist husband, Olaus in Alaska in the early 1920s while he was researching and collecting animal specimens and they became a great research and conservation; truly heroes of environmentalism before it became the issue it is today.
My favorite parts of the book were of her early life as a young girl in the 1900s and how her and the other settlers persevered in such a harsh and unforgiving environment, her plane crash (not really a crash per se, but the plane engine died in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness and she was stranded), and the recounting of her and Olaus's last good-byes to the the land they loved. The Afterword written by her son Donald is touching as well.
I knew I would like this book as soon as I saw the cover, which features the smiling Margaret and Olaus in their winter fur clothing, probably in the late 1920s. What a pair. Their legacies in conservation will live on forever.
Two in the Far North is about Margaret's adventures in Alaska throughout most of her life, beginning as a nine-year old in 1911 and ending with her last visit 1975, in her 73rd year! (She lived to be 101.) Her stories are told though a series of highly detailed monologues and diary entries. She describes Alaska, and its flora and fauna beautifully. You feel like you were right there with her, freezing your bum off (during most of the year, anyway). The experiences she shared were interesting as stand alone stories, but what made them more interesting was how some things changed in subsequent visits over the years. Travel in the artic was always inherently dangerous, but as technology advanced from 1911 to 1975 some of the danger was mitigated and the wilderness became more accessible. For instance, on her first trip through Alaska the modes of transportation were steam ship and dog sled, and the steamer could only make it so far up the wild rivers. Eventually, the railroad cut through Alaska and later float plane could deposit you on any lake you wished to visit. (This became a worry (and motivation) of Margaret as she feared the increased accessibility would lead to this beautiful country being overrun by developers or mining/ oil companies.)
Along with her descriptions of natural Alaska, she provides insight in to the lives of the early settlers and native Alaskans who she met and lived amongst. Life on the frontier was harsh and cold for much of the year as one would expect. We upper-Midwesterners think we are hardy. This was winter living turned to 11. She met her biologist husband, Olaus in Alaska in the early 1920s while he was researching and collecting animal specimens and they became a great research and conservation; truly heroes of environmentalism before it became the issue it is today.
My favorite parts of the book were of her early life as a young girl in the 1900s and how her and the other settlers persevered in such a harsh and unforgiving environment, her plane crash (not really a crash per se, but the plane engine died in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness and she was stranded), and the recounting of her and Olaus's last good-byes to the the land they loved
I knew I would like this book as soon as I saw the cover, which features the smiling Margaret and Olaus in their winter fur clothing, probably in the late 1920s. What a pair. Their legacies in conservation will live on forever.
pjgroat's review
adventurous
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs and Racism
Written in 1960s, has a definitely “white superiority” tone, while not meaning Ill-will to the First Nations peoples described.