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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
These are wonderful stories, if a little self-aggrandizing. I read it while on vacation in a much less rustic home in woods that hold a deep emotional attachment for me. It gave me a lot to think about in terms of my own connection to wilderness: Anne LaBastille's fierce independence and devotion to the Adirondacks led her to a tremendous commitment. I was fortunate enough to host Anne at a book signing years ago, and I am curious to read her further adventures; her great personal magnetism is oddly absent from this book.
In Woodswoman, Anne LaBastille details living in a log cabin in the Adirondack Wilderness after having divorced her husband. With her only companion, a dog named Pitsy, she lives without electricity or easy access to a city. Working as an ecologist and consultant, she learns to be completely self sufficient and protect her land and the nature around her.
This book resonated with me deeply in many areas. Her passages on being alone, loneliness, solitude, and connecting with others really drew me in. As I walked through my neighborhood listening to the audio book, I caught myself smiling on many occasions. While her life seems romantic in many respects, she's very honest about the hardships and real dangers that she faced. One of the more interesting aspects of the book comes near the end when she takes an opportunity to work in Washington and lives in a big city and her struggles to adapt.
In spite of Anne's very independent and progressive perspective, I found her dialect at times to be a bit cringe-worthy, which was likely normal for that period. I found her essays on land management and its impact on small towns to be very refreshing. And many of the concerns she has about human impact on the earth at that time are as relevant today as it was then. Reading Woodswoman was like imagining Thoreau as a bad-ass, independent woman, who weaves stories of ecology, tourism, with a bit of adventure.
This book resonated with me deeply in many areas. Her passages on being alone, loneliness, solitude, and connecting with others really drew me in. As I walked through my neighborhood listening to the audio book, I caught myself smiling on many occasions. While her life seems romantic in many respects, she's very honest about the hardships and real dangers that she faced. One of the more interesting aspects of the book comes near the end when she takes an opportunity to work in Washington and lives in a big city and her struggles to adapt.
In spite of Anne's very independent and progressive perspective, I found her dialect at times to be a bit cringe-worthy, which was likely normal for that period. I found her essays on land management and its impact on small towns to be very refreshing. And many of the concerns she has about human impact on the earth at that time are as relevant today as it was then. Reading Woodswoman was like imagining Thoreau as a bad-ass, independent woman, who weaves stories of ecology, tourism, with a bit of adventure.
On the surface, this book is enjoyable (hence the two-star rating instead of just one star). If you just want to sit back and read about a woman living her best life in the woods with her dog, this book deserves five stars. But if you want to actually get a sense of the Adirondack experience, this book isn't it.
Anne LaBastille rubbed me the wrong way in the first chapter (though I do admit to not being a huge fan of hers before I read the book). She's full of inconsistencies and hypocrisies: She also makes some questionable choices that she takes as personal attacks on her character even though they're her own fault, such as My main issue is that LaBastille tries to portray her cabin at Black Bear Lake as a utopia, glossing over the less-savory aspects that don't lend themselves to be funny stories to be written into books. I wanted to read something that was true, and this felt very cherry-picked (I do realize that she couldn't write about everything she experienced, but there were very few sections of the book that felt genuine to me). For example,
I found her thoughts on the year-round inhabitants of the region despicable.
However, a highlight of the book for me was
Long story short: if you're just looking for an easy read about wandering in the woods, this is a good choice. If you actually want to learn anything, read elsewhere. I could go on forever on the issues I have with Anne LaBastille.
Anne LaBastille rubbed me the wrong way in the first chapter (though I do admit to not being a huge fan of hers before I read the book). She's full of inconsistencies and hypocrisies:
Spoiler
telling us she built her cabin all by herself while also detailing all the help she got from local carpenters, and how she has no qualms about shooting a bear and using its pelt as a chair back but shies away from having beaver pelts in her home because her lake is full of beavers.Spoiler
when she has to move her cabin back an additional twelve feet because she didn't bother to read the terms of sale for her property, and had built her cabin too close to the lake.Spoiler
she mentions multiple times how perfect the lake water is and how it's so lovely that she can just cup her hands and be able to drink straight from the lake/river, though it isn't until towards the end of the book that she mentions the damage done to the Adirondack waterways by acid rain. It doesn't take a genius to know that if there's been acid rain in an area for any extended amount of time (like there has been in the Adirondacks since at least the 1960s!), you shouldn't be drinking the lake water.I found her thoughts on the year-round inhabitants of the region despicable.
Spoiler
LaBastille refers to cities and places outside the Adirondacks as more educated and cultured, and how it was a breath of fresh air for her to visit Washington, DC for a few months because of a job. Her view of Adirondack locals is judgemental and backwards, and she has very little respect for them; since she lived there year-round for many years, they deserved far better than to be referred to as less refined and educated than LaBastille just because she had a PhD from Cornell and did intermittent work in South America (which I do admit was important and interesting stuff).However, a highlight of the book for me was
Spoiler
when LaBastille refused to go to Alaska with her boyfriend Nick because she would have to leave the Adirondacks behind, possibly forever. Never leave everything you love behind just to be with a man. That was a good message from her.Long story short: if you're just looking for an easy read about wandering in the woods, this is a good choice. If you actually want to learn anything, read elsewhere. I could go on forever on the issues I have with Anne LaBastille.
Sometimes a little preachy on female empowerment and the environment, but if you want to out-Thoreau Thoreau, dream of building your own log cabin in the wilderness, and loved My Side of the Mountain as a kid, this is for you.
Loved this book. Very easy to read and made me envy her lifestyle. I can’t wait to read the next one.
Pulled this book off my shelf. I know it was given to me by a friend, but I never got around to reading it. So glad I finally did!
Written in 1976, this book relates the experiences of the author in her initial years living in the Adirondacks in a cabin she built herself (with some help). An ecological memoir about living in pretty isolated conditions through many seasons, many years. Intimate, honest, authentic.
LaBastille has a way of writing that brings you into her world, not just the beauty, but the struggle and the challenges too.
Written in 1976, this book relates the experiences of the author in her initial years living in the Adirondacks in a cabin she built herself (with some help). An ecological memoir about living in pretty isolated conditions through many seasons, many years. Intimate, honest, authentic.
LaBastille has a way of writing that brings you into her world, not just the beauty, but the struggle and the challenges too.
There were a lot of parts I skipped because I just am not interested in reading about the scientific aspects of the Adirondacks, but I thought the story was a powerful one.
I recommend this to anyone who wants to live far away from the bustling crowds!
I recommend this to anyone who wants to live far away from the bustling crowds!
This book made me actually consider going off to live in a cabin in the woods by myself. And I've been a girly girl for quite a while now, so that's saying something.
This book was written in the 70's and has held up pretty well. There were a few problematic things but overall it had strong feminist and conservation themes.
informative
inspiring
relaxing
slow-paced