Winter : Notes from Montana

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Summary: Winter Review by Hentges
Review: Winter the book by Rick Bass takes you into his real life experience of the Yaak Valley. Bass, a writer, originally from Texas, discovers this northern point in the United States, the Yaak Valley, and decides this is where he belongs. The Valley is small, has no electricity, is limited phone use, and has no TV and no modern conveniences of the larger cities that Bass is accustomed to living in. Bass, having never experienced a real winter, writes about his anticipation for this season and his emotional connection with it. There is a childlike anticipation that comes across to the reader. On page 65, Bass writes in his journal: October 9: "We're gleeful it's so cold! I don't know what the temperature is - we can't pick up any radio stations - but it feels the coldest yet." While anticipating the arrival of winter and attempting to "fit in" with the "natives" of this valley, Bass learns a great deal about having to rely on his own abilities and on the friendship of others to help him "survive" in this challenging location. For someone who has never experienced a winter season, this book gives the reader a sense of beauty the winter can hold and also a sense of the realities winter has in store for them. Bass tells you about both sides of the coin and helps one overcome some of the stereotypes associated with the winter season. I give it a thumbs up.

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Summary: Winter [Notes from Montana]
Review: Winter [notes from Montana] takes place in the extreme northern outskirts of the United States, in a small area called the Yaak Valley. The author, Rick Bass, states in the book "This valley shakes with mystery, with secrets - and yet it gives up no answers. I sometimes believe that this valley - so high up in the mountains, and in such heavy woods - is like a step up to heaven, the last place you go before the real thing"(p. 61). In this paragraph Bass sums up what he thinks about his new home. I think for Bass this place is the closest thing to heaven. He spends the whole book describing the mystery, beauty, and secrets of the valley to us. I don't think he will ever figure out the mystery of the valley, and I believe he will love dying trying to figure the secrets out. I enjoyed reading this well-written book; it almost made me want to move to a more secluded area for a while. I repeat ALMOST!

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Summary: At Peace with Nature
Review: Winter, by Rick Bass, is a journal of experiences, feelings, and descriptions of nature from the author as he transforms his life style from a frustrated geologist to a peaceful naturalist. Rick Bass and his companion Elizabeth Hughes, fulfill their dream of leaving the business of city life, overwhelmed by buildings, cement, and overcrowded population, by moving to a secluded ultimate wilderness. After a lengthy search for just the right place, Bass and Hughes settle in a remote "Artist's Retreat" in Yaak Valley, which is on the far northern border of Montana. When they discovered this dream dwelling, Bass says, "We knew immediately that this was where we wanted to live, where we had always wanted to live. We had never felt such magic." (Pp. 5). Throughout the book, Bass journals about encounters with Yaak Valley residents, both human and animal. He has the unique quality in his writing to let the reader experience his personal feelings. His descriptive phrases of the people living in Yaak, such as ""these guys are about as social as corn dogs in the green-growing summer months""(pp. 125), enable the reader to gain a true picture of the level of interaction with the residents and the importance or unimportance of these interactions with the author. Bass lets the readers of his book into his feelings of love for nature. As he describes snow, "the flakes spiraling in toward my windshield, toward the center, coming straight at my heart." (Pp. 89), the reader can remember a time in life that nature entered his or her own heart. Rick Bass allows the reader to explore one's own self and develop an appreciation of a closeness with nature

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Summary: Rebirth
Review: Winter, written by Rick Bass, is a journal of his experiences in the small secluded town of Yaak, located in the far northern part of Montana. Bass takes you through the beautiful sites that he encounters, the variety of people he meets, and the effect that true wilderness living has on him and his girlfriend. This book has such great detail that you feel as though you could be traveling with Bass through his amazing transition from city man into wilderness man. He writes, "I'm wondering if I've already fizzled out, died, and up here, in the snow and the mountains, I have already begun an afterlife." While reading this book you, too, could be swept away to a whole new meaning of your life. He has the ability to take you away, deep into Yaak and experience his rebirth, which in turn will make you think twice about the life you portray. With all of his new adventures you, too, will sense a feeling of warmth, compassion, and new meaning to your life. The energy that Bass pours into this book has the power to get your inner self feeling a sense of refreshment. He reconstructs his wilderness visions so vividly that you can form mental pictures in your mind that seem as though there are elk in your yard, rabbits running through your home, and moose fogging your windows. You feel the pain of chopping wood, the isolation from others and the cold winter days as though you were there with him. This book will take you away from your life style, and give you the sense of a refreshed and vibrant new you.