Never Cry Wolf: With Connections (Hrw Library)

Rating:
Summary: wonderful book
Review: All of Farley Mowat`s books are great.You will enjoy them if you are a nature or wildlife lover.

Rating:
Summary: Not Just for Naturalists
Review: For me this book was a real page-turner. Mowat's writing has an exquisite simplicity to it. His entire experiences in the Arctic with wolves is facinating. I must admit that I did find some of the events unbelievable, but that could just be due to my preconceptions about wolves in general (the very types he is trying to dispel). However, for me, these unbelievable moments did not detract from the narrative in any way; I still found myself wanting to know what happened next. In my own mind while reading the book, I couldn't help but consider how our negative stereotypes of wolves are very similar to the negative stereotypes people often feel about other groups of people. In both cases, when one begins to truly know the other, he finds that there is really no basis for the negative sterotype. Mowat makes it point not to rely on anecdotal evidence when studying the wolf, and instead only gives merit to the anecdotal evidence after he has observed behavior that would back it up. It would seem that this should apply when judging people as well.

The only improvement I think could be made to this book is for Mowat to include whatever became of his report. I realize he is telling the story to reveal his own experiences with the Arctic Wolves, and not to reveal the post report offical government position; but it woud have been nice to have that included anyway.

Overall, I think this is a great book, and well worth the few hours it takes to read it.

Rating:
Summary: Wolf Juice
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It was well written and kept the reader thinking. I was continually wondering how many other things we, as a society, might have misconceptions about. I loved the style of writing. I could have read the book in one setting. It was funny, egotistical yet humble, and kept me enthralled. After reading Farley Mowat's story, I was ready to head out and live on the Alaskan tundra with wolves and eskimos. Who doesn't need a break from the world once in a while? Luckily, I was able to mentally visit the wolves and enjoy the comfort of my recliner at the same time. It was like Discovery Channel, only the narrator was hilarious. Great book!!!!

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Story
Review: In the introduction Farley Mowat writes that his intent was to write about the bureaucracy and misinformation which Mowat felt was pushing the Canadian government in the wrong enviromental direction. Granted, there is parts of the book dedicated to that but Mowat becomes so obsessed with the wolves he is studing that they soon become the stars of his own story.

Never Cry Wolf is an adventure story about a scientist relocated to the Canadian wilderness to study the effects that wolves have on the depleating numbers of carabao. Mowat not only links the decline in carabao to man but he also ends up taking some fasinating notes on wolf behavior.

The only problem with the book is that it is around 40 years old. From this book today, there is no way of knowing how accurate and relevant Mowat information still is.

Rating:
Summary: Wolves: From fairy tale to reality
Review: In this excellent non-fiction book, Farley Mowat provides new insights into wolves and wolf behaviors. Using a wonderfully dry, often satirical, sense of humor, Mowat blends a tale of his real-life duties as a Canadian Wildlife Service biologist with that of a wolf family he studies and befriends. Mowat is sent to the Arctic barrens to "prove" wolves are decimating the caribou herds of northern Canada. After a year of scientific study, which he details in his narrative, Mowat finds evidence that it is "man", not the wolf, who is responsible for the decline of caribou populations. He does this through careful study of the wolf family which consists of George and Angeline (the parents), their four pups, and Uncle Albert (a single male caretaker). What makes this non-fiction story so fascinating is Mowat's ability to make scientific method and inquiry easy to understand and, oftentimes, humorous. This book would make a wonderful read for reluctant teenage readers, as well as anyone who loves wolves and/or nature. The vocabulary in the first few chapters may be difficult, but after those introductory chapters the wonderful story takes over and you can forgive Mowat's use of elevated, difficult language. The "found" poem at the end of the book leaves the reader with much to think about concerning the role of humans in the environment. A definite must read!

Rating:
Summary: Not humans
Review: Never Cry Wolf is not without its good points. It has many humourous moments and the setting is described almost poetically. However, Mowat's conceitedness gets old fast. His ideas, while arguably not the majority opinion, are far from original (even back when this was written). Furthermore assigning human personality characteristics to wolves does not help his case. Intelligent readers can understand that wolves are not the evil monsters some make them out to be, without having them painted with desirable human qualities. Wolves are just wolves. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Rating:
Summary: A surprisingly great book
Review: The first time I saw,Never Cry Wolf, I thought I would not enjoy reading it. First, because it was an assigned literary book to read: secondly, it was not a book I would normally select to read. However, I was pleasantly surprised with this book, and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Farley Mowat, the author, has an incredible vocabulary that he uses to tell the story. But, while he may use some scientific or big words it doesn't distract the reader too much. In his writing, Mowat has a lovable quality, sarcasm. This trait makes the book fun to read and easily relatable to real life and people.

Mowat takes the reader to the world of the Arctic Wolves in the Canadian wilderness. The narrator, a biologist, is sent by the government to explore the life of the wolf, and, more specifically, to find out more information on how the wolf is interacting with the other species of life. What the narrator learns through his study changes his views on the wolf and on the world. He realizes that things aren't always as they seem, and facts are not always simple to understand.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous book
Review: This book truly touched me. Written with great talent and humor, I could hardly put it down. I came across it here on Amazon while looking for books on wolf behavior, a few days later I happened to find one lone copy stuffed inbetween books on horses at a local Waldenbooks.

I started reading it late into the afternoon and finished in the early morning hours the next day, I couldn't stop reading.

Mowat makes the wolves come to life, and easily draws you into his day to day activities and that of the wolves themselves.
His great sense of humor also adds a lot to the book. A wonderful read if you're an animal lover, or if you simply love to read.

This book was the deciding factor in my decision to choose a career in wildlife biology and conservation.

Rating:
Summary: Great thriller great book for the fearless person
Review: This is very much a period piece as Mowat was trying to dispell fifty-year-old myths about wolves. The Canadian government sent him into the Arctic to study the wolf's role in killing caribous that human hunters wanted to kill instead.

What makes this a great book is Mowat's understated humor in many places, his humorous sarcasm of bureaucracy, and a handful of funny set-piece situations -- such as how he ended up chasing wolves naked for several miles, inadvertently shocking Inuit women and children.

Also, Mowat really did study wolves in the Arctic, but not in the way that he describes here. There's a fair amount of fiction in the book, though broadly inspired and shaped by his experiences. Don't take it all as literally true. Maybe these funny stories really happened but I wouldn't bet the farm. They are still fully, though.

Mowat writes very well, though the vocabulary will be a bit advanced for some teens (and for anyone younger).




Rating:
Summary: Is it real?
Review: While I can't speak to the veracity of the facts involved, I can say with certainty that I loved this story of a man in the wilderness making friends with a wolf pack. He lovingly dedicates the book to one of his wolf friends.

Mowat goes alone into the Alaskan wilderness to study the wild wolves, who are being exterminated because of a belief that they are eating livestock. Mowat tries as well as humanly possible to live as he sees the wolves living. He drinks gallons of tea so he can pee around his camp to mark his territory. He eats rodents to see if he gets his full complement of dietary needs. He takes "wolf naps" so that he can watch them interact with one another during all hours. He even notes baby-sitting habits.

Unusually, the movie that was made from this book keeps to the story pretty accurately. I would recommend that, also.