One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey

Rating:
Summary: A keeper
Review: A book to read more than once. Not dated at all. Oddly enough, a real page-turner, too.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I bought this book after watching the PBS documentery of Richard Proenneke's year alone in the Alaskan wilderness. Where the documentary gives a brief synopsis of Dick's time in the wilderness, the books gives a more complete account of the trials and tribulations of survival alone in the middle of nowhere. His planning and ingenuity of what he would need to survive the harsh Alaskan winter (from building his own log cabin from the ground up to stocking up on food for the long winter) are truely inspiring.

Equally inspiring are the words Dick uses to describe his love of the land and of the joy he finds communing with nature and surviving in such a remote environment.

If you've ever felt a bond with Jack London's "Call of the Wild" and "White Fang" you will love this true life adventure of Dick's year alone in Alaska's wilderness.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!

Rating:
Summary: To Do a Thing to Completion
Review: I can understand some people giving this book or the related video only three or four stars; this is one of those stories that depend heavily on the outlook you bring to them. Some might find Proenneke's feat mildly interesting but wonder why he did it. I found it enthralling.

You have to be fascinated by a man who seemed capable of creating almost anything he needed from raw materials using only hand tools. He carves out wooden spoons; builds his log home; turns gas cans into buckets, pots, and in-ground coolers; builds a cache on stilts; works up sturdy door hinges from stumps; and on and on. In our age of repetitive assembly of the same part or being a small cog in a service industry machine, in an age of such specialization even American farmers whose granaries overflow run to the supermarket for bread and then complain about the price, in an age of abundance that comes at the price of over-dependence on others, Richard Proenneke reached a satisfying level of self-reliance now nearly extinct.

I'm reminded of the "Little House on the Prairies" book series in which father Ingalls briefly laments having moved to South Dakota where he was dependent on the railroad trains to bring in food and fuel, compared to the days of self-sufficiency in the woods of Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Proenneke's dream isn't for everyone. Imagine trying to do what he did if your skills are incomplete or you have a family to bring up. Living in the middle of wild Alaska would be more suffering than fulfilment. But what a dream to have, in which you turn your back on the rat race and build what you need to live from start to finish, or as Proenneke says "to do a thing to completion." His accomplishments give me daydream release from the tedious grind of bills and mindless work.





Rating:
Summary: A Touching Story that Hit Me Right in the Heart.
Review: I haven't used the word "touching" in years, but it's the word that came to mind as I read the last sentence of this book last night.

Sam Keith's bio states that writing came hard to him. Well, Mr. Keith, I'd say you made it. You and Dick Proenneke did a masterful job of leaving behind a manuscript that will touch generations to come. You penned a book with staying power. The works of few authors will be remembered, but I will always remember your book.

This book connected with me. I left the wilderness of the Rockies four years ago. I cut my teeth in those rugged mountains. It's where I spent most of my time growing up. It's where I earned my living until four years ago. And I've yearned for those rugged, beautiful places since I left. This book took me back to a place I long to be. Geographically, Dick Proenneke and I lived in two different places, but through this book, I walked in his shoes back to the ruggedness I so dearly love and miss.

This is not a mountain man book. This is not a book about a man who lost his marbles, withdrew from society, and inched his way to savage lunacy. This is a story about a man who was big inside, a man who wouldn't settle for insignificance in his life. It's about a man with dreams who decided dreams are given to us so that we might pursue them and find the satisfaction of achieving them.

Dick Proenneke was a smart man, an educated man, well-written and well-spoken. Not the kind of guy you'd expect to stumble across in a remote piece of Alaska. He was a very civilized man. He had a big heart and believed in life's capacity to be bigger than what most of us allow it to be. That much is obvious from his writings.

Like Proenneke, I too am a dreamer. Always have been. His book reminded me not to let go of those dreams and to keep working to attain them.

This book is largely the edited writings from Proenneke's diary over the course of his first year at his Alaskan outpost. I found his closing reflections at the end of the book to be some of the most powerful writing I've read in quite a while. No bitterness, no anger. He writes like a man released, liberated from the shackles of small thinking and unnecessary societal limitations.

I don't know how else to summarize this book than to state it was a touching story that connected with the man deep inside me - the man God made me to be, the man who often gets buried by all the baggage of my comfortable, efficient, "time-saving" lifestyle here in Music City.

I rarely run across a book that compels me to grab another copy for my 12 year-old nephew, but this one did. From my experience, Proenneke's adventures capture the longing inside virtually every young boy's heart.

I don't know if this book will connect with women as much as it will with men. It might, but I'm not sure. The book is written from the perspective of a man seeking to be a man instead of the emasculated remnant of a man that society has been working long and hard to make of all men.

From his writings, it's obvious that Proenneke was a gentle man. He was tough as a nail, but gentle at the same time. Seems like he became tougher and more gentle the longer he stayed in his wilderness.

This book reminded me just how different men and women are and that regardless of what radical feminists scream, regardless of what any of the radical shapers in our society try to indoctrinate us with, God made men and women different and that we should celebrate and embrace those differences for the blessings they are.

This book inspired me to be more of a better breed of man.

Rating:
Summary: Great wilderness life story!
Review: I just want to say "ditto" to the above review. If you've ever fantasized about spending a good chunk of time living off the land in the rugged back-country, surviving by using your own wits and muscle, then this one's for you. Well written with wonderfully telling photos. Two thumbs way up!

Rating:
Summary: Interesting details, but slow for me
Review: I like books that contain the kind of real details that this book contains. Properly presented, fact can be more interesting than fiction. The book reads somewhat like a journal. For me, however, it deserves 3 stars because of writing quality, and because it failed to keep me reading past midnight.

Rating:
Summary: Get the DVD at www.alaskanha.org!!!
Review: I read the reviews for this book after seeing the video version of this book on TV. The video is fantastic! I'm sure the book is even better. We learned how Dick survived: how he built a log home, down to every detail; how he got food and cured it; and on and on... You'll be hooked! [...]

Rating:
Summary: dream, dreamer, dream..
Review: I read this book about a year ago and it's stayed with me like few books ever have. Despite being in my mid-20's, I found myself daydreaming about running off to Alaska and living as Richard Pronekke lived. Sure, maybe that's silly, but in my mind that's the best compliment a book of this type can have. The journal entries are written in a simple, non-flowery fashion. The pictures are great. The book is a complete classic.

My only regret is that the journal only lasts for a year. I would've read 20 years worth...

Rating:
Summary: Wanted the video
Review: I saw the film, "Alone in the Wilderness," on PBS and wanted a copy for my family. The price of $59.99 was too prohibitive so I investigated the book. I am hoping it will be even better than the film. Wow! I cannot believe how talented Mr. Proenneke was in building a cabin by hand. And to live in it for 35 years!! Does anyone have any information on how to get the video/DVD any cheaper than $59.99? I'd love to show it to my Sixth Grade Students.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic adventure in beautiful Alaska Bush Country
Review: I was at Port Alsworth, Alaska, on Lake Clark this July 1999, and bought this book at the Lake Clark Vistor Center. The beauty of this country is awesome and spectacular. The book tells the adventure of a man called back in time. Dick chose to travel into bush country building a comfortable cabin with his two hands at the cost of $40 dollars. Surviving the severe weather with wisdom and common sense. Enjoying and making friends with the wild animals. He had great respect for God's country and the animals. Friendship with Babe Alsworth, a true christian native and bush pilot. I met Babe's son, Glen and his wonderful family, at Port Alsworth. The book is vivid in discribing Dick's many months of survival and adventure in the Alaska bush. The book is very well written and it makes you feel like you are living the adventure with Dick. Pictures of the Alaska country and cabin help to visualize your thoughts. In the busy world of today, it was refreshing to read this book and reflect on how in ages past people lived day by day. I enjoyed reading the book very much.