Tales of an Empty Cabin

Rating:
Summary: A frontiers man with foresight
Review: Fantastic book.. wonderful stories told from a very perseptive individuals point of view. A man who loved to live life far from the modern day lifestyle of his day and enjoy the harshness and or the beauty that mother nature had to give. It definetly shows the stark reality of living a lifestyle in the Canadian wilderness. Yet he also conveys the beauty and peacefulness of living with nature and the animals.

Rating:
Summary: A frontiers man with foresight
Review: Fantastic book.. wonderful stories told from a very perseptive individuals point of view. A man who loved to live life far from the modern day lifestyle of his day and enjoy the harshness and or the beauty that mother nature had to give. It definetly shows the stark reality of living a lifestyle in the Canadian wilderness. Yet he also conveys the beauty and peacefulness of living with nature and the animals.

Rating:
Summary: As close to Thoreau as it gets - in some ways better
Review: If it weren't for his fantastic writing ability, Grey Owl would have gone down in history as a liar and a fraud (after his death, the world discovered that the "Indian" known as Grey Owl was actually an Englishman born Archibald "Archie" Belaney). However, his books - true works of art - made a statement in the early 1900's that have stood the test of time. Anyone who appreciates a walk in the woods or quiet mountain stream will understand Grey Owl's passionate plea for conservation. "Tales of An Empty Cabin" has always been my favorite, but all of his works were masterpieces.

Rating:
Summary: As close to Thoreau as it gets - in some ways better
Review: If it weren't for his fantastic writing ability, Grey Owl would have gone down in history as a liar and a fraud (after his death, the world discovered that the "Indian" known as Grey Owl was actually an Englishman born Archibald "Archie" Belaney). However, his books - true works of art - made a statement in the early 1900's that have stood the test of time. Anyone who appreciates a walk in the woods or quiet mountain stream will understand Grey Owl's passionate plea for conservation. "Tales of An Empty Cabin" has always been my favorite, but all of his works were masterpieces.

Rating:
Summary: Buy it for the descriptions of beaver life; skip the rest.
Review: The author emigrated from England to Canada early in the 20th century and adopted a Native American persona. He gained some fame as a Canadian nature writer, although he never attracted much attention in other countries.

This book is a potpourri of stories, philosophy, commentaries on conservation politics and on the Canadian national spirit, and other writings impossible to classify. The author's prevailing style ages poorly. He is fond of elaborate Victorian phrases, and is liable to choke any reader with a low tolerance for corniness.

The author's description of his life with beavers redeems the whole book. He is probably the only person ever to share his home with a family of these animals. (His cabin was built over the edge of a lake, and the beavers built their lodge in the wet end.) In this section of the book the author's overwrought style disappears. He describes his beaver friends' lives with a mixture of dry humor and passionate love that makes them vivid and unforgettable.

Rating:
Summary: Recognizing his two nationalities
Review: This is an excellent book. It explains a man of two nationalities, proudly recoginizing his Indian heritage. How can people say that he was an Englishman?? He focused on the wild-life because most people take the wild-life for granted. From his mother's side, he had the Scottish blood; his father's side a more dominant, showed up in his personality and his physical appearance. He was involved with Great Britian, he did most of the things an English lad would do, as far as I am concerned, he did not wrong to anyone, only to himself by the consumption of alcohol; which is known today as "A white man's disease" He was "brave enought to tell the truth" I recommend this book as the best.

Rating:
Summary: Recognizing his two nationalities
Review: This is an excellent book. It explains a man of two nationalities, proudly recoginizing his Indian heritage. How can people say that he was an Englishman?? He focused on the wild-life because most people take the wild-life for granted. From his mother's side, he had the Scottish blood; his father's side a more dominant, showed up in his personality and his physical appearance. He was involved with Great Britian, he did most of the things an English lad would do, as far as I am concerned, he did not wrong to anyone, only to himself by the consumption of alcohol; which is known today as "A white man's disease" He was "brave enought to tell the truth" I recommend this book as the best.

Rating:
Summary: An experience in love and appreciation of life.
Review: Would it not be interesting for each of us to express our point of view regarding all those experiences that brought us to a certain point in our lives. Tales of an Empty Cabin does just that. The cabin is actually a make shift structure somewhere in the northern reaches of Quebec, at a placed called Birch Lake (1928). This is where a man's life, like Saul of Tarsus, was transformed from trapper, guide, and forest ranger, to one of Canada's leading "environmentalists' and respector of animal life. Grey Owl, in contradistinction to most, was a real individualist, who took upon himself the task of challenging the 'status quo' in his day. Each chapter is a short story describing "life" in certain situations, conditions, and circumstances. It is a marvelous attempt at the sharing of one's perception of things. Grey Owl was a gifted observer and prolific writter. He was like an Olympic Athlete in that he worked, indefatigably, towards a goal; namely, depicting with great insight, a variety of activities so prevalent during his days in the north of Canada. He perfected his writting skills so well, that millions around the world recognized his abilities and talent. In fact, one of the stories (XIII), The Tree, was so popular it was published as a separate book. In his Epilogue he ends with this moving statement, "And the cabin won't be empty any more, nor the grove again so silent and deserted, while yet remains a solitary reader whose sympathy and kindly understanding brings Life to that memory-haunted valley in the hills, and awakens those others, who have dreamed and waited there so long." Grey Owl was a man who did his best to share his heart. This is a noble cause.