Reflections From the North Country

Reflections from the North Country by Sigurd F. Olson

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

"These are reflections, and the philosophy, of a man who has traveled the wilderness most of his life. 'I hope.' writes Sigurd Olson, 'those who travel with me may hear an almost imperceptible note of harmony that runs through the grand symphony of the land I have known.'

"His book is alive with anecdote and insight, born of his long familiarity with rivers, lakes, and primitive terrain, from the northern United States and the mountains of Alaska to the Northwest Territories of Canada and the arctic tundra.

"He evokes the soaring grace of raven, osprey and eagle, the call of the loon and the song of the hermit thrush. He sharpens our awareness of the beauty around us -- gently warning us to leave behind our excess baggage of scientific sophistication and open ourselves to wonder. He reflects on our frontier heritage, ponders the meaning of solitude--its freedoms and cleansing powers. He meditates on wholeness, cosmic rhythms, and the slow cycles of seasonal change, and once again offers eloquent testimony to the inherent joys and truths he has found."
~~front flap

Oh BOY! This is going to be one of my all time very favoritest of books, thinks I. Don't I have a special connection with ravens? Isn't the song of the hermit thrust burned forever in my memory after that magical hike at dusk along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon? Don't I thirst after wholeness, and the slow cycles of seasonal change? Doesn't my heart sing for rivers, lakes, and primitive terrain?

So I rubbed my hands together in glee, and dove right in.

I hated it.

This book says "Me me me -- look at me! See how environmentally and woodsy I am? Aren't I wonderful?" Well he may have been wonderful, and the back flap of the dust jacket says he was: "one of America's distinguished ecologists and interpreters of wilderness, and one of the best-loved writers in his field." But what I wanted from this book was to see what he'd seen, go where he'd been, travel and watch and wonder with him. Instead, I got lectured on every page about the danger of losing wilderness, and how we should all care, and do something about it. I do care, I do do as much as I can about it, and if I didn't already know all that, do think I'd be reading a book about wilderness?