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The Singing Wilderness (The Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage Book Series) | 
 enlarge | Author: Sigurd F. Olson
Creator: Francis Lee Jaques
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy Used: $4.55
You Save: $11.40 (71%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 119466
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 244
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0816629927
Dewey Decimal Number: 508.7767
EAN: 9780816629923
ASIN: 0816629927
Publication Date: August 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: ** Possible marking on cover. 100% Satisfaction guaranteed on all purchases.
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Product Description
to do with the calling of loons, with northern lights, and the great silences of land lying northwest of Lake Superior. It is concerned with the simple joys, the timelessness and perspective found in a way of life which is close to the past. I have heard the singing in many places, but I seem to hear it best in the wilderness lake country of the Quetico-Superior, where travel is still by pack and canoe over the ancient trails of the Indians and voyageurs." Thus the author sets the theme and tone of this enthralling book of discovery about one of the few great primitive areas in our country which have withstood the pressures of civilization.
Acute natural perceptivity and a profound knowledge of the relationships to be found in nature combine here in vivid evocations of the sights, the sounds, the vast stillnesses, and the events of the wilderness as the seasons succeed each other. But Mr. Olson is not content merely to "describe; he probes for meanings that will lead the reader to a different and more revealing way of looking at the out-of-doors and to a deeper sense of its eternal values. In each of the thirty-four chapters of The Singing Wilderness he has sought to capture an essential quality of our magnificent lake and forest heritage. He shows us what can be read from the rocks of the great Canadian Shield; he offers a delightful essay on the virtues of pine knots as fuel; he writes of the ways of a canoe, of flashing trout in the pools of the Isabella, of tamarack bogs, caribou moss, the flight of wild geese, timber wolves, and the birds of the ski trails. And much more, with something to satisfy every taste for wilderness experience.
Superbly illustrated with 38 black-and-white drawings by Francis Lee Jaques, The Singing Wilderness is a book that no lover of nature will want to be without. To anyone who contemplates a vacation in the lake country of northern Minnesota and adjoining Canada, it is the perfect vade mecum.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 A fine Read! February 6, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I really enjoy Sigurd Olson's writings. They have a downright old-style home feel. It brings you back to days of innocence and days of wonder. He tells of days growing up and experiencing nature and what it has to offer through his lifetime encounters. Incredibly, Sigurd is a highly educated ecologist with vast amounts of knowledge who can give just the right amount of details without overdoing it...it still leaves that sense of "just enjoy what nature has to offer" yet still keeping enough real world information in there. He doesn't flaunt the fact he is a leading naturalist, we just find this out through his love of nature in his writings. I have all of his books and could give practically all of them an equal praise. Grab some of them, read on and enjoy the trip.
 Everyone should see this place! August 7, 2004
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Noted conservationist Sigurd F. Olson wrote this collection of essays about his years canoeing, snowshoeing, skiing and fishing the Wilderness areas of Superior National Forest and the Quetico of Canada.
The essays are organized according to the four seasons. Olson has an almost metaphysical relationship with the animals that live in the wilderness: red squirrels, loons, otters, even field mice are fellow travelers.
Olson canoes and portages scores of miles to listen to the loons sing on Lac La Croix. He searches hundreds of lakes, looking for the perfect wilderness area, unspoiled by civilization. And he finds it! Saganaga, "a symbol of the primitive, perfect and untouched." Later, he hears that a road has come to Saganaga and he ventures back to see what's been done to it. It seems the same until he rounds a bend and is confronted with a modern lodge. He's conflicted; he wants human companionship but he doesn't want to lose his "singing wilderness."
In another essay, he tells of "flying in" to one of the lakes, rather than spending days canoeing and portaging to get there. He feels disoriented and can't really appreciate the experience. He hasn't put in enough effort; he doesn't deserve it. And he never does this again.
Olson is a sentimental, nostalgic man. He tells of catching trout for his grandmother, whom he credits with instilling a love of nature. While fishing on the Manitou, he is confronted with an eighty-year-old trout fisherman who's come to his favorite fishing spot for one last time.
Olson also limns essays that show the brutality of nature. In "The Storm" we see white-throated sparrows, Killdeers, purple finches, chickadees, and robins returning to the wilderness area after a long and brutal winter. Olson is marveling at their music until snow begins the fall and the temperature plummets. Thousands of confused birds freeze to death.
Admittedly, there is some clunky writing in the SINGING WILDERNESS; one gets the impression that Olson is writing from memory in a lot of instances. Also, at times he doesn't tell you where he is: he refers to the "lake" as if we should know which one of the thousands in the Superior/Quetico wilderness he's referring to. There's also a dearth of people. Often, he refers to "we" but the person or persons he's with are invisible.
That said, I think everyone would benefit from reading these essays. I couldn't help but wonder how many people know this place exists. These days the area is called the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness. No motor boats allowed; no ATVs allowed! Everyone should see it at least once in his/her lifetime.
have you heard February 20, 2003
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
great book for outdoor enthusiasts. bet you find something you can relate to and some you realize you overlooked
The true Boundary Waters September 4, 2002
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book is my favorite! It describes all the feelings common to those who have visited canoe country and will never forget it. Sigurd Olson's writing is so clear and descriptive, you'll feel like you're in the Boundary Waters every time you pick it up. Everyone who has visited the Boundary Waters or ever plans on doing so, not to mention all the other nature lovers out there, should read this book. I don't know how many times I've read it and it seems to get better every time.
_Walden_ for Minnesotans January 6, 2002
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Originally published in 1956, this classic still speaks to nature lovers today, and it deserves to share the same shelf with Thoreau, Muir, and Beston. Olson's essays convey the spirit and sense of place in what is now known as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area -- Superior National Forest in Minnesota and Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario. North country life is special, and Olson obviously loved living there. He writes with delight of seeing Northern Lights, portaging canoes, cross country skiing, hearing the echoes of loons calling, and witnessing the occasional mouse tobogganing off a tent roof. Though the chapters are organized by seasons and begin with Spring, it is the essence of cold and snow and winter that carries the reader through the book. Best to be read by a warm fireplace with a light snow falling outside and a mug of hot chocolate nearby.
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