One Man's Wilderness - An Alaskan Odyssey
Sam Keith from the journals and photos of Richard Proenneke, © 1973
non-fiction/biographical; 220 pages
Lately I have been interested in all that is Alaska. My research lead me to this book, chronicling the daily happenings of one man 40 miles away from the nearest town in the middle of Alaska. He decided it was time he had some solitude and set out to build a cabin using only hand tools. The book mostly reads as a journal of Richard Proenneke's days. There are photos to show in detail the amazing cabin he describes building in the first half of the book. He then goes on to describe the incredibly cold winter (-54ยบ F) he survives in his cabin and then some walks he takes around Twin Lakes and the wild life he encounters.
The thing I most enjoyed about this book was imagining myself in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness and the solitude of a glacial lake valley. He ends the book with thought provoking reflections on his experience of building his cabin and living a mostly solitary life for 16 months.
I had heard this was a PBS special.
consider it
contributors
- Mike
- i'm a 5th grade teacher that enjoys the challenge of turning my students into lifelong readers through good books and recommendations. this blog is my way of influencing others to pick up a book.