View Full Version : Good adventure books or nature literature?
Powder River
01-31-2008, 01:05
I'm reading as many books as I can before I go on my thru that will get me pumped up for adventure and nature. Anybody have any good ones? Currently I'm reading Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum, and just got done reading The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris.
Next will probably be Bill Bryson (2nd read for me) however I'm going to stop there with the AT specific books, because I want my experience of names and places to be fresh and new. In other words, what are some non AT adventure books or nature driven literature?
Also on my list is Desert Solotaire by Edward Abbey, Into Thin Air and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. One other idea is Walden by Henry David Thoreau but I come up blank after that. Got any to add? Fire away!
:banana
Basho's A Narrow Road to the Deep North--it's basically a trail journal+poetry written by one of Japan's greatest poets.
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~kohl/basho/1-prologue/index.html
I'm also partial to the Chuang Tzu (Burton Watson translation)--it's a work/collection of Taoist philosophy. I think it has a lot to say about hiking.
As far as adventure novels, if you're partial to sci-fi/fantasy check out L.E. Modesitte's Towers of Sunset, or C.S. Friedman's Black Sun Rising Trilogy
fiddlehead
01-31-2008, 03:11
"In the Land of the White Death" is an amazing story written by a Russian named Albanov as is Shackleton's adventure ("Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage")
Also, the Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiesen is an all time favorite of mine. (I just finished reading "Stone of Silence by George Shaller which is a book written about the same journey but Matthiesen's is better IMO)
Try also: "Yak Butter and Black Tea" by Wade Blackenbury who i had the pleasure to meet here in Thailand 2 years ago when i was rock climbing over on Ton Sai. I had read his book and was amazed at some of his stories in it, we got to talking and i told him about my ambition of traveling around the world without flying but was stuck getting from Nepal to Thailand and he said he could help me get thru both Bhutan and Burma through some back doors he knew about. Anyway, he's pretty cool dude and has done a lot of adventurous stuff.
"The Man Who Walked Thru Time", by Colin Fletcher. RIP
Lone Wolf
01-31-2008, 03:45
"My Side of the Mountain" by Jean George
Mrs Baggins
01-31-2008, 08:00
If you have the time, because it's a biggie, read "Sacajewea" by Anna Waldo. It's the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Another biggie is "This Thing of Darkness" by Harry Thompson, the story of the Fitzroy expedition to So. America.
K2 TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY by Jim Curran copyright 1987 *****
"a gripping story that belongs with the classics of mountaineering"
In 1986, 27 men an women reached the top of the "savage mountain", the second highest peak in the world, 13 died trying.
Hard to put this one down once you start!
The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska's Arctic Wilderness by James Campbell (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/002-6225119-8576015?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=James%20Campbell)
They live up near the artic circle. Hunts, fishes and traps to feed his family. His family was featured in this video:
National Geographic's Braving Alaska (1992)
Or this guy. Lived alone for 35 yrs in a hand built cabin.
One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey
by Sam Keith (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/002-6225119-8576015?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Sam%20Keith)
Johnny Swank
01-31-2008, 10:06
**** Shameless Self Promotion Alert!****
God-willing, my book on our 2,150 mile paddle down the Mississippi will be out late spring/early summer
The Ancestor's Tale, by Richard Dawkins. The ultimate nature story.
Spirit Walker
01-31-2008, 11:31
Steve Newman's "Worldwalk", Walkin' Jim Stoltz's book, Karsten Heuer's books, Mardie Murie, Ed Abbey, Model T's books, Larry Luxemburg's book on the AT, Barry Lopez's books, Peter Jenkins' books.
Travels with Charlie by Steinbeck.
The opening lines of the book alone make it worth it:
When I was very young and the urge to be someplace was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked. . . In other words, I don't improve, in further words, once a bum always a bum. I fear the disease is incurable.
Part of why we do these long hikes (for many of us) are for the journey and the need to satisfy an itch for wanderlust.
Good read.
In a similar vein, try RIVER HORSE and BLUE HIGHWAYS by William Least Heatmoon. River Horse especially has some good passages that relate to journeys:
...who can say where a voyage starts - not the the actual passage
but the dream of a journey and its urge to find a way?
Pessimism and negativism are cankers in the soul of long
distance voyagers, and continuance of journeys owes about
as much to blind faith as realistic assessment,
Johnny Swank
01-31-2008, 12:00
Great choices Mags. Travels with Charlie is a fine read.
Not a nature book, but The Lord of the Rings always makes me feel like going on an adventure.
Not a nature book, but The Lord of the Rings always makes me feel like going on an adventure.
What, you've never seen any Orcs or Ents on the trail? I've met at least a few Hobbits and Striders.
Walden. Thoreau is like a god.
Lone Wolf
01-31-2008, 13:11
Thoreau is like a god.
to who?
Mrs Baggins
01-31-2008, 13:14
Not a nature book, but The Lord of the Rings always makes me feel like going on an adventure.
It was The Lord of the Rings that set me on this adventure of hiking and backpacking - at the age of 45. I had read the book a couple of times but it was the movies.......coming on the heels of 9/11........a combination of those two things. Now I read the book every single year.
ThrashHammer
01-31-2008, 13:19
"Walking the Big Wild", by Kirsten Hauer, I believe that is the author's name. It's about a biologist's trek from Yellowstone to the Yukon. Mostly on his own, with his border collie along side. Great book.
"True North", by Jim Harrison, He also wrote Legends of the Fall and a lot of other classics. It is about a troubled youth from the U.P. that fights a lot of demons in life and uses the outdoors as an outlet.
ThrashHammer
01-31-2008, 13:32
Another good one is "The Last Season", by Eric Blehm. It's about a ranger who lives in the Sierra Nevadas and ends up getting lost and possibly dying from an accident. Another good read.
What about Jan's book "The Ordinary Adventurer (http://www.funfreedom.com)"??? Perfect for a soon to be hiker!
berninbush
01-31-2008, 13:46
Not a nature book, but The Lord of the Rings always makes me feel like going on an adventure.
If you like these, you should also check out the Chronicles of Narnia by Tolkien's close friend C.S. Lewis.
Don't let the "children's book" label fool you. Lewis believed that a children's book wasn't worth reading unless it was good enough to also appeal to adults, and these pass the test. They are great adventures, and his love of nature (especially animals) shines through. "Prince Caspian" in particular is largely taken up with a wilderness journey (though I think they're changing this for the movie coming out in May :mad:). "The Last Battle" is sharply critical of industrial development and "progress" that destroys the natural order.
I will also second the recommendation for Peter Jenkins' books, "Walk Across America" and sequels.
SloHiker
01-31-2008, 14:02
Horn of the Hunter by Robert Ruark
If you like T. Roosevelt you should read "Holt Collier" by Ferris Buchanan. http://www.holtcollier.com/
Holt Collier was born a slave, and is the only known former slave to fight on the side of the Confederacy as an armed combatant. He guided T. Roosevelt on two bear hunts. The Teddy Bear came into being as a result of one of those hunts. T. Roosevelt said Holt Collier was the best hunter he ever met. A great book, about an extraordinary person.
Critterman
01-31-2008, 14:08
Walden. Thoreau is like a god.
"The Maine Woods" is good.
The Cheat
01-31-2008, 14:10
"The Talisman", by Stephen King
"The Maine Woods" is good.
You're right, I forgot about that. I read it over Christmas and loved it. Maybe it should be read at Monson for NOBOs?
leeki pole
01-31-2008, 14:22
"Merle's Door" by Ted Kerasote. Of course, the dog haters will bash me. Great read. Get your bandanna out for the last two chapters, you'll need it.
My wife and I just read Scott Weidensaul's "Mountains of the Heart: A Natural History of the Appalachians" - beautifully written in an episodic style (good for a few minutes at a time after the 4yo goes to bed), that rings true without excessive jargon or overgeneralizing. Good for an appreciation of the different shades of green in the tunnel.
My wife and I just read Scott Weidensaul's "Mountains of the Heart: A Natural History of the Appalachians" - beautifully written in an episodic style (good for a few minutes at a time after the 4yo goes to bed), that rings true without excessive jargon or overgeneralizing. Good for an appreciation of the different shades of green in the tunnel.
I would recommend everything he has written. Weidensaul is a fine writer, who lives just off the trail near Hawk Mountain in PA.
Here are some good books I have read:
Very good read, full of practical and traditional ways and means:
COMEAU, NAPOLEON A. LIFE AND SPORT ON THE NORTH SHORE OF THE LOWER ST. LAWRENCE AND GULF.
Quebec: Telegraph Pringing Co., 1923. Second edition. 440 pp. plus plates from photographs. Wraps. Very good. "Salmon fishing, trapping, the folklore of the Montagnais Indians and tales of adventure on the fringe of the Labrador Peninsula." PHILLIPS, p. 84.
Also any of these, though I have only read North American Canoe Country:
http://www.upress.umn.edu/html/rutstrumbooks.html
This one I highly recommend for reading to young children when you are hiking and camping in the woods. The six traditional stories are both entertaining and informative, and the authour explains each story in her own words after telling it. I read it to Margaret when we did the Fundy Footpath last summer. Every time we stopped for lunch or camped we had another story to look forward to. When you get through this one I would suggest you find other native traditional stories for such occassions. They are very fitting.
SIX MICMAC STORIES
Retold by Ruth Whitehead. Illustrated by Harold McGee.
Halifax, NS: Nova Scotia Museum, 1989.
48pp., paper, $3.95.
ISBN 0-919680-35-6. Distributed by Nova Scotia Museum. CIP.
Reviewed by Anne Kelly.
http://umanitoba.ca/cm/cmarchive/vol17no4/sixmicmacstories.html
I read this one. It is very funny:
Moose meat and wild rice
Johnston, Basil H..
Toronto : McClelland and Stewart, 1978.
Genre: Fiction
Language: Ojibwa and English
Description: 188 p. ; 22 cm.
ISBN: 0771044437
Other books by Basil H. Johnston.
http://www.ipl.org/div/natam/bin/browse.pl/A41
"One Man's Wilderness" by Sam Keith, and the PBS documentary "Alone in teh Wilderness" which is basically a video version of the book. The book is one of my favorites. True story of a guy who moves to Alaska and builds everything from scratch, and how he gets along.
"Green Mountain Farm" by Elliot Merrick. Hard to find, but a great book. True story of a guy who moved from New York City to just shy of Canada in vermont during the Great Depression and homesteaded with his family... I've read this one 4 or 5 times now.
Waterfall
01-31-2008, 17:36
Edwin Way Teale (http://naturewriting.com/edwinway.htm) is great. Much of his stuff is out of print (I think), but if you can find a used copy of one of the books from his "American Seasons" collection, you won't be disappointed.
I think I first learned of Teale when reading Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
The Solemates
01-31-2008, 18:05
The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska's Arctic Wilderness by James Campbell (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/002-6225119-8576015?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=James%20Campbell)
They live up near the artic circle. Hunts, fishes and traps to feed his family. His family was featured in this video:
National Geographic's Braving Alaska (1992)
Or this guy. Lived alone for 35 yrs in a hand built cabin.
One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey
by Sam Keith (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/002-6225119-8576015?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Sam%20Keith)
Just bought it! Thanks!
The Solemates
01-31-2008, 18:07
"One Man's Wilderness" by Sam Keith, and the PBS documentary "Alone in teh Wilderness" which is basically a video version of the book. The book is one of my favorites. True story of a guy who moves to Alaska and builds everything from scratch, and how he gets along.
"Green Mountain Farm" by Elliot Merrick. Hard to find, but a great book. True story of a guy who moved from New York City to just shy of Canada in vermont during the Great Depression and homesteaded with his family... I've read this one 4 or 5 times now.
Both excellent books! A second reccomendation!
Into Thin Air is one of my favorites if you havent read it.
Kon Tiki is a sort of adventure book, i enjoyed it a lot.
The Seven Summits is pretty good, although i didnt like the 2 climbers at first i think it turned out to be a pretty interesting read.
Into Thin Air is one of my favorites if you havent read it.
... or anything else by Jon Krakauer.
Amphibious D
01-31-2008, 20:13
The Way of the Scout, or The Tracker, or Grandfather by Tom Brown Jr. His books are excellent and always make me wanna go out into the woods! He also has a knife that he designed, a survival school, and the movie The Hunted was based on one of his tracking adventures from the book The Tracker. Here's the link to his website.
www.trackerschool.com
Agree that any Krakauer book is worth it... Into The Wild if you haven't read it... is a true account of a guys journy around America and Canada, and interlaced throughout the book are tales of other motivated adventurers.
Winter Dance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod
by Gary Paulsen
Like the title says... about the iditarod, and one guy's experience preparing for and running it... very exciting, funny and entertaining.
Between A Rock and A Hard Place
by Aaron Ralston
Ralston is the guy who had to amputate his arm after being trapped under a boulder for a week... in addition to his survival story, he recounts many of his outdoor adventures prior to being trapped.
Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost At Sea
by Stephen Callahan
Like the titile says... excellent survival story and wonderful anecdotes to call on when you think you're too miserable to make it further... this guys resolve was unbelievable.
The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed
by John Vaillant
About the logging industry and one crazy logger's environmental crusade... but there is a lot of great outdoor anecdotes through out the book, plus provides some fresh perspective of how important it is to preserve areas like the Appalachian Trail and National Forests.
Jan LiteShoe
02-01-2008, 12:38
"In the Land of the White Death" is an amazing story written by a Russian named Albanov as is Shackleton's adventure ("Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage")
Also, the Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiesen is an all time favorite of mine. (I just finished reading "Stone of Silence by George Shaller which is a book written about the same journey but Matthiesen's is better IMO)
Try also: "Yak Butter and Black Tea" by Wade Blackenbury who i had the pleasure to meet here in Thailand 2 years ago when i was rock climbing over on Ton Sai. I had read his book and was amazed at some of his stories in it, we got to talking and i told him about my ambition of traveling around the world without flying but was stuck getting from Nepal to Thailand and he said he could help me get thru both Bhutan and Burma through some back doors he knew about. Anyway, he's pretty cool dude and has done a lot of adventurous stuff.
I look forward to reading your travel memoirs someday.
Jan LiteShoe
02-01-2008, 12:54
Well, bear stories are always good for a gripping nature adventure.
Read anything by Doug Peacock, esp:
Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness (http://books.google.com/books?id=QgCV_eOoptEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:Doug+inauthor:Peacock&ei=fk6jR-WVN4HciwGmuty8Cg&sig=YVCrBYXb32Ay_MtxXGLy5drpK0E)
by Doug Peacock - Nature (http://books.google.com/books?q=+subject:%22Nature%22) - 1996 - 304 pages
As Peacock tracks the bears, his story turns into a thrilling narrative about the breaking down of suspicion between man and beast in the wild.
Or "The Blue Bear. "
On Amazon:
www.amazon.com/Blue-Bear-Friendship-Survival-Wilderness/dp/0066210852
""People step into the [Alaskan] landscape and vanish without a trace," writes wildlife guide Lynn Schooler in this ode to the wild beauty of the Alaskan coast, an unusual friendship, and a mysterious bear with fur the color of "burnished metal." Schooler spent a decade searching for the elusive blue (or glacier) bear with Michio Hoshino, Japan's preeminent wildlife photographer. Hoshino was a gentle genius who would sit still for hours, his face swelling from mosquito bites, for the perfect photograph, and who had the same patience and consideration for a bruised heart like Schooler's. Schooler had lost all ability to trust, scarred first by the scorn of classmates for his twisted body and finally by the brutal murder of the woman he loved. But as a guide--both for wildlife photographers and for readers of this evocative and gracefully composed memoir--Schooler richly reveals the place that sustains him. He makes remarkable connections between whales and the complex workings of old-growth forests, between glaciers dropping 100-foot columns of ice into waiting fjords, and the breathing of the planet. Ultimately, though, it is Hoshino's death by a bear that finally enables Schooler to make peace with humanity and death. A quiet, profound gem. --Lesley Reed
or "
http://www.curledup.com/bluebear.htm
"The memoir revolves around Schooler’s relationship with a kind, talented Japanese photographer Michio Hoshino who initially hires Schooler to help him and his film crew capture some images of the Alaskan wilderness. However, the two eventually come to share a fascination with the elusive blue bear of the title. Also known as a glacier bear, its silvery fur sometimes takes on a blue sheen, earning the creature its nickname. Hoshino and Schooler meet periodically over the coming years to search for the bear.
There also are some flashbacks to Schooler’s past: his early battle with scoliosis, the tragic loss of a woman he loved. However, the heart of the story is the growing friendship between the friendly, effortlessly trusting Hoshino and the knowledgeable but emotionally distant Schooler. The excitement as the two of them plan their voyages to look for the bear, and the sadness that befalls their relationship pops to life on the page, making bearable the drier stretches. The men, particularly Hoshino, are vivid human beings, made even more vulnerable and sympathetic by their yearning to get a glimpse of a creature they may never see."
Jim Bridger by Stanley Vestal - It's the story of a Mountain Man.
If you want to read only 1 book, make it Mountains of the Heart by Scott Weidensaul.
If you want to read only 1 book, make it Mountains of the Heart by Scott Weidensaul.
So he's OK, even though he's from the "vinter site of the mountain"? :)
I'm willing to overlook he's from the other side of the mountain. His books still read as if The Green Diamond is at the center of the universe.;)
futureatwalker
02-01-2008, 15:48
An outdoor adventure book that I really enjoyed was Touching the Void, by Joe Simpson. It's an incredible story of hike and climb that goes incredibly wrong.
Critterman
02-01-2008, 20:30
An outdoor adventure book that I really enjoyed was Touching the Void, by Joe Simpson. It's an incredible story of hike and climb that goes incredibly wrong.
Great movie too.
bloodmountainman
02-02-2008, 01:29
A WAlk across America by Peter Jenkins is good inspiration for a long trek. Interesting adventure story.