Good Outdoor Reads
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I am resurrecting the “What Have You Been Reading Lately” thread. I am sure that many of you, like me, are voracious readers of outdoor literature, both fiction and non-fiction. Here are a few recent books I’ve really enjoyed.
By the way, while I’m at it, this is my Goodreads page if anyone wants to friend me:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/7015648-zach-matthews
“The Tiger” by John Valliant – (Thanks Andrew Wright for the recommend). Terrific reporting about an Amur (Siberian) tiger going on a killing rampage in far eastern Russia, which for me is a super interesting part of the world anyway.
“American Buffalo” by Steven Rinella – This is the book that launched Rinella’s career as a tv host, as mentioned in my podcast with him on the same subject. Excellent writing from both a hunting and historical perspective.
“In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex” by Nathaniel Philbrick – Cannibalism, whaling, 19th century propriety. This book has it all.
“Collapse” – Jared Diamond. This guy is The Man when it comes to explaining how things got like they are. His chronicle of the rise and fall of the Viking Greenland colony alone is worth the price of admission.
“Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World” by Jack Weatherford – Definitely more of a true history than an outdoor book per se, it just so happens that Khan and his armies were also the consummate outdoorsmen. The story of decadent Kublai Khan, Genghis’s great-grandson, “hunting” from a pagoda on the backs of four elephants, with outriders herding in game from a DAY’S RIDE in each direction, was hilarious. The ultimate in safari style!
Zach
“The Trout Diaries” by Derek Grzelewski – As the subtitles states, its tales from a year of fly fishing New Zealand. It is very well written, and comprised of myriad entertaining stories that paint the picture of what fly fishing is all about.
I have also heard good things about “The Alaska Chronicles” by Miles Nolte, which will be waiting for me on my vacation home in a couple weeks.
My reading has slowed with other obligations, but I’m interested in finding some thought-provoking reads on the ethical issues sometimes raised by hunting and fishing, so if anybody has any good suggestions, I’m all ears.
A while ago, I read “A Hunter’s Heart” edited by David Petersen, and “Do Fish Feel Pain” by Victoria Braithwaite.
I’m looking for more along these these lines (though interested more in the philosophical and ecological, and not so much in the neurobiological !)
Andrew
I miss the reading/writing section of the board
Assault on Norway by Thomas Gallagher
As far as my feet will carry Me“The Heart of America” – by Tim Palmer
If you havent read anything by him you need to.
Zach — If you enjoyed “The Tiger” give the “Man-eaters of Kumaon” a try. It is an excellent read that has stayed under the radar for some unknown reason. It is a read you will not regret or soon forget.
Reaching back try
“Run for the Trees” by James Rand. Adventure in Africa
And an essay that popped into my head, “Beware the Man with 23 Guns” by Gene Hill.
A collection of great reads, “The Old Man and the Boy” by Robert Ruark.
Not outdoors in our sense but “HMS Ulysses” by Alistair Maclean. Damn. I read that in the 1960’s and still think of it often. Murmansk run in WWII.
I have to praise the John Graves book Goodbye to a River anytime outdoor books are brought up. It truly is a great American read. He has this really beautiful narrative style, an excellent writer. The book has become one of my favorites period. (I may have to read it again now, just posting about it!) Here’s part of the wiki clip on Goodbye to a River:
It is a “semi-historical” account of a canoe trip made by the author during the fall of 1957 down a stretch of the Brazos River in North Central Texas, between Possum Kingdom Dam and Lake Whitney. The book presents both the author’s account of the trip itself and numerous stories about the history and settlement of the area around the river and of North Central Texas. The title refers to Graves’ childhood association with the river and the country surrounding it, and his fear of the “drowning” effect that a proposed series of flood-control dams (most notably, Lake Granbury) would have on the river.“Empire of the Summer Moon”, about the Comanches.
Take home lesson: if you ever think you’re about to get captured by hostile Comanches, just go ahead and kill yourself first.
Well my reading this summer is going to be,
“The Zombie Survival Guide.”You can never be too careful.
“True Grit” (It’s better than either movie version, in my opinion.)
“Treasure Island” (I have had this book since I was a kid and have never read through it because I always end up forgetting that I started reading it and end up starting over from the beginning again.)
I haven’t read much about fishing lately.
I have to praise the John Graves book Goodbye to a River anytime outdoor books are brought up. It truly is a great American read. He has this really beautiful narrative style, an excellent writer. The book has become one of my favorites period. (I may have to read it again now, just posting about it!) Here’s part of the wiki clip on Goodbye to a River:
It is a “semi-historical” account of a canoe trip made by the author during the fall of 1957 down a stretch of the Brazos River in North Central Texas, between Possum Kingdom Dam and Lake Whitney. The book presents both the author’s account of the trip itself and numerous stories about the history and settlement of the area around the river and of North Central Texas. The title refers to Graves’ childhood association with the river and the country surrounding it, and his fear of the “drowning” effect that a proposed series of flood-control dams (most notably, Lake Granbury) would have on the river.Great book — I’ve made the trek from PK to Whitney in a series of kayak trips, which made re-reading the book much more interesting.
Here are are a couple of great little books about the Cape the way it was seventy or eighty years ago “House On Nauset Marsh” by Wyman Richardson and “The Outermost House” by Henry Beston, although old I think they’re both still available. Anyone who has ever spent any time on Cape Cod and has a vague interest in history and nature will enjoy these reads.
JC
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