Customer Reviews

Call of the Wild: My Escape to Alaska

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought this book was amazing. I've heard that alot of people are a bit unhappy about him "abandoning" his family, but nonetheless. it is an exciting adventure. If you were going to repeat his journey, this would be a MUST HAVE book. not only does he go into depth about how he did each task, and which tools he used and where they were bought, but he also gives insight and tips into daily activities and tasks that most would consider mundane or embarrassing (see "poopcicle" :-)
I found it to be a great insight into Alaskan wilderness living and survival and thought it was wonderfully written. another book that was hard to put down, and will stay filed in my "keep this book" list, so I can refer to it someday when my dream of doing this is realized.

Throughout this book, I was very angry with Mr. Grieve for leaving his family for a year to "find himself". Many of us are approaching middle age, commuting, working in cubicles, parenting toddlers, and chafing at the sameness of our lives. His type of adventure is something he should have done before marriage and before having kids. Every time I read about his calls home and his sorrow over missing his children I felt angry again. His wife deserves all the credit for keeping the family together while Guy went on this venture. I wonder how he would have handled it if Juliet (his wife) had decided she wanted to take a year off to go someplace far away.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed the book. I love reading about how he came to Alaska without ANY skills or ideas about survival, and how he learned and adapted. His struggling with insects, felling trees, starting fires, trapping beavers, melting enough snow to drink, mushing sled dogs and learning to shoot firearms was impressive. I especially enjoyed reading the step by step instructions he gave for building a cabin and clearing a portage, and the footnotes he used throughout the book to explain certain terms he used. The photos he included were a great addition to the story, too. He included several lists in the back of the book, which explained what gear he used and how he cooked some of his meals. I would have liked to see a list of the foods he took with him, and their quantities. I would also have liked to read the articles he sent to The Scottsman newspaper.

Guy owes a huge debt to the family who lent him tools, a snow machine, and their time and experience in building his cabin. He is very lucky to have found other people willing to lend him a four wheeler and to teach him to handle a dog team. I wonder if he has stayed in touch with them since his adventure ended.

Overall, this is a good book for those who dream of building a cabin and living in the wilderness. Mr. Grieve has a very humble and honest way of telling his story. If you can get past the part where he left his family, you will enjoy the book.

i bought this book after reading "Alone In the wilderness" about Dick P. living alone in twin lakes and wanted to learn about other people's experience living in the wild.
i enjoyed reading Guy's adventure, it is easy to read and once i started it was hard to stop,
highly recommended.

This was a good book which was not easy to put down. It was well written, sometimes I would find myself feeling hungry or cold depending on what the author was describing.

I can't get over how irresponsible the whole idea seems to be, but I guess that is part of the draw to this book: The average everyday "guy" that leaves city life for a while and lives in the wilderness. Atleast he is honest and grateful for the help that others provided...or else it would have been a short book.

If you ever enjoyed "my side of the mountain", "island of the blue dolphins", or "robinson crusoe" as a kid...this book is for you.

This book is about a life changing adventure that a lot of people dream of but few experience. A good story full of adventure, hardships, love and hate. Very well written. a constant flow from beginning to end. Have fun and enjoy!

this book sat on my bookshelf awhile before I picked it up to read. Once I opened it I was hooked. Maybe we all wish we had the where with all to do this-- drop out and live fully close to nature---Challenge ourselves with living a hard life. Would we be up to it? That has his question and what this book is about, a year in the back country of Alaska. I admire what this man did and how he managed it. His descriptions are wonderful. I laughed and cried and worried and sighed with relief at times. Here is a man who needed to do this and his wise wife deserves credit for letting him go. There are wonderful lessons in this on many levels. It is a book I will hand on to friends to enjoy.

I received this book as a gift, and when received, was looking forward to reading it. Familiar with Proenneke's experience and storytelling, I had hopes for a good read.

I found the author and his experience entirely forgettable. Much like a movie where you don't really care if the characters live or die, I ended up not caring much about him or the adventure. This is mainly because I find him a bit of a fraud. For example, he goes to Alaska to spend the winter there, test himself, and do these adventurous things, yet he spends a considerable amount of the winter in town, not in the wild. Secondly, the book seems to be an attempt to build him up as some sort of adventurer, yet despite the fact that he admits he survived solely because of the grace of others, not for him but for his family, HE seems to have failed to entirely grasp this.

There is also his lack of preparedness and planning. He starts his build at the beginning of winter, and with green logs. This is just stupid. He has to borrow essentially everything, and doesn't seem to embrace the spirit of what he is there for. The comment that sealed it for me was his lament at not bringing the portable sawmill. Please . . . . This is not a book on how to do things the right way.

The result of his lack of ability and planning, yet his determination that he will have his adventure, is that he relies heavily on others. Others which save his bacon countless times. It is in his description of others that the book has one of it's few interests for me. The writing is, in it's description of character, pretty good, and the characters outside the author are pretty interesting. It is here the warmth is found, where the interest is, and you easily care about them.

He survives, declares victory, and goes home. We are treated to good characters and occasional adventure. He clearly falls in love with the people, as is appropriate, yet what is sorely missing is the love of the land that comes through so strongly in Proenneke's writing. The author doesn't connect with it, and I'm not sure he really wants to. Surprisingly few pages are devoted to telling us about the wild places, letting them come forward as a tangible, living character that moves and touches you. Most of it is his time in town or the seemingly endless pining for his family. He leaves me with the taste of tourist, a toutist showing a photo album where he is in every picture; he selfishly wants the story to be about him, and he's not that interesting. His last experience there before going home (the snowmobile trip to the bar) encapsulates the overall impression I was left with. He wants to do things his way, and he does not fit in.

An OK read, but there is better out there. Let's hope he didn't quit his day job.

I read this book nearly non-stop until the end, it was very captivating & interesting. The book & it's author illustrated the hardships & adventures of living in the Alaskan wild interior, what mainstream society takes for granted everyday. I would recommend this book to the outdoorsman, campers & adventure readers.

I grew up in Alaska still call the state home.This book left me spellbound.I would have gone with this man had I been his wife just for the adventure.I loved the part where he was away for awhile,and when he returned he stated "His cabin was like being in a freezer trying to thaw out" I always marvel the way these guys can build cabins out in the middle of nowhere...I wish he had taken more pictures of the inside of his cabin..Loved the book everyone should read it..

A Great Read.......Ever Dream of Going to Wild Alaska to Live---This Guy Did...and he lets you into his journey....Good read !!