Customer Reviews

Minnesota Waterfalls

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

 

 

This book is a survey of Minnesota waterfalls, giving pretty much equal time to each section of the state.

Therein lies the first problem - all but a handfull of Minnesota's most important waterfalls lie within a few miles of Lake Superior, so I am not sure of the validity of the premise of the book. Too many of the waterfalls listed here are really insignificant, even if the locales themselves may be very lovely.

Secondly, the authors write in a very flowery style, often resorting to repeating the same cliched phrases. I know some readers will find this vivid and appealing, but to me it is distracting and irritating. The trick for a book like this is to find the right balance between dry commentary and "purple prose."

I also have some issues with the photography. The color images are rather grainy. I don't know if that is intentional or not. Either way, I don't think they look good.

This is a good book overall, but there are a few reasons why I did not give it 5 stars. While many of the photographs are good, some are blurry or dull. Many of the "waterfalls" are actually dams, and while the waterfalls in the northern section of the state are all truly waterfalls, there are too many miniature waterfallls around the twin cities. This is a good book, though, and it introduced me to many waterfalls around Minnesota that I did not even know existed.

I thought it was great that the authors gave some focus to waterfalls in areas of the state other than the Lake Superior area. When we travel throughout the state we like to see what the area has to offer, and this book really covers the waterfalls available very well!