Customer Reviews

Singing Wilderness

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Noted conservationist Sigurd F. Olson wrote this collection of essays about his years canoeing, snowshoeing, skiing and fishing the Wilderness areas of Superior National Forest and the Quetico of Canada.

The essays are organized according to the four seasons. Olson has an almost metaphysical relationship with the animals that live in the wilderness: red squirrels, loons, otters, even field mice are fellow travelers.

Olson canoes and portages scores of miles to listen to the loons sing on Lac La Croix. He searches hundreds of lakes, looking for the perfect wilderness area, unspoiled by civilization. And he finds it! Saganaga, "a symbol of the primitive, perfect and untouched." Later, he hears that a road has come to Saganaga and he ventures back to see what's been done to it. It seems the same until he rounds a bend and is confronted with a modern lodge. He's conflicted; he wants human companionship but he doesn't want to lose his "singing wilderness."

In another essay, he tells of "flying in" to one of the lakes, rather than spending days canoeing and portaging to get there. He feels disoriented and can't really appreciate the experience. He hasn't put in enough effort; he doesn't deserve it. And he never does this again.

Olson is a sentimental, nostalgic man. He tells of catching trout for his grandmother, whom he credits with instilling a love of nature. While fishing on the Manitou, he is confronted with an eighty-year-old trout fisherman who's come to his favorite fishing spot for one last time.

Olson also limns essays that show the brutality of nature. In "The Storm" we see white-throated sparrows, Killdeers, purple finches, chickadees, and robins returning to the wilderness area after a long and brutal winter. Olson is marveling at their music until snow begins the fall and the temperature plummets. Thousands of confused birds freeze to death.

Admittedly, there is some clunky writing in the SINGING WILDERNESS; one gets the impression that Olson is writing from memory in a lot of instances. Also, at times he doesn't tell you where he is: he refers to the "lake" as if we should know which one of the thousands in the Superior/Quetico wilderness he's referring to. There's also a dearth of people. Often, he refers to "we" but the person or persons he's with are invisible.

That said, I think everyone would benefit from reading these essays. I couldn't help but wonder how many people know this place exists. These days the area is called the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness. No motor boats allowed; no ATVs allowed! Everyone should see it at least once in his/her lifetime.

Originally published in 1956, this classic still speaks to nature lovers today, and it deserves to share the same shelf with Thoreau, Muir, and Beston. Olson's essays convey the spirit and sense of place in what is now known as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area -- Superior National Forest in Minnesota and Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario. North country life is special, and Olson obviously loved living there. He writes with delight of seeing Northern Lights, portaging canoes, cross country skiing, hearing the echoes of loons calling, and witnessing the occasional mouse tobogganing off a tent roof. Though the chapters are organized by seasons and begin with Spring, it is the essence of cold and snow and winter that carries the reader through the book. Best to be read by a warm fireplace with a light snow falling outside and a mug of hot chocolate nearby.

This book is my favorite! It describes all the feelings common to those who have visited canoe country and will never forget it. Sigurd Olson's writing is so clear and descriptive, you'll feel like you're in the Boundary Waters every time you pick it up. Everyone who has visited the Boundary Waters or ever plans on doing so, not to mention all the other nature lovers out there, should read this book. I don't know how many times I've read it and it seems to get better every time.

I love the way That Sigurd Olson has arranged his essays in The Singing Wilderness in in the order of season. This gives one an excellent perspective of life in the North year round. Olson has a sentimental compassion for all that is natural, and for the preservation of nature in it's most natural state. I especially loved reading about Olson's grandmother in his essay Grandmother's Trout. I believe she is largely responsible for cultivating an unending love of nature in young Sigurd. Each essay is a masterpiece in words of Olson's experiances. If you read this book you will also find Ruins of The North, and Reflections on the North Country to be of interest (both by Sigurd F. Olson). Another writer that you may also enjoy, who is also from Minnesota, and shares a love of the wilderness is Gary Paulson. Read Woodsong.

I really enjoy Sigurd Olson's writings. They have a downright old-style home feel. It brings you back to days of innocence and days of wonder. He tells of days growing up and experiencing nature and what it has to offer through his lifetime encounters. Incredibly, Sigurd is a highly educated ecologist with vast amounts of knowledge who can give just the right amount of details without overdoing it...it still leaves that sense of "just enjoy what nature has to offer" yet still keeping enough real world information in there. He doesn't flaunt the fact he is a leading naturalist, we just find this out through his love of nature in his writings. I have all of his books and could give practically all of them an equal praise. Grab some of them, read on and enjoy the trip.

This book brought me back to the wonderful peace and beauty of the wilderness of the northern Minnesota boundary waters. Olson treats the natural surrounding he finds there with tenderness and passion. His descriptions are so clear and complete you share the warmth of the sun, the scent of the pines, the bite of the cold and the companionship of the wildlife that live in this wild, wonderful environment. I have missed my travels in the lovely Quetico- Superior National forest these last 30 years, but Olson brings the experience back to me in this book -- almost as thoroughly as being there in person.

I first spent time in the Quetico when I was fourteen with my dad. Two months before we left he gave me a book called "The Singing Wilderness". He said read the essay called "silence" and you will understand why this place is special. When I returned from the trip I continued to read it. I've read it a lot during winters and in the weeks leading up to trips into the wilderness canoe area north-west of lake Superior. Every time I endulge myself in it I'm taken back to a place, where despite having lasted through decades of change to the surrounding world, it offers a first hand history lesson. This book captures a small part of the beauty of the Quetico which means(I was told by park people there) beautiful land with trecherous waters that everyone should have the chance to experience.

Olson vividly sketches a picture of what the "wilderness" means to him and others with an excitement and tone that is unlike many nature writers before him. An excellent book for those who wish to get a handle on muse that surrounds the Quetico-Boundary Waters Area.

For those of you who love the North Woods of WI, MN, and Ontario....and who have spent time in the Quetico-Superior Forest, this book is a must-have. The book was originally published in the 1950s, but its appeal has not diminished. I bought this book as a gift for friends who have recently moved to the mid-west and who plan to explore the North Woods.

For those looking for the naturalists view of life, Olson has that ability to bring us down to earth, and examine closely our connections to nature and our surrounding environment. He writes from the North Woods, lakes area of northern Minnesota, encourages one to notice the small things, and teaches one appreciation of all life. Reminds me much of the pacing of Thoreau, of Darwin, and others who chose not to careen through time, but spend it in reflection and thought that has immeasurable rewards of its own.