Songs of the North (Classic, Nature, Penguin) [Paperback]

Sigurd Olson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (September 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140252185
• ISBN-13: 978-0140252187
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,894,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful sampler of Sigurd Olson's essays., October 31, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Roscommon, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Songs of the North (Classic, Nature, Penguin) (Paperback)

For those who wish to explore the wonderful prose, thoughts and observations offered by this pioneering outdoorsman, I will highly recommend this book. Bringing together essay samples from a number of his books, the reader will enjoy the insights Olson offers as he journeys through America's wilderness. He provides a writing style that is comfortable to read and his words will transport you from your chair into the canoe with him as he paddles/camps his way through places many of us can only hope to go. It takes a chapter or two to recognize that Olson doesn't write with one chapter flowing into the next, but rather each chapter is a story in itself. And, with that understood, sit back, read and enjoy the trip(s)!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Travel this way for pleasure?, December 23, 2006

By 

Scott Walker (Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Songs of the North: A Sigurd Olson Reader (Nature Library, Penguin) (Paperback)

The description says the book is only 28 pages. This is either a misprint or a shortened version. It should be over 200 pages.

"It was inconceivable anyone would travel this way for pleasure"

Howard Mosher has selected 20 articles and assays from scores written by Sigurd Olson; wonderful introduction by Mosher.

Olson taught at UW Wisconsin. He then moved to Ely, Minnesota and became Dean at Ely College. He started canoeing the wilderness of the Quetico-Superior territory in the 20's, later becoming a guide. Further on in his life he became a consultant and activist for various institutions. Sigurd read veraciously, such authors as: Thoreau, Whitman, Hemingway, Drummond, Thompson, and Mackenzie. These men helped influence his writings, and I recommend them highly.

This book and others like it are particularly dear to my heart, for I have spent countless days in the wilderness of Canada's Quetico Park. I can relate to the spiritual peace that one finds unique only to the Quetico-Boundry Waters area. It is also a test of ones physical and mental self. I wish all could make a trip to this remote land, it changes ones life.

Olson tells us of the hardships of these past voyageurs: the portages, the long paddles, the equipment used, the elements, the ghost camps. Beautiful observations: the wildlife, the drawing toward the wilderness, the humor, the scattered Indian tribes, the nuances we miss or never thought of in quite that way.

"No country can ever be bleak or forbidding if it has once been a part of the love and warmth of those who have shared it with you."

Wish you well
Scott