Where Mountains Are Nameless: Passion and Politics in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [Hardcover]

Jonathan Waterman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 9, 2005

Jonathan Waterman blends historical narrative with vivid tales of his journeys into the Arctic, creating tension between past and present, science and politics, reflection and investigation. Since 1983, he has taken eighteen trips into the far North, trekking and paddling thousands of miles and encountering howling wolves, Inupiat hunters, and the oil-ravaged Prince William Sound. Where Mountains are Nameless explores how oil exploration has choked Alaska's pristine wilderness and also traces the lives of the celebrated Muries.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

There's little new in this overview of the current state of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) by Alaska adventurer Waterman (Arctic Crossing), who considers what remains of Alaska's pristine northern wilderness: fragile land is threatened, caribou herds are dwindling and oil companies are despoiling whatever they touch. Others have imparted impassioned observations of this kind, most recently Rick Bass in Caribou Crossing. Still, two qualities recommend this memorable depiction of a barren land's stark and precarious beauty. The first is the author's easy familiarity with the region, which he has trekked and paddled through for 20 years, bearing explicit witness to the destructive effects of oil exploration outside the ANWR. The second is Waterman's sense of history: laced through the reflective account of his travels is an engaging minibiography of the pioneering conservationist couple Olaus and Mardy Murie, legendary figures in the fight for the preservation of Alaskan wilderness. Olaus Murie first explored Alaska in 1914; he and Mardy first championed a wildlife refuge in the Eisenhower era; Mardy died in 2003, at age 101, knowing that legislation to open ANWR to petroleum had—one more time—been defeated. Maps and illus. not seen by PW. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Mardy and Olaus Murie first traveled to the Arctic wilderness in 1914; three decades later they helped create the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Waterman, whose earlier works include Arctic Crossing (2001), chronicles the Muries' story and his own 18 trips to the Far North in a series of inclusive essays. In "Wolves," for example, he describes a poignant encounter with an old cur with brittle--looking fur and missing teeth and a meeting with a mother and her pups, "cinnamon-colored furballs atop uncertain legs," and outlines common misunderstandings about the wolf and the importance of the research done by Adolph Murie (Olaus' brother). Elsewhere he recounts how Mardy became, in 1924, the first woman to graduate from the University of Alaska, while government biologist Olaus took part in a six-year study of caribou in the Alaska Territory. Waterman is an excellent champion for the refuge: his scientific knowledge, writing skills, and moderate stance give his views genuine authority and make for a glowing tribute to the 19-million-acre refuge (see also Rick Bass' Caribou Rising [BKL Ag 04]). Rebecca Maksel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (May 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393052192
• ISBN-13: 978-0393052190
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,153,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Far From a Wasteland, June 16, 2005

By 

doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Where Mountains Are Nameless: Passion and Politics in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Hardcover)

Of course the prospect of drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be fought over forever by know-it-alls from far away who have never been there. The main point of this book by Jonathan Waterman is that the ANWR is far from the barren and lifeless wasteland described by oil proponents, while environmentalists should also learn more about the true nature of the landscape before making big statements. In the end, Waterman certainly comes down on the side of conservation, but he mostly keeps the oil politics and environmentalism to a minimum as he describes his own adventurous journeys to the Arctic North. Threaded into Waterman's travelogues is the story of the longtime champions of the wildlife refuge, Olaus and Mardy Murie. Olaus was a groundbreaking field biologist and explorer throughout the first half of the 20th century, while his wife Mardy was a hugely influential conservationist and lecturer who died at age 101 while this book was being written.

Unfortunately the book has some problems with readability. Waterman's main point, about how you really have to experience the refuge firsthand to understand it, is spread out very thinly across at least a dozen concurrent narratives and storylines. Segments covering various portions of the Muries' lives, several of Waterman's different trips, a history of Alaska, oil business economics, the biology of the caribou herds and other animals, environmental politics, and naturalist philosophy are all mixed together haphazardly and in no particular chronological order. Waterman also gets a bit maudlin in his attempts to conjure up the appropriate language to describe the wonders of the refuge, with occasional croakers like "letting my body become the universe in which it walked." The nonlinear construction of the book really saps the energy out of Waterman's potentially powerful insights about communing with nature overall, and the fate of the ANWR specifically. But he still manages to convey the feeling of the potential loss of a tremendous national treasure in favor of miniscule economic and political gains. [~doomsdayer520~]

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you have to read one book this year, this is the one., June 26, 2005

By 

Henrietta Wood - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where Mountains Are Nameless: Passion and Politics in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Hardcover)

I happened to hear a John Batchelor ABC radio interview of the author after I finished reading this book and Jonathan came across just as eloquently in person as he does in the book. The narrative is not bound by traditional time constraints (on August 2, I went here, and the next day...) and this technique seems to allow a greater sensory awareness versus a more journalistic approach. In fact, I wasn't even aware of it until another reviewer here carped that he didn't know the date! I mean c'mon, are we as reviewers allowed to take potshots at a book that will is destined to be remembered as great literature?

The reason the book is great is that Waterman concurrently, in between his own fascinating encounters in the Arctic, tells the story of the Muries, who created the Refuge. Their sense of romance allowed the author to open up a saga that was about something bigger than himself and ultimately, to show the tastes and textures and true meanings of the Arctic Refuge. A beautiful and stunning book.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Get Debbie Miller's Book Instead, December 28, 2008

By 

Eric Goldman (Mountain View, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where Mountains Are Nameless: Passion and Politics in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Hardcover)

This book is very similar to Ken Madsen's Under the Arctic Sun book in a number of ways. Like the Madsen book, it is a travelogue of Waterman's experiences in the refuge. Waterman's unique angle is that he weaves in a biography of ANWR pioneers Olaus and Mardy Murie into his own stories, putatively showing how his experiences are similar to those of the Murie's.

Unfortunately, like the Madsen book, this book is deeply flawed. The entire book is wrapped up with an air of self-importance, the stories' drama seemed intended more to impress us about Waterman's courage than to enlighten us, the book was massively overwritten and desperately needed heavy editing, and the putative linkages between Waterman's experiences and the Muries are frequently incomprehensible.

I actually enjoyed reading about the Muries, and Waterman does a decent job telling their story. It made me wonder if a good biography about the Muries is available. That would be worth reading. However, this book is not an adequate substitute for a legitimate biography of them. Because it cuts between Waterman and the Muries constantly, the book is choppy and, frankly, the parts about Waterman just aren't that interesting.

Thus, like the Madsen book, I don't recommend this book. It only reinforces that Debbie Miller's seminal Midnight Wilderness book is so much better than the subsequent copycat books. Get Miller's book instead.