Years Of The Forest (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage) [Paperback]

Helen Hoover (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press; 1 edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816631301
• ISBN-13: 978-0816631308
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #425,461 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BACK TO NATURE, September 30, 2001

By 

Guy De Federicis (east of here) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Years Of The Forest (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage) (Paperback)

This is the last book in the nature series by Helen Hoover chronicling her and her husband's sixteen years in a small cabin in the Northern Minnesota wilderness. With fine pen and ink illustrations by Ade Hoover, the book is a modern day "Walden" as Helen and Ade cope with the ways of the wilderness after leaving prestigious jobs in the Chicago steel industry for a life that affords none of the comforts of modern living. High-brow readers and scientific minds will cringe with suppressed delight as The Hoovers study the natural world by feeding it, comforting it, and befriending any wayward creature that happens through their cabin door. If you like nature writing with a tinge of sentiment or if you ever imagined getting away from it all and living in a cabin in the woods, you will find this book and the entire series essential and delightful reading.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Book, December 2, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Years Of The Forest (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage) (Paperback)

I borrowed this book from the library when I was 12 (I am 39 now). This is the one of the books I have borrowed over and over again. Now...I have bought it so other ppl can get it at the library. I have also ordered all of Helen's books. I can't wait to enjoy more of Helen's writing. She makes me long for a cabin in the woods and a simpler life. If you love nature this book is for you.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bittersweet followup, February 15, 2010

By 

HannahR (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Years Of The Forest (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage) (Paperback)

"Years of the Forest" is a companion book of Hoover's engaging tale, "A Place in the Woods", and covers approx. 13 years of the Hoover's life in the Minnesota wilderness during the 1950's-60's as Helen and Ade continue their study of the wildlife that populate their small slice of Eden.

Each chapter features a task that the couple completed on their property along with studied observations of the animals that come to see the Hoovers' as a non-threatening source of sustanance. In return, the various deer, chipmunks, red squirrels, groundhogs, bobcats, linxs, frogs, etc. provide much needed inspiration and humor for the couple as they write about (Helen) and draw (Ade) the animals in their habitat for articles (and later these very books). The Hoover's approach to life is simple and spartan and harkens back to a pioneer spirit and rugged individualism that most of us today can only faintly imagine. Their brand of conservation is more distilled and daily applied then most environmentalists today could ever handle. They truely "walked the walk".

Helen and Ade were often let down by mankind, especially as increased development in the MN wilderness and careless poachers needlessly destroyed some of the Hoover's animal friends. The final 1/4th of the book covering the late 1960's and early 1970's was really sad to read, as the Hoovers watched their little Eden slowly being covered over in asphalt roads, trailer homes, and a mindset that didn't honor the interdependance of nature. In the final chapter, Helen, while disappointed in the changes wrought by her fellow humans, also realizes that through her and Ade's small efforts, they were able to bring about a change of their own. One that was positive and that would live on in the woods and creatures they called home and friends.