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The Island Within (Paperback)

by Richard Nelson (Author)

4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Anthropologist Nelson tells of his self-sufficient existence on an island near the Pacific Northwest, practicing a respect for the wilderness learned from the Alaskan native peoples. "Whether he is describing the remains of a clear-cut forest, a beached whale or a night in a petrel rookery, Nelson gives a notably sensitive portrait of island life," PW saidpk .
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Here is Nelson's luminously wise account of his exploration of an unnamed island in the Pacific Northwest. This book revises our own relationship with nature, allowing us to observe it and also to participate in it with reverence and a sense of wonder.

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Product Details

Paperback: 284 pages
Publisher: Vintage (April 23, 1991)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 067973239X
ISBN-13: 978-0679732396
Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #640,995 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Citations (learn more)

85 books cite this book:

Turning to Earth: Stories of Ecological Conversion by F. Marina Schauffler on 4 pages
The Harriman Alaska Expedition Retraced: A Century of Change, 1899-2001 by Thomas S. Litwin on 4 pages
The Last New Land: Stories of Alaska, Past and Present by Wayne Mergler on 4 pages
Dharma Family Treasures : Sharing Buddhism With Children by Sandy Eastoak on 4 pages
Being Human: Ethics, Environment, and Our Place in the World by Anna L. Peterson on 4 pages

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	77% buy the item featured on this page: The Island Within 4.4 out of 5 stars (8) $11.70
	7% buy Make Prayers to the Raven: A Koyukon View of the Northern Forest 5.0 out of 5 stars (4) $18.90
	7% buy A Hunter's Heart: Honest Essays on Blood Sport 4.9 out of 5 stars (8) $13.50
	5% buy Heart and Blood: Living with Deer in America 4.8 out of 5 stars (8) $18.90

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Passion for Place, January 12, 2002

By	"naia1" (HI, United States) - See all my reviews

Here is a book that you may have to digest in small bits. Nelson's prose is dense, descriptive and charged with an intensity that occasionally makes you wonder how he can stand to inhabit his own skin. His description of the day he spent deer hunting for example - the physical strain of stalking, questioning the "rightenss" of his mental and spiritual state, worrying about having enough meat to tide himself and his family over for the winter, trying to read the signs he perceives in the woods, remembering the teaching of the elders of the Indian tribe he studied with - is exhausting for the reader as well as Nelson. This doesn't mean it wasn't worth the work; just that you may need a break every so often to catch your breath.

The Island Within is about a special relationship Nelson has built with an island in the Pacific Northwest. When he is not there, studying the animals, hunting with his dog and exploring on his own or with his family, he is wishing he was and planning his next visit. The reader is treated not only to graphic physical descriptions of the island and its inhabitants, but to Nelson's ongoing internal dialog with himself, in which he seeks to balance three very different ways of life - the loner, the family man and the student of Indian ways.

Perhaps the greatest gift offered by this book is a fresh look at how a human being can relate to his world. As much as I came to appreciate the island, I also enjoyed Nelson's tales of his time spent away from it. His fishing trip with his son, the days he spends working in his garden picking berries, the long runs he takes with his dog, his playful attempt to sneak up on a family of seals and his description of the day he decided to open all his windows and let the winds of a large storm blow through his home are equally fun and revealing. Here is someone who has recognized that he is part and parcel of the physical world, and has dared to tear down preconceived notions in order to interact with it in new and playful ways.

The one thing you should not expect from The Island Within is a clear cut plot and story line. This book is all about sharing at an elemental level.

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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mist and deer, June 29, 1998

By A Customer

Richard Nelson writes a lovely, haunting collection of essays, mostly set on an island off the coast of Southeast Alaska. Although this book fits into the category of literaure called nature writing, Nelson takes positions which may seem atypical in the environmentalist community, especially his support of hunting as a means of acquiring one's food. Nelson argues convincingly that people have the greatest sense of the land, the greatest sense of spiritual connection, when they subsist from the land on which they live. A cultural anthropologist who spent a great deal of time studying and living with the Koyukon people of interior Alaska, Nelson draws heavily upon these experiences as they inform his actions on "his" island. Mostly, though, the book is a chronicle of his days spent on the island, stalking deer, surfing off the western shore of the island, watching out for brown bears, and reflecting on the ambivalence many of us feel about sharing a special place with other people. Nelson's language seems to reflect the landscape itself, evoking a sense of the mist and drizzle of the island. A landmark book in nature writing.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Treasure, June 11, 2000

By	Dorothy Chance "Dorothy Chance" (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a treasure to be cherished, to be read and reread, to be pondered deeply. An easy facility with poetic language combined with insatiable curiousity and in depth knowledge of the natural world focuses on the kind of inter-relationship human creatures are called to have with "this fragile earth, our island home."

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Richly evocative, beautifully written, moving, wonderful.
Richly evocative, beautifully written, moving, wonderful. "The Island" is an experience to read and well deserving of the prestigious John Burroughs Medal in 1991 for... Read more

Published 18 months ago by Kyle Gardner

5.0 out of 5 stars thoughtful natural history with a twist of personal reflection
This is a well-written, thoughtful account of the writer's personal encounters with part of southeast Alaska. Read more

Published on February 21, 2006 by S. Snell Dobert

4.0 out of 5 stars great experiences in water
Although now more than a decade old, this work by Nelson continues to reward readers through his descriptions of many wonderful encounters with water surrounding his island home... Read more

Published on September 4, 2004 by Robert L. France

2.0 out of 5 stars Still trying to complete this one...
The title drew me in and the subject sounded great. But to be honest it is still on the shelf as I just couldn't get motivated with this one. Read more

Published on July 2, 2002 by Shellie A Leete

4.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary Book
This book is full of detailed and entrancing descriptions of the natural world. The author is apparently driven to seek out atypical encounters with nature such as luring... Read more

Published on August 25, 2000

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