More Readings From One Man's Wilderness: The Journals of Richard L. Proenneke, 1974-1980 Paperback – February 25, 2014

A great read. Somewhere between a daily and a weekly journal. Very well written. I’m about halfway through the book and have enjoyed every entry.

Excellent

I knew about Dick Proenneke when we were stationed in Alaska in the early 90's. I got his first journal not too long after and was totally enthralled by it. My husband got me the video to go with it and we watch that at least once a year, just to bring back those amazing memories of living in the Great Land. I got this second journal later and I get it for all the young people that come through our lives just so that they too can experience what One Man's Wilderness still has to offer for folks today. Dick was the closest thing we had to a modern-day Henry David Thoreau, and it was true enough then and it is still needed today. It's never too late to start your own adventure, or write about your adventures, or better still, go live them.

The book in insightful into what real men of the past would deal with to pursue a dream and scratch an itch. It portrays the definition of perserverence.It is enlightening on how society has changed and maybe not for the better.

I first read the easily accessible and engrossing book "One Man's Wilderness" by Sam Keith that introduced me to the life and story of RLP. Good book, good intro, beautiful pictures. After learning Keith took some liberties with what the journals actually said and that RLP didn't care for it when it was all said and done, I wanted to read his journals as unfiltered as possible. I found The Early Years: The Journals of Richard Proenneke....... published by Alaska Geographic. I will say it does make a difference if you are fascinated by the man to read his stuff as he wrote it. I enjoyed that book so much that I asked for this book More Readings from One Man's Wilderness......, which picks up where The Early Years leaves off. Very enjoyable so far. The ONLY knock, is like others have said, the pictures are copies of copies and look like my elementary school news letter when they would try to do copies of images on a mimeograph machine or something. They are pretty rough. Other than that. Another great book about a fascinating character and time.

This, in my opinion, is the ultimate collection of Dick Pronneke's journaling that is currently available. The author changed none of Dick's words. Instead, clarity or additional information is listed in a footnote at the bottom of the page. This allows you to read word for word what Dick had to say.It doesn't take long into this book before you feel that you are right there hiking with Dick, or tasting some sourdough biscuits or 15 year old beans that took days of cooking to make edible. Dick writes things so well that you can see what he's seeing. Going back several days in a row to check on a bear den or owl nest. Getting to know the various people that visit his cabin is also entertaining. This book covers a time period well after One Man's Wilderness was written, when Dick is well settled into a fairly routine life. Maybe that's the wrong word, though. There's nothing routine in his life. You'll know that as you read. But it tells clearly of what it is like to live alone in the wilderness.The only downside to this journal is that it just ends. December 1980, you read just another day's entry, and then the book ends. It feels like there's no closure after being pulled into his life. Understandably the book needed to end at some point, but I wished it didn't need to.

This is a 5 star read because I could not stop reading. Even though at times I wondered what he was doing, by-and-large every day blended into a whole that made sense. I was amazed by the distances and heights to which he went. Also the precise detail about the animals and-their habits kept me enthralled. For instance, he was never attacked by a bear. In fact he seldom carried a gun although both a rifle and a large caliber pistol were at the cabin. He also seemed immune to the danger that a moose represents. I think his absolute love for his place in this wilderness gave him a sense about danger that I know I would never have. In fact several days on the mountain I would have been predator food.I would very much like to have more of his journal published.

I'm sure many of you have seen the story of Dick Proenneke on your Public Television channel, who went to Alaska at age 51, built a log cabin on Twin Lakes (now part of Lake Clark National Park), and lived there alone for 30 years. He took many thousands of feet of film and countless pictures from his experiences there, from which two documentaries were made (Alone in the Wilderness and The Frozen North - both Bob Swerer productions)."More Readings from One Man's Wilderness" covers Dick's unedited daily journal entries for the years 1974 to 1980. You will live his experiences day-by-day, and see the man in more depth that ever before. He became famous in the 70's after his first film and book were released, and was visited by governors, mayors, senators, and the likes of John Denver. He was a friend to all, and both enjoyed his fame and was a little frustrated by it. This book is fascinating reading, and contains pictures not previously seen. If you're feeling down, reading about Dick's adventures will lift your spirits in no time.