Members with This Book
Most Helpful Reviews
see all reviews
Liked It “Great non-fiction in the can't-decide-if-the-protagonist-is-the-craziest-person-or-the-only-sane-one tradition. The writer does a great job transporting you to the Queen Charlottes, where rain and fog envelope all, and a golden-colored spruce takes on mythical stature.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Loved this first half but didn't have a hard time not finishing it....could have been easier to read but was just too much....” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
see all reviews-
“Loved this first half but didn't have a hard time not finishing it....could have been easier to read but was just too much....”
anniem749 wrote this review Thursday, August 20 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“It was both sad and maddening at the same time. How could this happen. What a loss for the planet. The writing was a bit of a drag and caused me to do some skimming which I hate to resort to but, that's it. ”
Louise B wrote this review Wednesday, May 20 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Truth is stranger than fiction.... and this Pacific NW/Canadian tale is proof. Had the pleasure of seeing the author talk about this book during his visit to Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Wa.”
Rhonda C wrote this review Thursday, April 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I agree with Stacy N. Alston Chase's book, "In a Dark Wood" tells the environmentalist/timber beast story better.”
Timberati wrote this review Saturday, February 7 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This book was a big dissapointment for me. I expected something mystical, a true story that would leave me thinking. Instead I got a very disjointed narrative that barely held my interest. It is more a history of logging with a few cultural concerns overtones about indians and enviromentalists thrown in. Perhaps the overriding lesson is: if a place looks and feels other-worldly and touches the soul because it is so grand, yet the harsh realities of this place are intimidating, you probably shouldn't live and work there and destroy it. Americans call it Alaska. Canadians call it British Columbia. ”
Stacy N wrote this review Thursday, October 30 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Great non-fiction in the can't-decide-if-the-protagonist-is-the-craziest-person-or-the-only-sane-one tradition. The writer does a great job transporting you to the Queen Charlottes, where rain and fog envelope all, and a golden-colored spruce takes on mythical stature.”
Becky B wrote this review Sunday, March 9 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A very good description of the logging industry and the people who drive it. The men are almost a breed in and of themselves. i.e. breakfast recipe: Eggs ala Angus - hard boil 17 eggs, chop, add 1 cup of Cuddy Sark. Serves 1.”
She wrote this review Thursday, January 10 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Although titles containing words like “myth,” “madness,” and “greed” are usually reserved for biographies of Mafiosos and crime lords, this particular biography is about a tree. Indeed, it is appropriate to call it biography, as Vaillant gives a complete history of the life of the Golden Spruce—a unique specimen of Sitka Spruce that sits at the center of one of the most riveting mysteries surrounding the constant tension of the forest.
Rebecca M wrote this review Wednesday, January 9 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Centered around the controversial behavior of logger/activist Grant Hadwin, Vaillant recounts how the Spruce served as an emblem for the native people, a tourist attraction, a reminder to the loggers, only to be chopped down in a single act that would forever change a community. As much as the book is about the tree, it is also about environmentalism, logging, politics, mythology, religion and sociology.
The author does not rely upon the usual rhetoric or status quo. No point of view is left unexplored and unlike a typical “crime” story, the reader is without the black and white identification of the “good guys” and the “bad guys.” Like the tree, Grant Hadwin rises out of the forest of “characters” to become a unique emblem of the dilemma that exists for those who would use the resources of the land. This is no idle hero worship, however. Hadwin’s ultimate choice haunts the Queen Charlotte Islands, as a community continues to mourn the loss of the Golden Spruce.”
“I really enjoyed the way it was written, yet, by the end I was waiting for it to be over. The book still sticks with me, though, which explains the 3 stars.”
Nik P wrote this review Monday, October 5 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“"Small things are hard to find in Alaska, so when a marine biologist named Scott Walker stumbled across a wrecked kayak on an uninhabited island thirty miles north of the Canadian border, he considered himself lucky."
sthurner wrote this review Friday, December 7 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I enjoyed this nonfiction book, though I was warned by reading friends that the story wandered all over the map. It does. One part of The Golden Spruce is about how a logger/activist named Grant Hadwin fells a famous golden spruce tree as a protest against the way much of North America has been ravaged by the practice of clear cutting, and what happens after that act. But much of the book is about trees, their history, their biology, how they are regarded in myth and in business. I found all the information about logging to be just as interesting as Hadwin's story, and necessary context to understand Hadwin's reason for chopping down the golden spruce. ”
