TOW #20 - IRB

One Man's Wilderness, a book compiled by Sam Keith who used the journal entries of Richard Proenneke, is an intriguing story about a man living in the Alaskan wilderness with very little contact to outside groups. He shares his stories about how he builds a log cabin from scratch, and lives off the land and explores it. His journals provide excellent insights of his time spent by being terse yet descriptive, and also showing overall patterns of change in order for the reader to see things growing from week to week, month to month, instead of a slower day to day process. The author starts out being dropped off at twin lakes, having nothing but his backpack and a run down cabin which is not his own near him. Through a great deal of work, he is eventually able to build a home. After two months, he says "The cabin was complete now except for the fireplace and, maybe later on, a cache up on poles. It was a good feeling just sitting and reflecting... I don't think I have ever accomplished anything as satisfying in my entire life" (Keith 98). The author shares his thoughts with the readers in such a candid way that they feel as though they are in his mind, and it really gives the book a lovely and personal touch, without being overly descriptive to the point where the language that he uses is obnoxious and superfluous. As the author grows, and builds, and succeeds, and fails, the reader grows, and builds, and succeeds, and fails, too. The reader is rooting for this man to succeed, and wish him the best; he is an example of human ingenuity surviving on his own in not the most ideal conditions. This beautiful book deserves to be read by many, as it is a truly intriguing personal and physical journey.