Call of the Mountain: A True Story of Resilience
- Downloads：5625
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-12-26 07:52:11
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Samuel Ainsworth
- ISBN：1656532220
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Reviews
Karen
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This is a poorly （mostly， there is some good writing here） written book about my favorite place， Margaree， Cape Breton。 What a shame。 This quote from the book is just one of the examples， there are many:"It was then I felt the first bite of a blackfly。 I swatted at the fly and crushed the small body against my neck。 In retribution for their comrade， a hoard of black descended upon me with vigour。 This made things interesting in the same way that torture is interesting for the victim"。 Huh？？？ Sin This is a poorly （mostly， there is some good writing here） written book about my favorite place， Margaree， Cape Breton。 What a shame。 This quote from the book is just one of the examples， there are many:"It was then I felt the first bite of a blackfly。 I swatted at the fly and crushed the small body against my neck。 In retribution for their comrade， a hoard of black descended upon me with vigour。 This made things interesting in the same way that torture is interesting for the victim"。 Huh？？？ Since when is torture interesting for a victim？？ Here's another one:"I looked up into the opening I had made in the canopy and then looked down at the tree。 The energy in this tree would keep the water in my flesh from freezing。 It would keep ice from forming into slivers that would pierce my cells from within。 The harsh truth of surviving in the wild had become very real。 If I were to live， this tree had to die。" I didn't know energy in trees could do this， is the writer referring to burning wood from the tree to keep warm so he doesn't freeze？ Okay， we already know this fact。 It will keep the water in his flesh from freezing？ We all know what frostbite is， and yes， obviously the tree has to be "killed" to build the fire that will prevent frostbite。 Ugh！I should say I've only read up to Chapter 7 so far， so if this book gets better to be fair I need to edit this review。 Stay tuned。。。。Actually the book did get better。。 for a few pages， where he beautifully describes the wildlife and his surroundings。 Sam's description of a thunderstorm was also going well until he slips into melodrama with this ridiculous passage;"In the chaos， I prayed to Zeus to spare me from the millions of volts that would vaporize my brain。 My prayer was very simple: I prayed to live。"Ugh！ Zeus？ Are we in ancient Greece？ Why refer to a god that really no one prays to anymore？ It just sounds silly。 And yes， thanks for telling us your prayer was very simple， we can see that。Sam writes best when he is describing the nature and animals in the forest， without including silly metaphors and similes。 His two paragraph description on page 96 of skiing on a trail encountering two moose was exciting to read， I could almost feel the exhilaration， fear and joy he describes， and it was a pleasure to read。 I was disappointed he had to insert this simile into it;"I was like a cowboy on a cattle drive but instead of cows， they were moose and instead of being on a horse I was on skis。"Ugh。 I felt like I was back in a 7th grade english classroom reading a student's attempt at a required simile for a grade。On the last pages of his book， the author writes about leaving the "realm" of motorized vehicles and humans and entering the forest。 He says "I felt safer here amongst the wild animals and sky- reaching trees than in the bustling chaos of cities and the flashing dangers of passing cars。" Does he mean the towns in Cape Breton？ They are mostly quaint， small towns with rural; beautiful green valleys， and undeveloped land。 I admire Sam's resilience， perseverance and respect for wild places。 I commend him for building his cabin， he did it mostly by himself。 That's impressive。 I just wish he could have written a more impressive and compelling story。 。。。more
Andrew Clarey
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It is not often I get through an entire book in a single day。 This book is a great read and the story is told on such a way that you feel you are present for every encounter and adventure。
Susan Borgersen
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