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| 1462138071
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| 1462138071
| 4.60
| 97
| unknown
| Sep 08, 2020
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it was amazing
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Amazing story! Dog sledding books are my favorite, and I like this one almost enough to put in my shelf for 'dogs-favorite-books.' The book is about a
Amazing story! Dog sledding books are my favorite, and I like this one almost enough to put in my shelf for 'dogs-favorite-books.' The book is about a 12 your old boy who has a 'skinny leg.' I get the reference to the name now, but somehow the title of the book put me off. Even though the book is mostly centered on the boy, it is the mom who wrote the book. In a lot of dog books, it can be a key moment getting mom to agree to let you have a dog. Imagine asking your mom for a team of dogs. The dad wants to them too, but in the book they both come to that desire independently. This next quote is on that part asking mom, and is a good example of the fun imagery in the authors writing: 'My mom wanted a bunch of dogs like she wanted permanent diarrhea. But she was worried about me, so she was willing to do something undesirable to make things better—kind of like Harry Potter in Deathly Hallows when he accepts that he must die at Voldemort’s hand before Voldemort can be killed.' I didn't know going into this book if it was fiction or non-fiction, but it seemed obviously written by someone who is very involved with dogsledding. it was only at the end from the Author's note and 'About the author' that I learned that her and her husband own and operate Skinny Leg Sled Dogs. I also learned in there that the story was mostly true except for a few things she let's you know about. I think a lot of us dog lovers would love to go dog sledding. And I can imagine that peak moment, starting off on a dog race: 'It was as if someone hit an off switch on the noise. The instant the dogs began to move they went perfectly silent. Their tails lowered, their ears flattened, and they threw their shoulders into their harnesses as we rocketed out of the parking lot and into the trees. It was one of the biggest WOW moments of my life!' Our boy hero and his dad get some help from Doug Swingley, American dog musher and dog sled racer who lives in Lincoln, Montana, and is a four-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across Alaska. This next bit is between Spencer and him: “I, I... er... have a sk... skinny leg,” I rasped out. “I’m not a very good athlete.” “That’s good!” Doug’s words came out like a little explosion. My eyes snapped to his. He nodded sagely down at me. “In my experience, the one who has to work harder almost always gets further ahead in the long run. It’s grit more than talent that makes a winner out of someone. You've just got to want it bad enough.” For most of us, it is a wonderful fantasy to think of raising and racing sled dogs. Each dog is special, and it would be fun to get to know them, and figure out the ways to find and bring the best out of dogs in a big fun game. But for most of us, we are also smart enough to see the massive expense and work to have many multiples of dogs. So I appreciate sharing the good stuff through the pages of a book instead of really having to do all that work. Here is a passage that speaks a little toward the benefit and the responsibilities: 'The bond that had developed between me and our dogs was truly amazing. Every single day, every day of the year, I gave them care—warm meat, massages, foot ointment and booties, vaccinations, doctoring, protection, and most importantly, love. And they gave me everything they were or could be in return.' What really makes dog sledding books the best in my opinion is the danger and craziness of pushing on through challenges.. After one part Spencer is laughing about it all: 'I’d been on this little joyride for nearly twenty-four hours. I'd traveled through Tired and way past Exhaustion and had finally arrived in that faraway kingdom called Hysteria where the air is made of helium, and everything is funny, and your IQ instantly halves. It sure is a strange place to be.' But in dog sledding there is real danger: 'One second he was there; the next he was gone, vanished in a poof of white. My dogs chugged along, unfazed by the disaster unfolding ahead, while I watched, paralyzed by horror, as Dad’s dogs were dragged by momentum in pairs over the edge after him. My scream echoed down the mountainside. By the time it ricocheted back, Dad’s, leaders, Jude and Silver, had gone off the side, leaving only the White static of an old TV where his team and sled had been an instant before. ' I won't be giving quotes to the big 100 mile race Spencer goes though where just surviving is a big accomplishment, but it is really worth getting the book. Afterwards a report asks Spencer's mom: “But what about the risks?” Mom gave the reporter the full glory of her smile. “Anything daring has risks. But I’m not a parent who bubble wraps my kids to protect them from the bumps and bruises of life. I embrace any opportunity that lets my boys rise to the challenge and stretch themselves, in ways that may be scary and hard but offer life-changing rewards in the end.” She put her arm around my shoulder and pulled me against her. “Am I afraid? Of course, I am! But nobody achieves anything great by playing it safe, and I want my kids to face life knowing they can do hard things.” Good job Spencer's mom. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Oct 19, 2024
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Nov 2024
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Oct 19, 2024
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| 3.50
| 2
| unknown
| Sep 1936
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Jul 21, 2024
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Hardcover
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| 1298643252
| 9781298643254
| 1298643252
| 4.40
| 15
| 1913
| Aug 11, 2015
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None
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not set
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not set
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Jul 21, 2024
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Hardcover
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| 0891903984
| 9780891903987
| 0891903984
| 4.23
| 78
| 1943
| Jun 06, 1987
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really liked it
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Good story of the Northern genre published in 1943. Very much like Sergeant Preston of the Yukon (and his dog King), but with Sergeant Jim Thorne and
Good story of the Northern genre published in 1943. Very much like Sergeant Preston of the Yukon (and his dog King), but with Sergeant Jim Thorne and his dog Chief. For context, the radio show Challenge of the Yukon first aired in 1939 and that show later changed to be named Sergeant Preston of the Yukon in September 1950. The television series then started in 1955. In 'The Return,' Sergeant Thorne has completed recuperating from being burned in the capture of a murderer in the last book. He asked to be allowed to resign and join the Army to fight in WWII but instead is given a mission with no details other than the area to investigate. Mysterious boot footprints, (not snowshoes) eventually gets him following a trail of bad people by dog sled told through the book. When he first gets to his location, a prospector comes to town with a wife and 8-year-old girl. The wife is very sick and dies. The prospector goes back to his claim but before leaving asks Sergeant Preston to take care of the girl for an extended period. Later when Thorne is on the chase of the bad guys he leaves the girl with two old friends in town. Leaving a young child with a couple of old men strangers felt a little odd in comparison to nowadays. Harkening to the style of a Goodreads friend Karen I would ask, ‘Will the young girl ever get back to her father?’ I won’t give away who the people Thorne and Chief are chasing, but I will give you a hint. They are WWII related, (but not spies like another Silver Chief book.) The bad guys also take a captive. I thought it was clever the way that person helped leave a trail to make it easier for Sergeant Preston to catch up to them. When he does, and the bullets start flying, he does something that is a fun cliché’ for what heroes did. He asks them to surrender, then: ‘Thorne repeated his command. Shots were again the response. This time he let his own weapon speak for him, sending the first bullets over their heads, then aiming directly at the shorter man’s wrist. The German’s gun dropped; clasping his injured hand he turned and stumbled away through the trees.’ And yes, the wound to his wrist wasn’t bad, just enough to make him drop his gun. But who was helping the bad guys? Good story that kept a good pace. I am just giving it one star less as I didn’t find any great quotes other than the shot to disarm. After this book I only have one more book to complete reading all of the 'Famous Dog Stories' series of books by Publisher Grosset & Dunlap. ...more |
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Jun 21, 2024
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Jun 23, 2024
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Jun 21, 2024
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Hardcover
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| 048489580X
| 9780484895804
| 048489580X
| 4.67
| 3
| unknown
| Aug 24, 2018
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None
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not set
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not set
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Jun 18, 2024
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Hardcover
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| B00IR0NSDG
| 3.86
| 28
| Oct 26, 2007
| Jan 01, 1903
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I have the 1902 version of the book.
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not set
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not set
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Jun 14, 2024
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Hardcover
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| 1594333890
| 9781594333897
| 1594333890
| 3.91
| 34
| Oct 01, 2013
| Oct 01, 2013
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it was amazing
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**spoiler alert** I am going to mark this review as ‘with spoilers’ just because I want to share a lot of good stuff from the book. Best if you are a
**spoiler alert** I am going to mark this review as ‘with spoilers’ just because I want to share a lot of good stuff from the book. Best if you are a big fan of sled dogs and the races to read the book, then come back and read the bulk of my review and leave comments. But if you don’t plan on reading the book, or have a poor memory like mine, or like to read good quotes again, then proceed. Of course, there isn’t any real spoilers in that we know the first Iditarod race in 1973 happened, but the book tells the story how it came about. The book has a couple of themes. First is Dan’s history, how he got into dog sledding, how he was involved with making the first Iditarod happen, and his run within that first race. Then there is the huge dream of a 1000-mile race and making it happen. I think anyone with big dreams can appreciate that aspect of the book. Then there is the first race itself as told from various people’s perspectives. I loved it all, but I am guessing that the change in directions and large scale may make another reviewer drop a star off from not having one solid and consistent thrust through the book. When I read a book, I leave post it notes in places for excerpts I want to potentially copy out. I had at least 32 post it notes in this book when I finished. So many I didn’t chose to copy them all out but enough to share in this review and to post as quotes against the book. From the Foreword by Terry O. Adkins: ‘The early Iditarod dogs were tough and hearty and so were the people who ran these teams. The first races took many days/weeks. During these early Iditarod runs, there were no headlights, no booties except the rare hand-sewn seal-skin bootie, no reflective trail markers (spruce boughs if anything), no quick-change runners, and no pre-race drop-bags assigned to each checkpoint. The mushers that ran were experts in survivalist arctic living and elite dog-men; many times these individuals were the trail-breakers as Iditarod was a trail and not a highway at that time. I remember air dropping dog food to the mushers at Poorman, they were snowshoeing in front of their teams. Mushers camped ang rested at night. The dogs were more trap-line dogs than anything. Today's Iditarod dogs are trained better and selected for more speed.’ Dan kept notes as he raised and trained his dogs. Here is an example of one. While in that first race, he made some recordings in a tape recorder and some notes. Then amazingly one friend and journalist kept recordings including a blow-by-blow account of each dog taking off at the start of the race. From Files: (Desirable Sled Dog Traits, 1965) I. Above all others, must be genetically forward-oriented. Self-driven, trail aggressive. 2. Medium size, males 50 -75 Ibs; females 50-60 lbs. Good body conformation. Well furred. 3. Good feet. 4, Siberian husky appearance. 5. People-oriented (friendly). 6. Trail endurance, capable of a long day’s work. One reason why reason sled dog books are my favorite type of dog books, is there is often so many crazy and interesting little stories that happen along the way. Here is one that made me chuckle a bit: ‘Genghis, leading the whole team, took off, hot on the trail of that cocker spaniel, which ran right through his “doggie door” in the Gillespie’s’ screened-in porch. I didn’t even have time to think before all seven dogs and the front of the sled crashed into the screened porch, leaving a gaping hole. The ruckus brought the Gillespie’s pouring out of their house. When they saw what had happened, after a brief period of shocked silence, they began laughing. ‘ Most everyone familiar with the Iditarod race are aware of the ‘Father of the Iditarod’ Joe Redington. While he was only one of the organizers, his part was big enough that I think the title is well deserved. What is not as well known and could be questioned is the person sometimes referred to as the ‘Mother of the Iditarod, Dorothy page. In one sense, maybe yes, because she organized the first race. Not the first Iditarod race, but the Centennial race held in 1967, that included 9 miles of the actual Iditarod trail out of the 50 miles in the race. But as far as the Iditarod race that we know of, well… First, I give you some details for that Centennial race, then a bit from a taped interview with Gleo Huyck another organizer of the first Iditarod race. ‘Modern revival of both long-distance sled dog racing and the Iditarod Trail began with an idea for celebration of the Alaska Purchase (1867) Centennial. While a war canoe would be fashioned for that purpose in Southeast Alaska, appropriately, plans for a special sled dog race were laid for the South Central region. Dorothy Page is generally credited with getting things started in that direction. At the time, in 1964, Dorothy was chairperson of the Wasilla-Knik Alaska Purchase Centennial Committee and, providentially, secretary for the Aurora Dog Mushers Club. It was this resident Wasilla historian who first conceived of and began to promote the idea of a showcase sled dog event, among like-minded local history buffs and dog mushers. What better way of reliving, though briefly, the glory days of Territorial Alaska than to stage a specially billed race over an existing segment of the old and mostly forgotten Iditarod gold rush trail?’ ‘Huyck: The latter part of October, first part of November, somewhere in there. We went to meet with Dorothy and explained our idea of having a long-distance race of three hundred to four hundred miles. She wanted nothing to do with being any part of this race and washed her hands of it. She said, “I don’t think it can succeed and somebody is going to get hurt, and I just don’t want my name associated with it.” Those were just about her exact words. She wanted nothing to do with it, so we (Redington and Huyck) left there... That was our meeting with Dorothy. That's the last I saw of her for all the months we put in planning the first race.’ Another misconception mentioned, is that the Iditarod race was to commemorate the first serum run. It wasn’t really. It was to commemorate the sled dog mail and freight carriers. There were also goals by the organizers: ‘From the beginning then, our two chief missions as a committee, were expounded: an event to give purpose for sled dogs and preservation of a trail over which to drive them.’ To make the race happen was an enormous undertaking. The day the race started, they didn’t have enough money to pay to pay the promised prize amount. ‘Joe and his committee found themselves undertaking some very frenzied fund-raising activities as soon as the last team disappeared down the trail toward Nome. Fact is, when I and my thirty-three trail mates struck out for Nome on that memorable date, Saturday, March 3, 1973, a major portion of our eagerly anticipated pot of gold was mostly—empty An estimated seven thousand dollars, that’s all. Stacked alongside our “accounts payable,” it was a pitiful trifle—and all that public bluster, ballyhooing, and promises given. Many reputations were on the line. A healthy portion of Alaska’s elite had come out in support of this untested affair by becoming honorary members of Joe's equally untested race committee. Redington had stood before thirty-four trusting mushers at their pre-race banquet two days previous and proclaimed to them and the world that, upon his honor, the money would be waiting for them upon their arrival at rainbows end. One has to believe that Joe, Tom, Gleo, and others, concerned with financial success of the race, counted their blessings daily as each passed and the race dragged on and on. One more day of grace. Another day to beat the bushes in quest of desperately needed cash. Another day of clutching at straws.’ Then it was making the 1,000-mile trail. Remember, the trail didn’t exist prior to the race and needed to be marked and ideally groomed by snowmobiles. ‘Though out of character, lofty-minded Tom Johnson, at one of our meetings, posed the question, “How in the world will we ever pull this thing off?” A bunch of ideas and suggestions were offered amid a goodly portion of friendly banter. It was agreed that to sell the race, it would be necessary to get all sorts of people emotionally involved. Get them to volunteer, to buy into the race. Joe, Sr., never one to think small, brought our task down to nutshell simplicity when he stated, “We have to get the whole darn state involved.” This was our message: Look out, Alaska, here we come. We are going to buttonhole you and ask for your help. We believe in our product, now we want you to believe, too. To become involved in our dream. You, the musher, politician, lawyer, army, air force, event organizer, banker, merchant, recreationist, publicist, publisher, miner, villager, pilot, radioman, and a myriad of others, are needed. Together, we can relive our glorious past and provide something positive for Alaska’s future. Without you, all is lost and we are doomed to failure. That was our basic approach in rounding up volunteers for the first race. It was an easy sell.’ So much had to be worked out and there were no good manuals left by the old timers. Everything had to be figured out including how do you feed the race dogs? ‘So much about the first Iditarod was a trail-breaking effort, an experimental belief in past attainments mixed with a good dose of foolhardiness. Old time dog-men quickly worked on trails, managed dog teams, and generally left little in the way of how-to-do-it manuals, To my knowledge, there had never been, in all of history, a sled dog race of Iditarod magnitude. So the question remained: “How does one feed a dog for and during a one-thousand-mile race?” I didn't know. No one knew. We all had unproven ideas sticking out our ears. Perhaps the one agreed upon understanding was an everyday diet for a working dog would, in the end, be grossly inadequate. Available were fifty-pound bags containing Friskies for $3.10, Don’s for the same, Purina at $4.50, or the king of dog food for the time was Iams at $6.25. That was about it.’ In addition to the organizing story, there is also the story of Dan Seavey. Should he leave his teachers job and family for a month to go on a crazy dangerous race? He had doubts but thought: ‘However, what an opportunity for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. A chance to truly go somewhere consequential, somewhere distant by dog team. What a thrill it would be to soak in the very essence of a trail known only vicariously through book and legend. How overpowering the thought: To ride runners over a pioneer’s boulevard, where august spirits of old-time dog men sit in watch. Here was an occasion where all the noble qualities of a noble animal could be demonstrated to an ever-growing remote and mechanized world. Dare I hope that such an event would excite a renewed interest in the historic trail? That my adopted hometown, indeed all the communities along the way, would begin anew, an appreciative relationship with that heritage treasure? Yes, I just had to do it. There could never be another first Iditarod Race, and for that matter, the first could well be the last.’ I also found it interesting how Dan came up with one of the good ideas to fund the race that became one of the traditions: ‘However, I had another monetary scheme, which resulted from my study of trail history. The chief purpose of the original trail was to provide means of mail transport to remote mining settlements scattered across the vast Alaska Territory. Why not carry real mail to Nome by dog sled—for a price—and mail it from the Nome Post Office upon my arrival? Local artist and race advocate, Dot Bardarson, created the first “Iditarod Race Mail” ever, in the form of a souvenir letter that could be written upon, folded, stamped, addressed, and sealed, ready for my sled mailbag.’ My favorite parts of sled dog books are details about the dogs, and on giving them credit. Here is one bit I liked: ‘We human pioneers of the “great camping trip,” as George Attla would dub it, will remain incorporated, as it were, in the fabric that weaves our history. But what of the four hundred pioneer dogs? Those wonders of God’s creation, who weathered Arctic gales, slept in snowbanks, suffered exhaustion, sore, raw feet, and, to some degree, human ignorance, and neglect. What of them? Leaders Genghis, Kiana, and Sonny. Others, who strained in wheel, team, and swing positions, and at times, in lead as well, were Kuchik, Koyuk, Snippy, Eska, Shiak, Flame, Bandit, Casper, and Crazy. Names listed on a sheet of paper seem such a hollow tribute to twelve of a person’s most loyal, tested friends. And hollow that tribute would be, if all twelve of them were not imprinted indelibly in my heart. Those twelve devoted, steadfast trail companions bestowed upon me the one true adventure of my life. In so doing, they became the pathfinders for all ensuing generations of endurance race dogs. Genghis, Kiana, Sonny, Kuchik, Koyuk, Snippy, Eska, Shiak, Flame, Bandit, Casper, and Crazy—a renewed and heartfelt salute.’ I also liked this bit when trying to answer why the dogs run: ‘Sled dogs love new trails. The drive to explore unknown ground, to huge distances with pack mates, is genetic. In the wild, it is necessary for food gathering and survival. All canine senses come into play in this vital game of life. But, by far and away, the most important is the dog's astounding sense of smell, a million or more times that of a human, we are told. A canine’s innate desire to travel, to sniff out new ground, and thig inborn compulsion to run with its kind, provides a key answer to the often-asked question: “What makes Iditarod racing dogs run a hundred or more miles per day?” In truth, nothing or no one really makes them run. They are, in fact, by their very nature, compelled to run. They were born that way. Selective breeding for those wondrous, wild instincts—in the case of the Seavey kennels, some twenty sled dog generations to date—simply brings to the top the very best of what has been there for centuries unnumbered.’ Amazing what the dogs can do. Here is a nice bit during Dan’s race: ‘The offshore north wind built to a gale force. My poor dogs. They would hit a wind-polished spot, loose traction, and literally get rolled into a knot, requiring a frustrating untangling, under something less than good picnic conditions. Other times, away would go the sled skidding sideways, with me firmly attached, until it struck an immoveable drift or a crusted snow patch, and over I went, taking the entire team with me, ending, one time, a half block off the trail. Wha, storm. What an experience. Blinding and, at times, breath-sucking Dangerous, scary, but exciting and exhilarating at the same time. One remembrance I have kept—all these years—is thankfulness for the relatively mild temperature at the time. And another is an absolute, set-it-in-concrete admiration for my dogs. In the course of many untangles I rearranged my front end. Genghis, my old faithful, went in front with Kiana. Bandit was placed back in swing. We went. In spite of roll! overs, roll-ups, wraparounds, and tangles, we went. And even when a couple of males—Kuchik and Casper—repeatedly attempted to dive behind snowdrifts, out of the punishing tempest, we went. How gratifying it was to witness my years of training pay off. Uncounted hours: back on Kenai Lake and Resurrection River flats, driving this never-say-die team head-on into fiendish, violent snowstorms.’ One more quote I liked talking about the dogs: ‘While dogs were a hole to sink money into, they were also more fun than a barrel of monkeys. There is nothing quite like hooking up a team of dogs who are raring to go. They bark and dance and just can’t wait. When you finally pull the hook and they take off at full speed (probably 25 miles an hour), there is a swish of sled runners and the wind in your face. Perhaps six furry behinds running ahead like a house afire. It is wonderful. You charge out into the boreal forest where there are no human sounds; no roads, no TVs, no nothing but you and your dogs and your wits.’ Also, including in the details of that first race story is how the winner broke the rules to win. Here is the bit that alludes to that: ‘Finally, Wilmarth threw his cards on the table, uttering, “You boys stay ahead of me and I will buy you all the whiskey you can drink when we get to Nome.” As God is my witness, those were his, almost, if not exact words. They had effect. Within fifteen minutes, the sound of the last machine blended into the music of wind playing through the cabin.’ So much of that first race carried on to the races that followed, but hopefully better enforcement of the rules. ‘Everything unique to the first race was a first. Meaning, for example, a sled dog race—nothing first, nor unique, here—but one of one thousand miles or more, using the same dogs, is decidedly a first and, without question, unique. There are many Iditarod Race traditions, whose origins are traced to the 1973 inaugural event. Easily coming to mind is the first weekend in March start, Anchorage start site (ceremonial, nowadays) trail mail (mine in 1973 was adopted by ITC in 1974), keeping record of the fastest time between Solomon (Port Safety or Safety, nowadays) and Nome, the town siren and police escort at Nome, use of veterinarians during the race, publishing dog deaths, employment of the “Iditarod Air Force,” multiple finisher banquets, red lantern award (adopted from earlier races), and reliance on volunteers.’ Although I hate how most people use the phrase, I would have to say a ‘must read’ for those who like books about dog sled races. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 10, 2024
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Jun 16, 2024
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Jun 10, 2024
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0380717581
| 9780380717583
| 0380717581
| 3.95
| 4,379
| 1991
| Mar 07, 2000
|
really liked it
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Fun murder mystery during the middle of an Iditarod race with a little romance thrown in. The murders pop up in sudden and brutal ways causing the 'da
Fun murder mystery during the middle of an Iditarod race with a little romance thrown in. The murders pop up in sudden and brutal ways causing the 'da da dummmmm' tones to go off in my head. (Do other people hear that too when someone dies in a book?) I liked the book well enough to give it 5 stars but the author crosses the line that all dog lovers detest. It is perfectly fine to kill as many people as you want between the covers of a book, but if you hurt or kill a dog, even we just don't like it. Yah, brutal deaths of people or dogs can have a big emotional impact, but still no. I did find some good quotes to share. Here is some of the more interesting brutal details: 'His headlamp shattered as it hit. So did his nose and cheek. A wicked, foot-long limb projected from the side of the trunk. Cold and sharp, it entered his closed right eye and pushed through his brain until it hit the back of his skull. There it stopped. His body hung against the trunk of the spruce until his weight broke the limb and he fell slowly onto the trail.' 'The sled was flung out and over the edge of the cliff by the violence of the parting. had only a breath to realize she was airborne as the sled left the trail and fell, tumbling down the side of the hill, toward the icy river six hundred feet below.' Then mysteries always have their common little sayings: “I think you better take this,” she said, her eyes wide. “There's been another accident. In Happy Valley.” “Murder is what’s going on. I can’t say it plainer. Someone is killing mushers. We don’t know why, or who. But we will. I just don’t want any more of you to die. If we stop the race now, the deaths will probably stop too. You had all better think about that carefully.” I liked this next little expression that you need to get a clue on who and what is going on to build a murder case. Don't know if it is new from this book or what: '“Whoa. You can’t build a fence without posts,” Alex cautioned him.' the book is filled with great authentic details on Alaska and the race. I liked this bit on the operators of the snow machines who clear the paths for the race: 'The snow machine drivers, dressed in layers of outer. wear to repel the worst the Arctic can deliver, may cover the full thousand miles without a good night’s sleep and with few hot meals. A bed becomes something they dreamed of once; a hot shower, only a memory. They develop shoulders the envy of linebackers. But when they try to explain the pale, empty nights on the ice of Norton Sound, or the northern lights so bright they reflect off the snow in the Farewell Burn, wistful looks come over their wind and sunburned faces and they drift into silence or stammering attempts at description. Many come back year after year, addicted to the trail.' And my last and favorite quote which I am sure contains the way I am sure racers feel about the race: '“I told you this is my fifth Iditarod. I don’t think you understand what that means. It means I’ve been breeding dogs, raising them, working with them all these years to prepare for this race. Every race is this race. As soon as | got home from my first race I started putting together the best team I could train. Every year I do that. “I’ve bought dogs, traded them, tried them out, found out what kind of pups turn into good racers, sold and gotten rid of as many as I kept. With a lot of hard work, I’ve built a racing machine. I know which dogs will go in any kind of cold, which run best in the wind, and which can take the weather without dehydrating. We understand each other. Tank knows, almost before I do, what I want and what to do about it. He’s a great leader. And the rest know me, trust me and what I ask them to do. They love it, the running, as much as I| do. I Jove it, Alex, or I wouldn’t do it.' Ratings are often hard. I could have given this book 5 stars but chose to give it one less as a warning to others that dogs die. But besides that, great book :-) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 14, 2024
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Apr 20, 2024
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Apr 14, 2024
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Mass Market Paperback
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| 1610992385
| 9781610992381
| 1610992385
| 4.18
| 45
| Jan 01, 2012
| 2012
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really liked it
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Born to Mush is aptly named. Sled Dog books are my favorite category of dog books. No other activity is so tied to working with dogs and has the same Born to Mush is aptly named. Sled Dog books are my favorite category of dog books. No other activity is so tied to working with dogs and has the same level of risk of life. I enjoyed this book however it is not one of my favorites of this type. Since I have read so many books on the topic, I may be a tougher audience and be more critical than others. Dallas’s father and grandfather were professional sled dog racers. Dallas grew up mushing and taking care of the dogs. Children don’t always follow in their parents’ footsteps, much less do as well or better, but in this case, it does appear Dallas was born to Mush. He still had to grow into doing it well and one of the things I love about this book is how he relates his lessons learned in life on that path. He seemed to have learned to really excel from wrestling. His dad said to him, "Dallas-the coach would really like it if you tried to win.” So that got him thinking. ‘It’s not as if I had been purposely slacking until that day. Nor was my dad's comment meant to be pushy. But Dad’s words made me start thinking competitively. I began to ask myself “Am I doing the best that I can do?” and, “If this is my best, then why can others do it better?” It was about that time, at age twelve, that a switch flipped in my young brain. I started to expect nothing less than a win from myself, and I trained for that particular goal. It was fun to push myself.’ Dallas comes up with his own strategy to sled dogs. ‘We wouldn't be the rabbit or the tortoise on the 2012 Iditarod. We’d be the fox. We could win, but we'd have to be smart to catch the rabbits. Some of his other lessons learned: ‘I learned how important it is to drive your own team and not make decisions based on what other mushers are doing. I learned that it’s essential to be aware of other competitors, but at the end of the day to be able to answer the question: is this the best way to get my dog team to the finish line as fast as possible? If the answer is no, then it’s not the best move.’ ‘This is one of the most valuable lessons I have learned in mushing: think like a sled dog and focus on the challenges and joy of each moment.’ They serve him well, like when he had to wade through water to get his team through collapsed ice: ‘I sloshed up to Diesel, untangling the dogs as I went. Before reaching him, I did a face plant right into the water. When the water flooded my clothing, the cold literally took my breath away. This was bad, bad, bad. It was not okay to be wet in these temperatures. But I also knew that it was worse to panic. If we didn’t get moving soon, I knew I would die.‘ This next excerpt gives you an idea of some of the challenges in winning the Yukon Quest: ‘It was surreal. I went from nearly-dead on Birch Creek in fifth place, to nearly-dead with an ulcer going up Eagle Summit in third place. Somehow, all this nearly-dead turned into us winning the 2011 Yukon Quest. It didn’t feel like winning as much as it felt like surviving. This team had a lot of guts and determination, and that got us to the finish line first.’ Dallas talks about his major challenges, but maybe because of his ‘just do what is needed’ attitude, or maybe because the book is told in a more concise manner, I didn’t feel the impact for what those challenges really felt like in a stronger way. Think of it - Subzero weather. You don’t have any dry clothes to change into. And you faceplant (actually several times) into freezing water. What if it was you!!!!! Still great stuff in this book, but in similar books I remember really feeling the ‘OMG I could really die here.’ The other item I would have liked to see was more of a relationship between him and the dogs. I know it is there, but I would have liked to see more. I know the dogs are great pulling engines for the sled, but more of the personality of the dogs, and his feeling for an emotional tie. Here are a few excerpts that pointed to something along those lines: ‘“One minute,” the announcer called over the loudspeaker. It was time to prepare for blast-off. I patted my lead dogs Beatle and Elim, and then made my way back to the sled, making eye contact with each dog in the team. My message was clear: I am here, I am in charge, and today is no different than any other day of our training.’ ‘My most vivid memory from my stay in Takotna was taking each of my dogs for a walk. I walked each dog on a leash for about a quarter of a mile. I wanted to let them stretch and sniff around, and I wanted the chance to look for signs of sore muscles or gait changes. I also wanted to spend some quality one-on-one time with each athlete. They dragged me around the check point, enjoying the afternoon. Not one of them seemed tired! They didn’t want to walk either; they wanted to run right out of the checkpoint and down the trail toward Nome.’ So only 4 stars as I wanted more, but still a good book. Oh yah, people want to know if Kleenex is needed at the end of the book. Only from happy tears. (But there is a part in the middle…) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 17, 2024
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Mar 17, 2024
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Mar 19, 2024
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Paperback
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| 0803217285
| 9780803217287
| 0803217285
| 3.81
| 27
| Jan 01, 2004
| Jan 01, 2005
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really liked it
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Good information if you like dog sledding and military dogs as much as I do. On an excitement level unfortunately more like 3 or less stars. The autho
Good information if you like dog sledding and military dogs as much as I do. On an excitement level unfortunately more like 3 or less stars. The author warns us a bit in the beginning when he describes during his 5 years of research for the book that there wasn't a lot of detail. I will give you some excerpts that I find more interesting, but in my mind I wish someone would take a whole tale told in a paragraph, and write a whole book so we can get a feel for how people would feel each step of the way. During the great war, the French government asked Scotty Allen to supply dogs and sleds and to train soldiers for fighting in the Vosges Mountains on the Western Front. I like the mental image that comes to mind how they transported the dogs: 'For this mission, Allan purchased 106 dogs around Nome. To transport them to a barge that would take them to the cargo ship anchored offshore Allan tied all the dogs to one long rope like a gang line. He attached this rope to a team of horses and a wagon to supply braking power. He put a good lead dog in front, and the world’s longest dog team proceeded without incident to the barge, where the dogs were loaded for the first leg of their journey to France, along with sleds, harnesses, and two tons of dried fish.' The US did not use dogs in WWI but other countries did. After the war sled dogs were still maintained in Alaska by the military because they were the only dependable transportation. In 1926 the U.S. War Department published a technical regulation concerning dog transportation, which was the forerunner of later field manuals published in 1941 and 1944. Here are some details from those regulations: 'This regulation defined types of dog teams as heavy and light. Heavy transportation was used to carry men and supplies. Loads were not to exceed the total weight of the dogs minus the weight of the driver. These teams could travel from two and a half to three miles an hour for eight hours. Light transportation, also called messenger transportation, was designed for fast travel in emergencies or for speedy communication. Teams for light transportation could travel at five to six miles an hour for eight hours with a load of no more than twenty-five pounds per dog. These classifications remained standard throughout the entire period of military use of sled dogs. Recommended speeds and load-carrying capacities changed slightly over the years.' 'For use in Alaska the technical regulation highly recommended two specific dog breeds: the Mackenzie River husky and the Kobuk Valley dog.” The Mackenzie River husky was finally recognized toward the end of World War II in attempts to breed the ideal Army transportation dog. The regulation also mentioned malamutes and Siberian huskies as being suited for the area. These were the primary dogs used during World War II.' We get a lot of details of the training and types of sleds in the book as WWII was happening. In most of the books individual dogs were not mentioned too much, but in this excerpt I liked reading the names of the dogs: 'As the number of dogs at the kennel grew, training became more innovative. Lacking snow, men used stripped Austin automobile chassis to train teams. Dogs were assembled into teams as soon as they arrived. One matched team of eight light yellow huskies became known as the Cream Team: Jack, Jill Jr., Saucey, Darkar, Noel, Nome, Mala, and Jill Sr. The Cream Team was trained by David Armstrong, then shipped to Camp Rimini, Montana, and later to Camp Hale, Colorado. Another team of Siberian husky littermates put together by Robert Brown included General, Colonel, Major, Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant, Corporal, and Private. These eight-dog teams were based on an army conception that teams should consist of seven dogs and one spare, a standard later replaced by eight dogs and one spare. Since there was never a “spare,” in reality it was a team of nine. ' At one point they wanted to bring in dogs to help with the defenders during the Battle of the Bulge, but things didn't work out. The primary use for the dogs was during rescue situations in the colder regions. Here are the top level facts: "Men and dogs of search and rescue squadrons effectively retrieved approximately 150 survivors, 300 casualties, and millions of dollars worth of equipment by the close of World War II. Many saves are credited to dogs and mushers in Canada, Alaska, Newfoundland, and Greenland.” OK, I got to the chapter on the use of dogs for rescue operations and hoped for some excitement. Here are my favorite bits, and you decide how exciting. Then try thinking about it again more slowly imagining yourself one of the people at the time. I feel the book missed an opportunity to do more with these stories, but am still thankful to the author for what he did give us. 'Dog teams were key elements in an amazing Arctic rescue in 1942, when an aircraft crashed in Greenland only twenty-five miles from a weather and rescue station. Its crew of nine men had no Arctic survival equipment or training. A local dog team was sent but could not get through the deep, soft snow to reach the crash site. Search aircraft dropped food and survival equipment, allowing crew members to survive harsh conditions, but storms and poor weather stymied more than an occasional resupply flight. Twenty days later an aircraft was finally able to land nearby, and the two most seriously injured men were taken out. Another rescue aircraft was flying out a third survivor when it crashed, killing all on board. An Eskimo dog team later recovered the bodies of this group. In renewed ground rescue attempts using motor sledges (the forerunner of snowmobiles), Max Demerest was killed when his motor sledge was swallowed up by a crevasse. The crew was finally rescued an incredible 129 days later. Three dog teams plowed through deep snow to the crash site, guided by an aircraft using radio signals. These teams were led by Captain Harold Strong, an Alaskan, and Sergeants Joseph Heally and “Dutch” Dolleman, both of whom had served with Byrd in Antarctica. Remaining crew members were shuttled by dog team to the sled camp, where an aircraft was able to land and carry them to safety. This rescue has been called one of the great sagas of the Arctic. Without rescue by dog team, these men would surely have perished in the cold only a short distance from safety.' 'On another rigorous mission Armstrong, accompanied by two other drivers (Willard E. Gregg and Truman Watson) and pack dog handler Carl F Lowe, was sent to recover the cargo of a crashed C-54 transport plane. They recovered 5,800 pounds of cargo and thirty-two sacks of mail from the crash site in isolated mountains above Codroy Pond, Newfoundland. The teams brought the complete cargo down to the railhead in only two days. Lowe's five Saint Bernard pack dogs were hitched to a basket sled to help pull loads. The entire contingent of sled dog teams and pack dogs went back up the mountain and helped the salvage crew carry as much of the aircraft as could be saved down the mountain, including a dual landing gear weighing 2,800 pounds. The landing gear had to be lashed to the sled with the two wheels trailing behind. This sled was pulled by a team of dogs whose total weight was only 495 pounds. For the steep downhill portion of the trip, the load had to be unhitched and belayed with two hundred feet of five-eighths-inch rope wrapped around a tree. On flat terrain, where the wheel would not roll on its own, dogs were again harnessed to it. Other equipment that dog teams hauled out on this mission included the 1,500-pound nose gear, propellers, and propeller gearing. Five propeller blades were taken out on one load; then on another trip seven blades that had been bent were dragged behind the team with a rope. '7 Wrestling such heavy loads down the mountain was extremely labor intensive and dangerous. Drivers sometimes narrowly missed serious injuries when they were smashed between bulky loads and trees as sleds slid off the trail.' So good book if you want to read the history and see detailed measurements and descriptions of the sleds used. But unfortunately not too exciting. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 11, 2023
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Nov 13, 2023
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Sep 28, 2023
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Hardcover
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| 0615587666
| 9780615587660
| 0615587666
| 4.29
| 28
| Jan 12, 2012
| Jan 12, 2012
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it was amazing
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So, when I am reading a book and come across a great passage I might want to copy and share, I leave a post-it note, so I can come back later to type
So, when I am reading a book and come across a great passage I might want to copy and share, I leave a post-it note, so I can come back later to type it out. I just counted and I have 23 post-it notes through this short book, so that gives you an indication how much I liked this book. I seriously considered putting it in my ‘dogs-favorite-book’ category, but it is not quite there with one of my more favored books revolving around a sled dog race to tightly warp up the story in the book. If you are a fan of dog sledding books, then you will love this book. Out of all the types of dog books, sled dog books are my favorite. No other type of dog book has the same degree of danger in it. You can freeze to death, drown falling through ice, or be killed by a bear. This book plunges into all those dangers. What really makes a good dog book is when it allows you to get to know the individual dogs. It’s great to think of what it must be like to have 22 Malamutes pulling your sled, but it is the descriptions of individual dogs that touch your heart. Great to get to know Bruiser, Mitch, Little Savage, Farmer, Bear, Boss, and Dino. I always know there are people who want to know, ‘does the dog die in the end of the book?’ If you going to have that many dogs, you know you are always going to be losing some. I think the author knows how much people don’t like to hear of it, so no Kleenex is needed in the book! Well, not any Kleenex needed for a dog. There are some references to trapping, which I wish people wouldn’t do, but not too much or too graphic. He also must kill a critter or two that would have killed him, and of course he has to hunt some caribou, but I think the details are within tolerable amounts. The author, Joe Henderson, gets malamutes that are big, but he describes them like big babies: ‘I have found that the larger an Alaskan malamute is, the more babyish they are. So when it comes to getting these big fellas to work, I knew I had to gain their trust and love by going the extra mile. That being said, malamutes are amazingly tough-minded brutes and can endure the Arctic’s brutal environment with a wagging tail and a smile.’ ‘I took the opportunity to brew coffee and toss the dogs a meat snack. Before long, the scheduled campfire stop became an anticipated part of my day. It didn’t take long for the dogs to figure out when break-time was, too. I swear they have clocks in their heads. If I traveled past the anticipated break time they’d slow down to a snail’s pace, look over their shoulders and glare at me like I was cruelly starving them. They reminded me of little kids deprived of a cookie. That’s when I started to realize that the Alaskan malamute is a very special and intelligent dog. Just like children, they are emotional creatures and they love to see what they can get away with.’ For a while, he tries commercial dog sledding expeditions where: ‘I provided the clients with small teams and gave them a short instructional course on dog mushing. The lessons were simple: hang on tightly to the handle bars, don’t converse with one another, and just be silent. I explained that dogs who are trained on verbal commands are constantly listening for instructions. It became clear to me that when the dogs are at work, any unnecessary speaking confuses and distracts them. If they think you are talking to them, but you’re not saying anything they can understand, then they don’t know what you expect of them. It ruins their confidence and they don’t know what to do with themselves. The other lessons were to say “whoa” in a commanding tone when you stop, and “okay” to go. Sounds simple, right?’ At one point he takes the job of manager at a remote camp in the Artic which was used as a based location for hunters, scientific researchers, and drilling crews that is about 40 miles south of the Artic Ocean. One paragraph seems to jam all the wildlife of the area into one paragraph, which reminds me of paragraphs in Jim Kjelgaard's fiction books: ‘The camp was unique in that it had modern conveniences, and yet it was isolated in the artic wilderness, surrounded by such diverse and abundant wildlife. Sometimes caribou wandered between the trailers and on the airstrip and geese would settle in the grass next to the trailers, cackling as they soaked up the warmth. Once in a while a grizzly bear would walk through camp, and almost every day red foxes could be seen roaming the hills, chasing ground squirrels or lemmings while falcons darted overhead, preying on the ptarmigan at the river’s edge. The river was crystal clear and flowed gently over smooth boulders. Occasionally an artic grayling would break the surface.’ The book starts to kick into a higher gear after he learns about Ernest de Koven Leffingwell (1875-1971) who explored Alaska, and Joe decides to follow in this footsteps. I would recommend you copy out Leffingwell's full name and paste it into a browser search on Wikipedia to learn more about him. He had some great accomplishments, but as he once stated, “Not being spectacular attracted little public notice, and during the excitement caused by Peary, Cook, Stefansson, and Amundsen, I was the forgotten man.” So the author gathered as much information on Leffingwell’s expedition as he could, and engineered a plan to follow his route by dog team in what he called the Project Leffingwell Expedition. Love that word, expedition. Makes your soul want to go on an adventure. Maybe not enough for me to want to go dogsledding solo with 22 malamutes in the middle of winter in the Artic for seven months at a time, for several years, but enough to really enjoy reading about it. Loved hearing how he traveled with the dogs: ‘Hauling the dogs up to the Artic at the beginning of every season was hectic to say the least. Most mushers’ trucks are equipped with two story dog boxes that slide nicely into the bed of the truck. They can fit a whole team comfortably in individual cubbies. That might work for 45 lb racing dogs, but dog boxes make no sense for a team of 25 burly malamutes. Not only would it require a five story box, but I’d also have to lift dogs in excess of 100 lbs up over my head to get them in. That’s just unreasonable. So, instead I tethered 11 dogs in the back of the truck, and 11 in the trailer and off we went up the Dalton Highway looking like some insane combination of the Beverly Hillbillies and a clown car with the dogs drooling on each other and their bushy tails waving in the breeze.’ One part of the book where I did want Kleenex was where a wolf is trailing him and his team. He refers to the Giant Wolf as G.W. ‘G.W. and I watched each other until dark. I knew he wouldn’t sleep. I was sure he had planned to wait patiently and learn our routine so he could try to catch us off guard. Then he would slip into camp at night, killing the smallest and the most vulnerable dog, tearing him off the picket line and dragging him away. By the time I came to the rescue with my rifle, it would all be over, just like it had happened before.’ The part that got me was a little later when he said: ‘Memories of the dogs I’d lost to wolves in the past tormented me all night—the pup’s collar lying on the snow, torn in two, and a trail of blood leading away.’ Stories of dealing with the blizzards, combined with the authors fun way with words made for some great parts. At one point they leave a secure campsite to escape the pesky voles. Yes, fury little mouse like rodents that scurry around in the tundra grass. ‘The black artic voles were everywhere. I couldn’t take another minute of it, and I didn’t care about the blizzard coming. I just wanted to get away from them. They were crawling in my sleeping bag, scampering across my dinner plate, and getting tangled up in my hair at night. Heck, they even took up living quarters inside my beaver fur mitts.’ He later probably wished he had stock it out with the voles when he gets caught out in the open during a 3-day blizzard. ‘I knew I had played a game of dead man’s bluff with Mother Nature and she had the winning hand.’ I mentioned earlier that some of the best parts is hearing about the individual dogs. In one part he tells of Bear. Joe had hurt his knew and after holing up for two weeks to see if it will get better their food is almost out and they have to make it up through a pass to a place where they had cached food. With the wind whipping up they know a blizzard is brewing. He hooks up bear to the sled and yelled ‘Okay!”: ‘The team hesitated at first and then slowly began ascending the pass. There wasn’t a trail and I knew there were some deep crevasses ahead. But I trusted Bear. The wind was increasing in velocity, and to make matters worse, it was getting dark. We were bucking hurricane force gusts that seemed to tear right through me. Several long hours went by and the ground started to level. We were almost on the summit. When I dragged my watch out of my pocket, I was stunned. We had been struggling for six hours. Finally, the wind died a little as we crested the pass and I stopped the team. I quickly limped up to Bear. His face was covered with snow and ice and his eyes were completely closed. I peeled his ice mask off and his eyes opened. He seemed to smile. He had led us up that mountain pass and through the blizzard with his eyes closed.’ Another dog we get to know well is one named Farmer. ‘One of the many memorable experiences I’ve had with lead dogs is with a handsome red, thick-furred malamute named Farmer, who actually started out as a wheel dog. With a name like Farmer, you might think he would be just a regular, run of the mill, good ol’ wheel dog—someone who minded his own business, put his nose to the grindstone and pulled all day, and howled at night. Nope, not Farmer. He had greater ambitions. He was like a guy who’s built like an NFL lineman but wants to be a ballet dancer, or the man that couldn’t carry a tune to save his life, but wants to sing opera.’ ‘Not just any ol’ dog can run lead, but Farmer didn’t believe he was just any ol’ dog. In his young canine brain he was he leader, the super dog, the invincible hero that would guide his comrades through freezing blizzards, darkness, and across thin cracking ice. Farmer didn’t know his limits. He wasn’t aware that limits even existed.’ So, Joe thinks that hell hole is a fine area for Farmer to start training for lead with tundra wide open so he couldn’t get into any trouble. I won’t give this part away, so you will need to read the book to find out what happened and why, but I like the way he says at one point, ‘I felt like we were a fast flying baseball headed for a solid wooden bat.’ Unfortunately, the book seems to end a little suddenly with him saying he is getting ready for another expedition season. There are nice black and white pictures all through the book, but in the ending pages he gives you 18 more pictures to end the book enjoying seeing his gorgeous 22 dogs and the picturesque expanse of the Artic. Great book I would highly recommend, with the only fault being that it I am left wanting even more. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 18, 2023
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Sep 20, 2023
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Sep 18, 2023
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Paperback
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| B0006W6AUQ
| 3.00
| 1
| unknown
| Jan 01, 1974
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None
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Notes are private!
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0
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not set
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not set
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Sep 05, 2023
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Hardcover
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| 0063066262
| 9780063066267
| 0063066262
| 4.63
| 634
| Oct 19, 2021
| Nov 16, 2021
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it was amazing
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I am going to rate this book 5 stars as it was fun, the pictures are amazing, and you feel like you are going along with the author raising her dogs f
I am going to rate this book 5 stars as it was fun, the pictures are amazing, and you feel like you are going along with the author raising her dogs for a year like you are a friend of hers. It is a chronicle of a year in the life of their dog team, with pictures and words for each season. Each of her main dogs are highlighted with at least one picture and some info on them. My favorite was Grinch, with an accompanying photo of a black dog whose muzzle looks too narrow from the way the picture is angled and makes him not look as attractive as the other dogs. The text box says: Grinch is a perfect mystery. He is a light that shines from nothing and into nothing. He’s a collection of feelings in a dog-shaped box made of off-brand Legos. He has ten thousand peeing spots and he visits them in order twice a day. He thinks it’s very exciting to find a rock that a dog has peed on. He doesn’t care that the dog was him. Litter Theme: Christmas; named for the Grinch who stole it. As I will probably say too often in this review, the pictures in the book are really good. The dogs all look like ones you would want to take home. Too often with race pictures weather conditions make it tough to see things well, but in this picture, it always seems to be a sunny happy day with the dogs. It is a small book, and a quick read so would be a very good one to leave out if you have people so they can leaf through a book and give them a smile. Would make a good gift for a dog fan. Here are a few quotes I liked: 'Pretty soon our whole life was dogs. I woke up planning what I’d make for their breakfast; I feel asleep imagining where we would run next. There were hours, days even, when nothing existed but the shifting sled runners, the gentle puffs of breath. It was the only world that mattered.' 'The truth is that mushing is both very exotic and not exotic at all. If you’ve ever had a dog pull you on a bicycle, or while you run, that’s a kind of mushing. And if you’ve ever thrown a tennis ball for a retriever, again and again, then you have an idea of the bottomless enthusiasm that a sled dog brings to the trail.' 'If anything, they’ve taught me to be half-wild: to build a life outdoors, following instincts, trusting my teammates. They’ve taught me that wilderness isn’t a place to visit, but a home to return to. They’ve taught me that there is far less difference between humans and animals than I thought.' ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 04, 2023
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Aug 04, 2023
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Aug 05, 2023
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Hardcover
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| 0811722538
| 9780811722537
| 0811722538
| 4.14
| 846
| Dec 31, 1987
| Jan 01, 1988
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it was amazing
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Books on dog sledding are my favorite type of dog book. This book seems familiar, like I might have read this book a long time ago before I started po
Books on dog sledding are my favorite type of dog book. This book seems familiar, like I might have read this book a long time ago before I started posting reviews, or just that I have read a lot of similar type books on the sled dog races, but I still enjoy the journey every step of the way to the finish line. This book is about a winner with Libby doing all the right things to win in a way that feels like it is just as a matter of course. You can tell that it is the relationship she has with the dogs and how carefully she tends to them that make a major difference. An interesting contrast from what you would read about people who don’t fare so well in the same race like in the book - ‘MY LEAD DOG WAS A LESBIAN: MUSHING ACROSS ALASKA IN THE IDITAROD—THE WORLD’S MOST GRUELING RACE’ by BRIAN PATRICK O’DONOGHUE. Unlike what sometimes happens with other racers, Libby’s dogs never quit on her. Here are a few samples that reflect aspects I loved about the book: ‘The size of the land can be humbling. It puts my human existence into perspective, not in the sense of feeling like a bug on the windshield of life, but more a feeling of belonging to something too big to comprehend. The times when I have a view of the broad vistas sometimes make me feel as big as the land. I love the size of the land, how it rolls on and on, untamed and for the most part untouched.’ ‘In my headlamp the dogs looked like ghosts, glistening with frost and half obscured in a cloud of their own frozen breaths. The clinking of the hardware on the collars and harnesses made music in the quite of the night.’ ‘A part of me wanted life to be like this always: just me and my dogs, alone in this vast, silent country, our goals always sure, living out of the sled day after day. This was the most seductive feature of the Iditarod, the reason I would come back time and time again, despite all the suffering that went along with it: the intimacy I had with those fine animals… and with the magnificent land of the Alaska.’ The big moment is when a huge blizzard hits and Libby is faced a choice to go out or not: ‘Leaving the checkpoint was a huge gamble. Was the chance of losing my life a fair gamble? I allowed a part of myself to swear I’d never take any chance that foolish, while the rest of me proceeded to make plans.’ What another racer says helps make up her mind: “What are you doing?” he asked. “If it’s anything like what I just came through, it’s impossible.” That set me. “Impossible?” This was the whole point of all the work and energy I’d put into the past five years. Everything aimed toward one thing: Iditarod. I lifted the snow hook. “Okay, gang. Let’s go.” History and even the title of the book tells us how that choice works out for her. Just the part of her navigating and surviving the blizzard makes this a compelling read. The book is written in double column format, with the center column filled up with history or specific details of the race and other aspects. At first glance I found it awkward, but quickly thought it was a good idea as it didn’t slow down the story by inserting text within the main body of the story itself. I found I could read the main story until I felt like stopping, then go back and pick up the other details. The Chapters are titled after the segment of the race the chapter covers. I like that organization and someday it might be fun to go to a specific section as it is covered in several Iditarod books to examine different riders experience in the same place. I also like her thoughts on being the first woman to win the Iditarod: ‘I had never thought much about being the first woman to win the race. I thought of myself as just a sled dog racer, not a woman sled dog racer. But there was no denying that if my winning encouraged other women not to underestimate themselves, then I was happy to have helped.’ So, another great dog sledding book. Not my favorite of this type, but still a very good book. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 31, 2023
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Aug 02, 2023
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Jul 30, 2023
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Paperback
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| unknown
| 4.50
| 6
| unknown
| unknown
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None
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Notes are private!
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0
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not set
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not set
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Jun 13, 2023
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Hardcover
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| 0968709133
| 9780968709139
| 0968709133
| 4.44
| 9
| May 01, 1928
| Jan 01, 2001
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really liked it
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I paid $41.61 for this book. I only had the title and the little bit of information in the summary on Goodreads, “Originally published in 1928, Walden
I paid $41.61 for this book. I only had the title and the little bit of information in the summary on Goodreads, “Originally published in 1928, Walden's narrative is still one of the most exciting books ever written about dog mushing or the great gold rushes” but took a chance on it and overall glad I did. Pretty brutal book in the what happens to animals and people, so only giving it 4 stars for that reason. The author went to the Yukon at the age of 24 in 1896 in the age of gold rushes. The book is about his adventures, most often as freighter, or “what was called locally a ‘Dog – puncher.’” That start is in chapter 3, where he describes how he was one of the few who made it their business. Freight was left at Circle City by the river steamboats, and from there it was taken out the Birch Creek Mines on Sleds. In the book, he also relates various stories he had heard of. The stories and the book were very interesting. Unfortunately, not so many details about the dogs and working with them overall, but enough. ‘By using three sleds the load was distributed over twenty-one feet of bearing surface instead of twelve feet, as it would have been on one long sled. Being connected by cross-chains the sled would go over rough ground like a chain over a log, and wind through narrow trails in the forest where only a seven-foot sled would be worked through. If the sleds tipped over, they could be righted one by one; and on long hills, where it was impossible to haul the whole load at once, they were unhitched and pulled separately.’ In the book he talks about the difference from when he first went to the Yukon, and then after the big Klondike gold rush brought a glut of people including wrongdoers. I liked how disputes between minors were at first worked out (with some small edits to make this bit shorter): ‘Circle City and the surrounding country was governed by what were called ‘Miners’ Meetings.’ In Circle City all ordinary disputes and misunderstandings were settled by Minors’ Meetings. The last meeting was held in the fall of ’97 and it was the last place, as far as I know, where this procedure was acknowledged by the United States Government. The man or men calling the meeting posted a notice stating what it was called for, and it was usually held immediately. A chairman who acted as a judge, and a clerk of court to take the minutes, were chosen. Then the plaintiff stated his case and produced witnesses, and the defendant replied and produced his witnesses. The past reputation of a witness and sometimes of a principal were brought up; that is if a man were known to be a liar or a truthful man his statements were accepted accordingly. After the witnesses had been produced and examined, any one in the room could ask questions. When everyone was talked out, a division of the house was called for; the verdict of the majority was accepted and that was the END.’ The book of course is chock full of historical type details. I liked this one: ‘It was while here that I got my first lessons in baking bread in the ground. The method was this: A shallow hole was dug in the sand and a fire lighted in it and allowed to burn out, thoroughly heating the ground all around it. While the ground was being heated, bread was made of sour dough, put between two gold-pans, and allowed to rise. Then the hot ashes and dirt were scooped out of the hole and the gold pans put in and covered with ashes and hot sand. The bread was allowed to stay in about an hour: if left in too long it wouldn’t burn, but the crust would get thicker. The loaf came out a rich golden brown and very delicious. This of course was only done when conditions were favorable.’ There were pack animals of all kinds taken and used in the Yukon, and unfortunately it sounds like often they had brutal endings. Here is one bit talking about the variety while he was crammed in a steamer: ‘The boat I went up on was jammed and had a consignment of North-West Mounted Police on board as well. There were mules and horses, oxen, angora goats, a one-horned bull, and dogs galore. These were all meant as draft animals. The dogs were of every description. One English doctor had brought over twenty nondescript mongrels from Belgium. I suppose he thought we had no dogs in the United States.’ There were a lot of stories in the book dealing with adventures on the rivers which are interesting, but you will need to read the book as I don’t want to take the time to type out some excerpts from them. There are several pages discussing the career and death of Soapy Smith of Skagway, the leader of the most desperate gang of criminals that Alaska had ever known. There are some exciting details there in the story of the outlaw, but I found more interesting how the author knew him: ‘I knew Soapy personally and was proud of it, but as I had no money and knew enough to keep my mouth shut, I was absolutely safe. Soapy, I know, had done a great amount of charity work, giving to one man and another if he really needed it. He was also very hospitable. His gambling-saloon was of course crooked, and the men under him were the worst crooks of all.’ There was also some good stories and details of the Canadian Mounted Police. Of them he says, “I cannot say too much in favor of this wonderful body of men, and I think it would be absolutely impossible to find their equal. I am a good American, but I take my hat off to the Canadian North-West Mounted Police as I knew them.” One bit in the book about the crowded lines of people and beasts over White Pass I wanted to mention because it has a reference to one of my favorite breeds: ‘I saw one funny thing happen here. Of course it took a good many relays to get our outfits down to the lakes. On one of these trips I saw a team of black Newfoundland dogs coming down loaded. Our friend the one-horned bull was going up with two empty sleds hitched to him. They happened to meet in one of the narrowest places on the trail, where the mountain rose sheer on the dogs’ side, and dropped down almost perpendicularly on the bull’s side. As luck would have it, the only horn the bull had was on the dogs’ side. When about midway of the team, the bull made a lunge at the dogs, caught the traces under his horn, and lurched back, stubbing his toe. Both outfits rolled down the hillside together. The drivers, of course, were walking behind their animals, and, having everything suddenly cleared between them, jumped together and struck a few blows. They then sad down and slid after their teams. Of course the line couldn’t stop for a little thing like this and went on, but afterwards I saw both teams on the trail again.’ There is a lot of mentions of the pack animals dead or dying throughout the book. Sometimes animals got stuck in the mud and were just left. Seems like often animals like horses are brought in for the summer and then starve to death, or are killed and eaten in the winter. Here is one mention when talking about City of Dawson. ‘The town was the most unsanitary place imaginable. I know a man who made a bet that he could go down the main street and travel the whole way jumping from one dead horse to another or to a dead dog, and he won the bet.’ Some stories were funny, like this one: ‘The first trip I took up the creeks after getting back, I lugged a large Colt revolver and cartridge belt with me, in case I should see a moose. On my way down I got sick of packing the thing and strapped it onto a large dog I had with me. No one in that country would have thought it a strange sight, but when I got down to Dawson, a boat that had just arrived was tying up at the wharf, and a man yelled out, “For Heaven’s sake, Bill, come and look what sort of country we’ve got into! The dogs are carrying six-shooters!” When they spoke of it I noticed the swagger of the dog seemed to put on, and didn’t wonder at the exclamation of the Cheechako.’ Only a few dogs were mentioned by name. He had a collie dog Shirley he brought with him and later took back home. I think he was the only lucky one. Then there was a wolf hybrid named Hootchinoo. Of him he says “He was well known in the country at that time, and as far as I know was the original of Jack London’s ‘White Fang.’ Details related also include ‘On glare ice he was able to not only to keep his footing but to pull, when it was all that the rest of the team cold do to keep their footing at all. He was always pulling, whether the team was going fast or slow.’ Not much later it is said that the dog worked itself to death. At one point he goes to Seattle to picked up twenty-four good dogs. There were ‘outside dogs’ though, which meant not native to the country. After breaking them in at Skagway they were broken into teams. ‘Each team consisted of six dogs, harnessed tandem and drawing two sleds in the approved freight fashion. During the forenoons the teams kept pretty well together, but in the afternoons the ‘outside’ dog-teams got so tired that the men had to drop the extra sleds in order to reach the next camp. As my dogs were stronger I went ahead, made camp, and came back to pick them up. The weather was very cold. Before we got to our journey’s end we had lost eight of the green dogs.’ It is not all about dogs and other animals getting killed, there is a lot of stories of people getting killed in various ways. The people had a choice to go there, but the animals don’t so I feel more for them. Another dog mentioned is Ribbon and details were told how he was able to find the trail and thus save his owner. That dog died a year later: ‘I lost him the next summer, when he was taken with madness over on the Inmachuk, and I buried him over there with his harness on. There was an old tradition up there that a dog who is buried with his harness on will work for his master in the happy hunting grounds. I think I have a full team waiting for me. But trouble will certainly be brewing, for they were all leaders.’ There were some details of this sickness referred to as ‘the madness.’ Symptoms sound like rabies, but people that get bit by it don’t get sick. Maybe distemper? When his dog gets sick with it: ‘Rather than kill him, I decided to save him as long as I could, as he was a splendid worker. Being more or less used to this disease and having been bitten several times before, I was not afraid of it myself. But other dogs on a team are terrified of the madness. I let him sleep in the cabin with me.’ The dog bites him and a couple of people in town before he gets to taking the team out and ‘After the third day the paroxysms came on so frequently that I had to kill him, and my popularity both with the dogs and the men began to revive.’ So good historical information from the Alaska gold rush days, but hard to take as a dog lover. Dogs were just a beast of burden. No mention of what great animals they are. I can't say I recommend this book because of that, but if you want to hear about how it really was, including how dogs and animals were treated, then this book has that for you. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 2023
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Jun 04, 2023
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May 24, 2023
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Paperback
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| 4.21
| 617
| May 14, 2015
| May 26, 2015
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it was amazing
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First the title of this book and the previous one in this series, Faith In Every Footstep, sound like they would have religious overtones but they do
First the title of this book and the previous one in this series, Faith In Every Footstep, sound like they would have religious overtones but they do not. I liked the first book and liked this one even more. I considered adding it to my shelf for favorite dog books but came up just shy of that which I will explain. The summary may tell you more, but a lady with writer's block, through an interesting decision method, decided to go to Bishopville in South Carolina. There when looking for story inspiration she is directed to Kyle who raises dogs. These are at least some of the dogs from the previous book. When first told about the dogs, old Earl says: “They’re race dogs. But not just any ol’ race dogs. They’re the cream o’ the crop. The cat’s meow. The bee’s knees. The best thing since little apples. You can’t beat ‘em.” He looked up at Katie, who was listening intently, and went on. “Mainly ‘cause they’re part wolf. Got them long lean legs that can out outrun anythin’. But ‘specially ‘cause they’re Carolina dogs.” He said with a prideful grin. The book is comprised of short chapters which make it an easy and quick read. The story is about the interaction between the two, Katie and Kyle, but had enough with the dogs to make me happy. I remember the first book to be overly melodramatic at times but didn't find this book so, just good drama. The mystery of the tall, dark, and handsome guy who doesn't talk much however did seem a little drawn out to me. Here is a passage of an interaction I liked between Katie and a dog: As she sat staring at the dog, she couldn’t help but want to speak. She felt as though he looked at her not only with curiosity, but with some greater knowing, almost as if to say, “I have the answers you seek, but you have not yet earned them.” She felt as though the dog knew everything about her, while she knew nothing about him. Eventually Kyle does talk about the dogs including this part: "The dogs see everything. The way you walk, the lightness or heaviness of a single step. The way you look at things, with curiosity or insecurity. Even the way you breathe. They take the time to notice the details we often take for granted. All their decisions are based on these details." I also liked this part where they talk about dogs getting paired up for the sled: “How do you know which dogs to pair together, though?” “Well…there’s actually several theories on sled dog pairing. Some mushers want dogs of equal disposition or temperament. Some are more concerned with size or speed. For example, a shorter dog running next to a taller dog may create an uneven gait.” “What do you look for?” Kyle hesitated for moment. “I look for dogs who what to be together. You can analyze size, strength, speed, aggression, and so on until you’re blue in the face. But ultimately every dog has a best friend, and those are the dogs I try to pair together.” If you want more quotes from the drama between Katie and Kyle, read the book or maybe someone else's review. I will however post some more quotes in Goodreads for the book though. As far as the title, you learn more of that towards the end. Here is a passage that relates to it without telling you anything to give the book away: I grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him to the bottom of the porch steps. I pointed to the south, where the sky was dark and sheets of rain filled the space between the sky and the ground. Then I looked at him and said, “There is hope all around us-in every breath, in every raindrop.” There are two reasons I considered adding the book to my shelf for favorites. One is that the way they bring the dog in for his big heroic moment, (every dog book has to have one), was done in a wonderfully clever and yet to me, believable way. If Wesley Banks had added a few more of those in the book I definitely would have added it for my favorites list. The second reason is that I partially owe my crazy quest to read 'all' the dog books to find the best of them, from his website of '100 best dog books of all time.' I have read at least 61 dog books from his list so far. I don't always agree with his opinions as to what are the 'best' that he determined with an algorithm, but I appreciated his effort towards that goal. Hope in Every Raindrop is a good book in it's own right, but if he were to add this book to that list it would not be too far off from a lot of other good books on it. I leave with a final quote that will help jar the memory of the book for those that have read it: 'A breeze of cool air swept through the barn as several drops of rain started to fall around them. There was still hope.' ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 29, 2023
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Apr 2023
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Apr 01, 2023
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Paperback
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| 0882403745
| 9780882403748
| 0882403745
| 3.67
| 3
| Oct 1990
| Jan 01, 1990
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really liked it
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Travelers of the Cold is a big coffee-table type book. The pictures in it are fabulous. The text was mixed for me, but overall only enough to wet my a
Travelers of the Cold is a big coffee-table type book. The pictures in it are fabulous. The text was mixed for me, but overall only enough to wet my appetite for the information given. I got excited about the book when I first started reading it as it covered history from the start of exposure to sled dogs. It includes sketches or artwork from the early 1800’s of the native people of the north and their dogs. The book says: “The Eskimo way of thinking sees the dog as the beginning of life on earth. Dogs were found everywhere, along with the prototypes of the moon and the crow, in the legends and mythology of the Artic. Certain ethnic groups even claim to share a common ancestor with them.” It relates how, ‘The first dogsleds were used some four thousand years ago in central Siberia, north of Lake Bikal. Ancient rock paintings show that the innovations of this practice were the tribes of the Samoyeds, Koryaks, and nomadic Chukchis, now known as the Tchouktches.’ The book a little later discusses as Europeans started to interact with the natives as they were drawn by the whale hunt and the wealth that was derived from it. “Motivated by competition, greed, and passion for discovery, the whites were now in the position of having to listen to the people they had previously judged ‘prehistoric,’ since they were totally ignorant of the methods and the management of the dog team.’ What follows are pages of accounts of the early whites that were learning to use dog teams. Generally the dogs were pretty savage with tales of them killing other dogs. From the journal of Fridtjof Nansen and others we learn of them learning to use dogs in the exploration of the Artic. The drawings from the period to go with the stories really brings it to life. Dogs, or captured wolves were treated pretty brutally to do the work and to rely on their human masters. Not happy info for me. Also brutal is how in the Artic expeditions to the North and South poles usually involved trimming or eating dogs as less were needed. The book then moves to details of the gold rush. Once again, artwork and pictures from the time frame really help bring the time in history to life. From there the book transitions into the Nome Kennel Club and the history of the dog races. According to this source and others I have read, it started with kids wanting to race their dogs. That included Scotty Allan who for his thirteenth birthday got a dog named Baldy who would go on to became one of the famous sled dogs in history. After the first races with boys, and then including girls, they wanted to have longer races to prove the courage and endurance of the teams. ‘A lawyer, Albert Fink, became excited about the project, and drew up the criteria that defined a true Alaskan dog. He then created an association for the promotion of the breed: the Nome Kennel Club.’ From him came the first running of the All Alaska Sweepstakes. The book then transitions into telling the story of the first serum run which most people are aware of with Togo and Balto. The best source of information on this is the book, ‘The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic’ by Gay Salisbury and Laney Salisbury. This part in this book ‘Travelers in the Cold’ does a good job giving the main details of Togo and Balto, but the other dogs and drivers are not mentioned much. Missing from the details in this book is any mention of the dogs that died in the endeavor. Middle chapters talk of how dogs and sleds are used with natives today. The dogs are cared for very well. That ‘they are also a medium of exchange between families and highly appreciated wedding gifts.’ I also liked how: ‘Anyone who does not own dogs is not considered to be entirely a ‘man’ or member of the race. Proficiency, experience, and social rank are judged according to the number of animals attached to the sled: a boy is not admitted to the community of hunters until the moment that he demonstrates his ability to drive the sled.’ A chapter follows that on white men and their dogs. This chapter also contains good stuff and of course great pictures. The book then goes on with chapters on the races starting with the Iditarod. When I consider any mention of the Iditarod I like to see if it includes; 1) Dorothy Page’s role, 2) how it wasn’t created to honor the first serum run. This book got those right with good details of a great story. The book ends with chapters on Mushers like Libby Riddles, Susan Butcher, Rick Swenson, Joe Redington Sr., and others. Good brief stories of them and some of the more dramatic moments in races, but as I have read whole books on them, so they are less impactful for me. it is hard to know how to rate a book as it is based on each person’s standards. For me, as the book ended with stories of those mushers I mentioned, I can only think I would recommend other whole books more this one to tell the full stories of those mushers. As a coffee table book with gorgeous pictures of sled dogs I would say it is possibly the best among others similar ‘picture’ books. I really liked the history aspects of the books but just wanted more. Those factors lead me to give it 4 stars in comparison to all the other sled dog books I have read but definitely think it is a good book to have in your sled dog book collection. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 14, 2023
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Feb 14, 2023
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Feb 15, 2023
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Hardcover
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| 0448009307
| 0448009307
| 4.14
| 1,402
| Jan 01, 1914
| 1971
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really liked it
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I am giving Kazan the wolf dog, first published in 1914, four stars as the story of the dog answering the call of the wild dealing with brutality from
I am giving Kazan the wolf dog, first published in 1914, four stars as the story of the dog answering the call of the wild dealing with brutality from man is a story that has been done before, and better by Jack London’s books. It has the same type of writing, so if you are a fan of the dramatic writing of surviving the cold northern Wilderness then you will probably enjoy this book. The opening contains: “Quarter-strain wolf, three-quarters “husky,” he had lived the four years of his life in the wilderness. He had felt the pangs of starvation. He knew what it meant to freeze. He had listened to the wailing winds of the long Artic night over the barrens. He had heard the thunder of the torrent and the cataract, and had cowered under the mighty crash of the storm. His throat and sides were scarred by battle, and his eyes were red with the blister of the snows. He was called Kazan, the Wolf Dog, because he was a giant among his kind and as fearless, even, as the men who drove him through the perils of a frozen world.” There is some interaction with some people in the beginning of the book that you know will predictably have to be wrapped up in the end. At one-point Kazan has to help a young woman and her child make it to a cabin through a blizzard. She worries she will not make it: “Forty miles! And her father had told her that she could make it – and could not lose herself! But she did not know that even her father would have been afraid to face the north that day, with the temperature at thirty below, and a moaning wind bringing the first warning of a blizzard.” The dog in the wilderness story has all the usual altercations you would expect from a book in this genre. Easier to mention what foes Kazan does not have to face, hope this isn’t giving anything away, but he doesn’t fight a bear or a wolverine in this book. The most unusual, and perhaps not as believable from a dog/wolf emotional standpoint, involves beavers. That chapter opens with: “So they turned into the north, not knowing that nature had already schemed that the four – the dog, wolf, otter and beaver – should soon be engaged in one of those merciless struggles of the wild which keep animal life down to the survival of the fittest, and whose tragic histories are kept secret under the stars and the moon and the wind that tell no tales.” As a side note, when I enter in quotes from a book, I try to enter it as written in the book. So, if there isn’t a comma after ‘so’ then I don’t add it. The old books also often didn’t have the Oxford comma in a string, so if the author didn’t use it I don’t add the comma. Getting back to the beaver story in the book, I think it was the author who schemed it, and not nature… It seemed only slightly contrived, but that part of the story was unique as it involved a different creature for the canine hero to confront. I didn’t take any joy about hearing how the dog kills young beavers. Actually, in the book I probably didn’t need to be told about every animal they kill every day. I also never like it when a dog or a wolf kills another. If you don’t like the thought of a dog killing animals to survive this probably isn’t your type of book. I don’t really think that a dog or wolf would hold a grudge against an animal, as in this book a lynx, but it is just part what makes up the story often in old dog books. Of course, now anthropomorphism can be taken even further, like narrating a book from the dog’s point of view and have a vocabulary like a college professor. People of course can like what they like… Another big aspect in the book involves Kazan’s mate Grey Wolf. The way she is treated in this book is actually pretty unique. From that relationship a chapter involves the birth and raising of their pup Baree. Baree will become a canine hero in a different book by the author, he is born, is raised enough to hunt and then wanders off. In summary, there was a lot I liked in the book. Kazan survives all that is thrown at him and no Kleenex needed at the end. I kinda wished there was more of another clear theme running through the book, but I did enjoy the writing and twists of the story. My edition is one of the Grosset and Dunlap ‘Famous Dog Stories,’ so now only about 11 more books (of 27?) in those editions to go. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 15, 2023
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Feb 17, 2023
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Feb 05, 2023
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Hardcover
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| 3.00
| 4
| unknown
| 1929
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liked it
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Derry’s Partner, published in 1928, was not as good as the first book, ‘Derry: Airedale of the Frontier. At first, I was excited when on the first pag
Derry’s Partner, published in 1928, was not as good as the first book, ‘Derry: Airedale of the Frontier. At first, I was excited when on the first page we are told that the ‘partner’ dog is Half Husky and Half Newfoundland. Newfies are my favorite breed! But that didn’t help enough. My biggest complaint is that it felt choppy with different plot lines. The main theme has someone who crosses our hero Ed Sibley and his dog Mac in the beginning, and has a nice, unexpected finish. The book would have been better if they kept to that theme, but other stuff gets thrown in that don’t help the story and take up too much space. One of those story items that I disliked the most is when the owner of Derry, and now also Mac, the Husky Newf dog, gets a letter from a friend who is watching over Derry. (Derry has a much smaller part in this book.) In the letter is a one act play told from the perspective of Derry, with a cast of characters including Eustace, a Cocker Spaniel, Snoops, a black bear cub, Mister Mullins a shopkeeper, and Getta Som Sing a Chinese cook. It is supposed to be funny, but instead is boring with a heaping side of racism towards the cook. Another story item that filled up too much space with little return involved Mac, Derry, a goat, it’s owner who is afraid of bears, and a bear. I think the author was trying to be funny, but it just didn’t work for me. In addition to racism towards the Chinese, there is racism towards native Americans. The language attributed to the natives are typical of the stereotype of the day. Ed befriends the dog who belongs to a native and Ed lets the dog jump up and give him a hug. The native warns him: ‘And it was when the old Indian had seen them thus that he had uttered his blunt warning to the white man who came often to visit them when the day’s work on the log jam was over. “Sometimes him dog, sometimes”—the old man had snapped his fingers significantly —quick—like that—he go wolf. That time come, you stand like that—he kill you—sure. I think more better you not play with him.”’ Ed of course doesn’t heed the warning but eventually finds a way to get the dog and thinks: ‘Even now, as they stood in the shadows beside the mountain river, young Ed Sibley, ever prone to recklessness, found a primitive delight in ignoring the advice of the Indians. He belittled the danger to himself. For if he could read the heart of a dog, here was one that in spite of its savage strain could become a worthy comrade and perhaps a needed ally in those adventures which are ever close to the man who loves dim trails in the shadows of the austere peaks. ‘ Ed hopes that Derry and Mac will get along: ‘What a team they’d make, he told himself. Derry, the dashing, high spirited Airedale; Mac, more cautious, repressed except at times like this by his inborn wariness, but friendly and staunch in spite of his seeming aloofness. Yes, here were dogs any man might be proud to have as comrades, a pair he would not trade for any two dogs in all the North. And they were his, not by mere right of purchase, but by that higher and more lasting right, the right of comradeship.’ The book is not all bad. I enjoyed the writing, although not anywhere near the high prose of Jack London. Here is an example of a quote I enjoyed: ‘Absently Ed’s hand strayed to the head of the dog beside him. “Gold fever,” he grinned. ‘We're due for another epidemic.” ‘The massive dog pushed Ed’s knee with his muzzle as if he, whose ancestors had drawn the sleds of more than one gold-maddened horde, understood the vainness of the quest.’ I like the old books. This book also completes one of my goals which was to read all the books in the 'Famous Dog Stories' series of books by Publisher Grosset & Dunlap. From the books listed on the back covers, I think there are 27 books in the series, and while I don’t own all of the books in the ‘Famous Dog Stories’ editions, I do have all the books and with this one, and have read all of them. For anyone else who wants to take it as a challenge, there are the books listed on the covers: • Baree, Son of Kazan • Bat, The Story of a Bull Terrier • Beautiful Joe • Big Red • Bob, Son of Battle • Boru, The Story of an Irish Wolfhound • Derry, Airdate of the Frontier • Derry's Partner • Dumb-Bell and others • Irish Red • Juneau, the Sleigh Dog • Kazan, the Wolf Dog • Lassie Come-Home • Outlaw Red • Rusty, A Cocker Spaniel • Silver Chief to the Rescue • Silver Chief, Dog of the North • Silver Chief's Big Game Trail • Silver Chief's Revenge • Snow Dog • Spike of Swift River • The Call of the Wild • The Return of Silver Chief • True Stories of Heroic Dogs • Valiant, Dog of the Timberline • White Fang • Wild Dog of Edmonton OK, on to other books. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 23, 2024
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Jul 05, 2024
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Feb 05, 2023
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Hardcover
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my rating |
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| 4.60
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it was amazing
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Nov 2024
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Oct 19, 2024
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| 3.50
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not set
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Jul 21, 2024
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| 4.40
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not set
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Jul 21, 2024
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| 4.23
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really liked it
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Jun 23, 2024
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Jun 21, 2024
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| 4.67
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not set
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Jun 18, 2024
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| 3.86
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not set
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Jun 14, 2024
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| 3.91
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it was amazing
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Jun 16, 2024
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Jun 10, 2024
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| 3.95
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really liked it
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Apr 20, 2024
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Apr 14, 2024
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| 4.18
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really liked it
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Mar 17, 2024
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Mar 19, 2024
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| 3.81
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really liked it
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Nov 13, 2023
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Sep 28, 2023
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| 4.29
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it was amazing
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Sep 20, 2023
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Sep 18, 2023
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| 3.00
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not set
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Sep 05, 2023
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| 4.63
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it was amazing
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Aug 04, 2023
|
Aug 05, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 4.14
|
it was amazing
|
Aug 02, 2023
|
Jul 30, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 4.50
|
not set
|
Jun 13, 2023
|
||||||
|
| 4.44
|
really liked it
|
Jun 04, 2023
|
May 24, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 4.21
|
it was amazing
|
Apr 2023
|
Apr 01, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 3.67
|
really liked it
|
Feb 14, 2023
|
Feb 15, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 4.14
|
really liked it
|
Feb 17, 2023
|
Feb 05, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 3.00
|
liked it
|
Jul 05, 2024
|
Feb 05, 2023
|
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