Rating: 
Summary: Informative Resource, Moving Tale
Review: Its rare that a study like this one is both entertaining and informative, but Mr. Lopez's book is precisely that. We are led through the ages peering at the strenuous relations of humanity and wolf-kind, from primal man's envy of this accomplished, loyal hunter, through his hateful denial of their ties, and finally to its present day nebulous dual attitude of reconciliation and euthanasia. It can best be summed up in the chapters referring to the attitudes of the ancient Greeks -especially the Arcadians, who first emulated the wolf, then hated and feared him as a sheepkiller, and then looked on him with pity and sadness and guilt. I also found the descriptions of wolves in Norse literature indicative of the strange envy/hatred/fear man seems to hold for this creature. Meanwhile the wolf lopes on through all of this, steadfast and unchanging - wanting no part in man's world, content with its own. There is much to be learned from wolves, and this book goes a long way in teaching it. In the closing chapters everything ties together in a manner that it is pretty amazing and eye-opening, even going so far as to point to the inherent relationship between a cosmic disaster and the decline of wolves. Maybe that came of sounding crackpot, but I'm not the author - read him for yourself. Its a great buy, and will stay with you for a long time to come.
Rating:
Summary: Informative Resource, Moving Tale
Review: Its rare that a study like this one is both entertaining and informative, but Mr. Lopez's book is precisely that. We are led through the ages peering at the strenuous relations of humanity and wolf-kind, from primal man's envy of this accomplished, loyal hunter, through his hateful denial of their ties, and finally to its present day nebulous dual attitude of reconciliation and euthanasia. It can best be summed up in the chapters referring to the attitudes of the ancient Greeks -especially the Arcadians, who first emulated the wolf, then hated and feared him as a sheepkiller, and then looked on him with pity and sadness and guilt. I also found the descriptions of wolves in Norse literature indicative of the strange envy/hatred/fear man seems to hold for this creature. Meanwhile the wolf lopes on through all of this, steadfast and unchanging - wanting no part in man's world, content with its own. There is much to be learned from wolves, and this book goes a long way in teaching it. In the closing chapters everything ties together in a manner that it is pretty amazing and eye-opening, even going so far as to point to the inherent relationship between a cosmic disaster and the decline of wolves. Maybe that came of sounding crackpot, but I'm not the author - read him for yourself. Its a great buy, and will stay with you for a long time to come.
Rating:
Summary: Our ambivalent actions toward nature
Review: Lopez shows in embarrassing detail human ambivalance toward the natural world, using the wolf as a metaphor, for our relationship as exploiter and pioneer and protecter and conservationist. Lopez is really asking if humanity feels it can afford to save these essential animals in an ecosystem that is out of balance, and rethink our ideas of wilderness or if we can afford not to. If the wolf is the symbol of all that is wild in wilderness then the campaign to reintroduce wild populations in the American west transcends economics and penetrates to the heart of the national debate on preserving those places and the envirnmental legacy we will leave our childern.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly informative and readable!
Review: One of my earliest memories is reading Jack London's "Call of the Wild". Ever since then I have been fascinated by dogs and wolves. Barry Lopez has done the wolf and the reader a great service with the extensive research. He does an amazing job of not crusading for the wolf and because of this the book is that much more persuasive. I've always felt that wolves lived their lives similarly to the way that men probably should live their lives. Anyone who has any interest in wolves, or man's relationship with the wild should pick this book up immediately.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly informative and readable!
Review: One of my earliest memories is reading Jack London's "Call of the Wild". Ever since then I have been fascinated by dogs and wolves. Barry Lopez has done the wolf and the reader a great service with the extensive research. He does an amazing job of not crusading for the wolf and because of this the book is that much more persuasive. I've always felt that wolves lived their lives similarly to the way that men probably should live their lives. Anyone who has any interest in wolves, or man's relationship with the wild should pick this book up immediately.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly informative and readable!
Review: One of my earliest memories is reading Jack London's "Call of the Wild". Ever since then I have been fascinated by dogs and wolves. Barry Lopez has done the wolf and the reader a great service with the extensive research. He does an amazing job of not crusading for the wolf and because of this the book is that much more persuasive. I've always felt that wolves lived their lives similarly to the way that men probably should live their lives. Anyone who has any interest in wolves, or man's relationship with the wild should pick this book up immediately.
Rating:
Summary: One of the finest nature books of the past thirty years
Review: The greatest virtue of this book is that it makes you care. Some of the great wolf books presume already that you have an interest in the subject, like Mech's, as fine and as informative and as authoritative as it is, won't necessarily create a sense of awe like Lopez's. But through a judicious use of scientific and mythological materials, fused together with a marvelous literary sense, Lopez creates an epic retelling of the wolf in North America. Since reading this book for the first time, a host of sections have remained vivid to me. For instance, a schoolroom that is to be visited by a wolf and its handler. The children are asked to make a drawing of a wolf beforehand, and most create a beast with huge and menacing teeth. After the visit, they are told once again to draw a wolf, and this time draw a dog-like animal with enormous paws. No other section of the book emphasized to me how dreadfully we misconceive wolves. Lopez meanders over the course of Western civilization harvesting tales and stories--both scientific and mythic--recounting the myriad ways we have thought about wolves. Few of our imaginings do their fine qualities justice, and most often we demonize them. As a result, the wolf as we know it is largely a creation of our fevered imaginations. Lopez tries to break through the fictions about wolves to focus more on their truer qualities and natures. The heartbreaking pages that end the book bring to mind the great tragedy it was for the North American wolf for Europeans to have discovered America. One might have to cut the book a tiny bit of slack because of the graphics. The pictures are judiciously chosen, and while graphics methods have improved dramatically in the past twenty years due to computer technology, and the book the drawings are superb, the photos good if a tiny bit blurry given their age, and the illustrations highly informative. I especially love the reproduction of the print of a three-year-old Alaskan timber wolf. I used to take the paw of my German Shepherd Birgit and place it over the print, and was astonished at how huge the wolf print was in comparison. This is a truly enjoyable and informative book, one that will enrich and alter the way one looks at nature. Certainly, I now never go to a zoo without a great deal of awe and regret when passing a wolf.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, but drags at times
Review: There is definitley a lot of thought provoking material in Lopez's book, like the placement of wolves in folklore, fables, and mythology, but at times it drags on in lenghly explanations and reads to much like a textbook.
Rating:
Summary: A book on the beauty of wolves and the destruction of men.
Review: This book combines wonderful writings on wolves with the mythology of them, and then goes on to tell of how men have killed wolves throughout history, and why.
A wonderful book for anyone who loves wolves, or wants to find out more about them. I highly recommend reading this book to anyone who has a love of wolves!
Rating:
Summary: A must-read for the serious canid lover.
Review: This book is as deep into the psychology of canids - and humans - as lay language can take us. If you love dogs, are serious about understanding them, and are not afraid to examine the anthropologic relationship between them and us, this book is a must.
|
