Thursday, March 10, 2022

Book Review: The Gift of the Wild by Elli H. Radinger


Note: The title of this book has been translated into English by me for the reading comprehension of this blog's viewers as the book itself isn't available in English (yet).

I've read one of Radinger's books, The Wisdom of Wolves, before, and I liked her writing style, so I picked up this book by her. As of now it hasn't been translated into English yet, but who knows, it might happen.

In The Gift of the Wild, Radinger tells of her various experiences in the North American wilderness and the impact it has had on her throughout the years. From long walks through the Grand Canyon to her endless amount of wolf watching trips in Yellowstone, she chronicles her many adventures here while exploring the relationship man has with nature.

Overall this is a just a neat read. I don't have that much to say about it. It's just good. I really expected it to be a little bit more of a book that set out on teaching people things (such as The Wisdom of Wolves), and there are definitely educational sections, but it's just overall a book about Radinger discussing her experiences and man's relationship in and with the wild. There's not much to it, but it honestly doesn't need much more.

It's inspirational to learn of her many journeys she has taken throughout the years and how she wanted to get to know more about various areas/animals just by experiencing them. The first chapters set out on teaching us about Radinger's experiences and man's relationships with various animals, such as coyotes, wolves, grizzlies and whales. The later chapters delve more into nature and certain environments themselves. This makes for a nice variation of subjects covered. I overall liked what I read and how Radinger is very willing to listen and consider different people's opinions on certain matters. 

I guess my only gripe is that I expected a little bit more coverage of non-North American wilderness. Radinger herself is German, so there's plenty of opportunity to discuss man's fragile relationship with nature over there as well (such as the return of wolves to western Europe, which is briefly mentioned but not really expanded on). I guess that the author is just in love with the North American continent, but I just expected a tiny bit more coverage of nature outside of it.

Overall just a nice and relaxing read if you want to learn a bit about nature and read bout Radinger's exploits.

Rating: 4/5
 

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