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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 333.75130971112 EAN: 9780393058871 ISBN: 0393058875 Label: W. W. Norton & Company Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 255 Publication Date: May 09, 2005 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Studio: W. W. Norton & Company Editorial Review: Product Description: A tale of obsession so fierce that a man kills the thing he loves most: the only giant golden spruce on earth. As vividly as Jon Krakauer put readers on Everest, John Vaillant takes us into the heart of North America's last great forest, where trees grow to eighteen feet in diameter, sunlight never touches the ground, and the chainsaws are always at work. When a shattered kayak and camping gear are found on an uninhabited island, they reignite a mystery surrounding a shocking act of protest. Five months earlier, logger-turned-activist Grant Hadwin had plunged naked into a river in British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Islands, towing a chainsaw. When his night's work was done, a unique Sitka spruce, 165 feet tall and covered with luminous golden needles, teetered on its stump. Two days later it fell. The tree, a fascinating puzzle to scientists, was sacred to the Haida, a fierce seafaring tribe based in the Queen Charlottes. Vaillant recounts the bloody history of the Haida and the early fur trade, and provides harrowing details of the logging industry, whose omnivorous violence would claim both Hadwin and the golden spruce. 16 pages of illustrations. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and GreedThe author of The Golden Spruce, John Vaillant, is the best modern writer that I have read in years. This book is so good that I don't just recommend it to friends; I buy copies and send them. I am up to copy #16. Rating: - An extreme form of environmental activism, beautifully written."The Golden Spruce" is one of the few books that I wished there was more by the time I was reading the last page. Beautifully written and highly informative, John Vaillant's book is the "Perfect Storm" and "Into Thin Air" of old-growth coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest, Western British Columbia, and southeastern Alaska and the development of, and the attendant risks involved in, logging. In particular, the book revolves around an extreme act of protest against the lumber industry committed ... Read More Rating:  - The Golden SpruceJohn Vaillant's "The Golden Spruce," is a strangely uneven read. Like many other readers, some of whom are Amazon reviewers, I purchased it because of the connection to Jon Krakauer's work. I do recommend this book. But it comes with a warning: the story line is choppy. There are a number of tangents that Vaillant goes off on. Some are relevant, some not. Some are interesting, some not. The central theme is of course, "why did forester Grant Hadwin do it?" Vaillant's ... Read More Rating:  - There were two freaks of nature to this storyThe story is set in the Northern Pacific coast where in 1997 a crumpled kayak is found beached. The story tries to center itself around a 300 year old rare Sitca Spruce and an individualist named Grant Hadwin bent on fighting the establishment. Hadwin is a fascinating figure and just as questionable: for one night he just goes off into the woods to cut down that 300 year old tree of worship; the golden spruce. There is a lengthy lead-up covering the long history through which the golden ... Read More Rating: - Stunning "Golden Spruce"The Golden Spruce is good for anyone who likes well-written, John McPhee-esque detailed descriptions of nature, cultures, history, personalities. The actual story could probably be written in under 30 pages. The rest is amazing descriptions of the Northwest of Canada. I loved it. I bought three copies to give away, one for my husband's birthday. He loved it. I was fascinated by the stories that allowed the author to showcase the stunning nature. It was fabulous from beginning to end. "Sad" also.... |
