The Book of Yaak by Rick Bass I hate “The Book of Yaak”. This book should not have been written. The fault, however, does not lie with author Rick Bass. Bass’ style is clear and poetic, intermingling of his not-quite-stream-of-consciousness prose seamlessly with the scientific data and information that illustrates the dire situation for his place, the Yaak Valley of Northern Montana, and all of his fellow citizens, lynx, deer, wolves, wood thrush, owls, and grizzlies. “The Book of Yaak” is Rick Bass’ desperate plea, there for anyone who is willing to hear the message, to save this place of wild mystery known as the Yaak. This is the core of Bass’ message: “It is a kind of church, back in these last cores. It may not be your church -- this
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Despite a veritable Noah’s Ark of imperiled species (bull trout, gray wolf, woodland caribou, grizzly bear, wolverine, lynx, fisher, harlequin duck, golden eagle, bald eagle, grate gray owl, peregrine falcon, bog birch, crested shield-fern, water howellia…etc.) none of the biodiverse wilderness of the Yaak valley is protected. “The Book of Yaak” is, at its heart one long plea from Bass to help save his home. He puts himself in between the timber companies and the Yaak despite himself. “I am so much like the creatures in this endangered valley, and in all of the Rockies. All I want is a place to hole up and not be seen.” He acknowledges the balance he must strike, the brittleness brought on by activism and the suppleness of “writing pretty about a place –writing out of celebration.” “The Book of Yaak” is Bass’ way of asking us to join “the army, the small battalion,” of those who would protect the mysteries and beauty of the wilderness for the future. Bass spans a range of emotions in his plea from polite despair, “I don’t mean t be insulting – traveling beyond my valley to ask your help. I know you have similar stories – identical stories – about places there: about every place that’s loved. What would you do? How can the Yaak be saved – the last unprotected roadless areas in it?” imploring anger “Am I explaining it clearly? Is anyone please angry enough to write a …show more content…
More to the point, I hate that this book had to be written. I had no knowledge of the Yaak valley before I came upon this book but thanks to the pictures that Rick Bass was able to paint I feel as though I know it and even if I never go to Montana or the Yaak valley I want to know that it is there in all its glorious mystery. I would highly recommend reading this book but fair warning; this unassuming volume is as deep and dark as the jungles of the Yaak valley. “The Book of Yaak” was published in 1996, nearly a quarter of a century ago, and it is just as relevant now as the day it was printed. We are still facing the same challenges illustrated in this book and it gives me hope that Mr. Bass is still fighting the good fight and that the Yaak is still a place of wilderness and
Despite a veritable Noah’s Ark of imperiled species (bull trout, gray wolf, woodland caribou, grizzly bear, wolverine, lynx, fisher, harlequin duck, golden eagle, bald eagle, grate gray owl, peregrine falcon, bog birch, crested shield-fern, water howellia…etc.) none of the biodiverse wilderness of the Yaak valley is protected. “The Book of Yaak” is, at its heart one long plea from Bass to help save his home. He puts himself in between the timber companies and the Yaak despite himself. “I am so much like the creatures in this endangered valley, and in all of the Rockies. All I want is a place to hole up and not be seen.” He acknowledges the balance he must strike, the brittleness brought on by activism and the suppleness of “writing pretty about a place –writing out of celebration.” “The Book of Yaak” is Bass’ way of asking us to join “the army, the small battalion,” of those who would protect the mysteries and beauty of the wilderness for the future. Bass spans a range of emotions in his plea from polite despair, “I don’t mean t be insulting – traveling beyond my valley to ask your help. I know you have similar stories – identical stories – about places there: about every place that’s loved. What would you do? How can the Yaak be saved – the last unprotected roadless areas in it?” imploring anger “Am I explaining it clearly? Is anyone please angry enough to write a …show more content…
More to the point, I hate that this book had to be written. I had no knowledge of the Yaak valley before I came upon this book but thanks to the pictures that Rick Bass was able to paint I feel as though I know it and even if I never go to Montana or the Yaak valley I want to know that it is there in all its glorious mystery. I would highly recommend reading this book but fair warning; this unassuming volume is as deep and dark as the jungles of the Yaak valley. “The Book of Yaak” was published in 1996, nearly a quarter of a century ago, and it is just as relevant now as the day it was printed. We are still facing the same challenges illustrated in this book and it gives me hope that Mr. Bass is still fighting the good fight and that the Yaak is still a place of wilderness and