If you enjoyed the Orchid Thief, you will love this book.

books:


	• The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring Richard Preston Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2008 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 75 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Fabulous! It reads like a novel

I just want to add my five stars to weight the average.

The book covers a narrow subject (working in the canopy of very tall trees in temperate rain forests). The cast of characters has a lot of ordinary people. There is quite a bit of botany. It should be dull. But Preston interweaves stories, slowly unveils subjects, continues character development all the way to the last chapter, and makes you care about the characters. He really hit a home run on the text.

But, sad to say, there is a significant fly in the ointment! The book cries out for pictures! I've seen pictures on the web of these people at work - they were actually the trigger to read the book. Ideally this would have been a over sized book with lots of large pictures. But, of course, that would be a different book - and THAT would have rated 6 stars!

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surprisingly great read

I'm not a science person, but I loved this book. It is so well written that the story seems more like fiction. the characters are intriguing. The story introduces the reader to a world few of us have experienced or even considered. We read it for our non-fiction book club, and everyone in the group loved it.

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If you enjoyed the Orchid Thief, you will love this book.

This isn't a book for everyone, but I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a fast paced(although somewhat tedious at times) book. It is a window into the lives of those whose passion is climbing trees, and not just any trees - the tallest trees in the world, the coastal Redwoods of northern CA.

The cover caught my eye and then as I read the jacket, I knew I had to read it, as the setting is near where I grew up. The book is the story - over about a twenty year period - of a number of individuals who are passionate about finding, climbing and scientificially documenting the tops of these majestic giants.

Climbing trees was a passion of mine as a kid and while these"explorers" were grown men and women, there were so many times when I paused and had flashbacks to my own childhood - climbing through the treetops - building forts and treehouses and stringing ropes between trees. I've always loved trees. I just counted and I have about half a dozen paintings of trees in my house, including one I climbed all the time as a kid - the largest madrone tree in the world, until it came down in a storm in 2001.

It was also exciting to peer into the passions of others. It reminded me of the "Orchid Thief" - this is a story about individuals who are so passionate about trees that their lives take second place. The passion is so strong that it becomes their life, their career, their reason for living. This passion leads to death, divorce and heartache, but also life-long and deep relationships, marriage and incredible adventure.

I will definitely remember this story for a long time and the next time I'm visiting the family farm in the backwoods of Humboldt County, I may even climb a tree.

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The Wild Trees - engrossing read

Preston has captured the spirit of a small cadre who have explored the canopy of the tall trees during the past two decades. Fairly enough, the group is very secretive about the locations of and access to the few remaining groves that the rapacious US timber industry has not ravaged. Their passionate defense of some of the oldest and largest living things on earth is a sacred quest which this reviewer enthusiastically endorses. Read this fine book and you will understand.

Who knew?

Who knew that SO MUCH of the old growth forests had been logged? I mean, I knew it had been a LOT, but 97% in Oregon? I am shocked and saddened.

Who knew that no scientists had really begun to explore tall trees canopies until the 1990s? That they were a mystery to science until so recently? An unexplored frontier? How totally exciting!

This book reads in places like a novel, sometimes a thriller, sometimes a romance. In other places, the pure science is fascinating and holds its own. The "characters" are a curious lot of obsessives, and I enjoyed the authors' real entry into their world as more than a passive observer/interviewer. Taking his family on a tree-climbing vacation in Scotland? Wonderful! I hope this book brings much, much attention to the sad status of old growth forests in this country and the world -- I highly recommend it. You will find yourself saying, "Did you know. . . ?" a lot afterwards.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, page 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

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Books Read in 2008 Part I

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