In the Shining Mountains

By David Thomson

Book Overview

Solitary life of a mountain man. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553148214
• ISBN13: 9780553148213
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Mountains

Wonderful book have read it several times now. Thomson's mental and spiritual journey and realization is beautiful and haunting.

Experiences of a Modern Day Mountain Man

What a great book! Even though this is a first person record, it is so well written it reads almost like a novel. The author makes good on his fascination with the mountain men of the early west by setting out into the wilderness on his own. The beauty and dangers of the american rocky mountains unfold as he follows the paths of the original mountain men and searches for himself along the way.

Lyrical, Soul-Stirring Adventure Story

I am lucky enough to have happened upon this book as an impressionable youngster. I guard my now-out-of-print copy carefully. In describing his own story, the author seeks to fulfill his dream to live the lifestyle of an old-time mountain man in the North American Rocky Mountains in the 1970s -- not in the great far northern reaches of Alaska, but down in the lower 48 states where men like Jim Bridger once roamed. He followed through with his dream and found himself unable to find what he sought. Instead, he wandered the most elusive and forgotten mountains only to make a disturbing discovery: he was in midst of the transformation of the US wilderness into small tracts of wild land surrounded by encroaching development from power companies, logging interests, private homes and ski resorts...and a country that seemed unmoved by the changes. Lyrically entwined in his story are tidbits of mountain man lore and history. Despite his sickening disappointment of the death of the once vast American wilderness, Thompson makes a personal journey that is wondrous and magical. The book leaves the reader longing for the same quiet discovery that could bring peace into a soul longing for adventure despite the loss of wild lands and creatures that cannot be regained. He made me so green with envy about his adventures that as an adult I have pursued wilderness conservation and the lost wilderness in my own travels, hiking cross country and appreciating the wonders of Nature I discover along the way. This book was pivotal in my life.