Book: We Took To The Woods
Author: Louise Dickinson Rich
Review by: Gene Kansas, cultural developer at Gene Kansas | Commercial Real Estate and founder of Constellations culturally inspired workspace, where Global Atlanta‘s offices are located. Both Gene Kansas and Constellations have sponsored Global Atlanta’s Authors Amplified series of book discussions throughout 2021.
Written in 1942, “We Took to the Woods” is possibly the most approachable and apropos book on our shelves for our current times. It’s about a family living alone in the remote Maine wilderness after the Great Depression and before America plunged more deeply into World War II. It was a stressful time. Americans could relate to being alone out there, and the chapters are organized with clever questions like: “Aren’t the Children a Problem?”, “Don’t You Ever Get Bored?”, “Do You Get Out Very Often?” and “Aren’t You Ever Frightened?”
Sound familiar?
An “instant bestseller” in its day, the book’s message speaks just as much to us 80 years later about the universal bond humans share across eras on this planet. The author’s inimitable escapades of yesteryear answer the reader’s modern-day questions through Dickinson Rich’s life experience, which magically comes across as being held in common with our current predicament, despite being geographically and generationally disparate.
Let’s face it, at some point – like during this pandemic – we’re all alone in the woods, some of us are fortunate enough to seize the moment for reflection and recalibration. It may not be perfect, but reading this book now shows that we can feel solidarity with past generations. Somehow, knowing the immense obstacles they overcame to achieve greatness is comforting, inspiring and motivating.
As if historic cohesion and calm alone were not enough to enjoy the tome, Dickinson Rich also paints a comedic, touching, heartfelt and nature-driven picture of Maine filled with loggers, blueberry pie, frozen tundra, friendships, fishing, potbelly stoves and wild animals that bring the reader along for a ride out of the city and into the country.
Obviously, I highly recommend this book. Want to peruse its pages for an afternoon? Come by Constellations and our North Star Library, where we’ll happily lend our copy along with a nice cup of Refuge Coffee, a fitting accompaniment.
Editor’s notes: Global Atlanta will receive a 10 percent commission on any purchase of this book through the links on this page. Bookshop.org also contributes 10 percent of the purchase price of each book to independent booksellers around the United States.
Each year, Global Atlanta asks influential readers and community leaders to review the most impactful book they read during the course of the year. This endeavor has continued annually since 2010.
See last year’s full list of books on BookShop here, and all 2020 reader reviews here.
All books were chosen and reviews written independently, with only mild editing from our staff.