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  • Alaskan Retreater's Notebook

  • One Man's Journey into the Alaskan Wilderness
  • By: Ray Ordorica
  • Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
  • Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (110 ratings)
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Alaskan Retreater's Notebook cover art

Alaskan Retreater's Notebook

By: Ray Ordorica
Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
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Summary

In the fall of 1978, Ray Ordorica packed everything he thought he would need into his Toyota LandCruiser and drove north to Alaska. He came to a land he had never seen, to find something he wasn't even sure existed: a wilderness cabin he could use for a year or more to live, think, relax, read, and write. Ordorica found his cabin, fixed it up, and, although it was just an un-insulated 12- by 16-foot one-room log structure, he spent three winters in it in relative comfort.

Ordorica's life in that cabin fulfilled a dream he had had for more than 10 years. During his long winters in Alaska, it occurred to him that there must be many others who have put off an extended wilderness visit out of ignorance or fear. They have as many questions about Alaska as he had before he arrived: How do you cope with 40 below? How do you get water? Is it totally dark in mid-winter? These questions and many more gave Ordorica the idea to write the Alaskan Retreater's Notebook, an epic memoir about one man's journey into the Alaskan wilderness. With his wisdom, you will learn how to live with the country, and not against it.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2016 Ray Ordorica (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Alaskan Retreater's Notebook

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Weird little book, still fun

What a weird little book this is. I enjoyed it a lot in some parts, was raising my eyebrows in others. All in all it was a fun listen, though.

Some words of caution/praise:

Caution: This is NOT an actual book to get if you want to move to Alaska. It touts itself as a practical journal, but the events described happened 20 to 40 years ago so the info is not relevant anymore at all. For instance he squats on a partially abandoned military base for a while which to me does not seem like a well thought-out plan nowadays. No use of internet, no relevant laws, nothing. Some portions also describe his life just living in cities going from odd job to odd job and those parts are not really interesting at all. Some portions are weirdly boastful about having 'a young girlfriend' and hanging out with rich directors of oil companies. A little tone deaf and not in touch with the theme of the book. He is also a self-proclaimed gun nut and writes articles for gun magazines for a living, so there is a LOT of gun-talk. Depending on your own interests, this may either be a plus or a negative.

Praise:
Large portions of the book do describe his life in Alaska and those are pretty fun to listen to. Mind you, he's not deep in the wilderness Dick Proenneke - style, just in a remote area. I liked hearing his somewhat eccentric tales. At one point he tries to shoot a hole in the ice to create a fishing spot and the way this obviously ridiculous action is described had me laughing out loud. His concerns and love for animals/nature/wildlife are also pretty touching and told in an engaging way.

What helps to sell all this is the top notch narration. Davies does not have the type of voice that I would normally enjoy, but it suits the material SO well here. I was honestly surprised that it wasn't the author narrating it, because he sounded exactly like I imagined a guy like Ordorica would sound. Due to this narration this book is like listening to a guy sitting next to you in a bar telling you interesting tales about his previous life. Nothing life-shattering, but fun for an evening.

This title is free on plus now and it is worth trying out in terms of time investment. if I had gotten it for a full credit I would have been a bit 'meh'. but if I had gotten it in a 2 for 1 sale I would have considered it a good deal.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

if you like Alaska the Final frontier try this

really enjoyable, I preferred the journal information but the survival tips were good too. I found the stories about his pet critters very sweet

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

primarily a list of items to bring along

At least the first 50% of the books consists of a reading out of which items to bring along and why when moving to Alaska. I soon started finding that tedious.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

The title says it all

If you were hoping for an adventure read this is not it. That was my mistake, anticipating this. The excitement factor is completely absent,
If however you are looking for the Alaskan outback equivalent of a ‘how to’ car repair manual then I have to recommend this. The author has in my opinion ( based on the first 2 hours and then I stopped) provided a good DIY for anyone who is thinking about a similar venture.
This book was simply not for me

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyable

It's informative, entertaining, funny and towards the end even quite moving. It's also read very well.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I loved this book

Great listening on my way to & from work. The narrator has a fantastic story telling voice. Great tails with the animals.
I would listen to it again.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting and insightful

Honestly struggling to review this book as the narrator's voice is distinctly female, so my enjoyment was more because I thought I was listening to a hardcore middle aged/ageing woman take on the elements and wild Alaska.

Upon searching for more it turns out this is not so.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

A bit self absorbed, but easy listening!

I would have been disappointed if I had used funds for this. It’s a long winded story that has some eyebrow raising moments, monologues about how great the author is and guns.

Descriptively brings the environment to life, although city scenes are dated as to be expected. Performance was good, emotive and engaging narrator. Would listen to him again.

Despite the glass gazing tendencies of Dr Doolittle it was an easy listen if you find yourself with little else to do.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Pretty Good......

Pretty good tail of going off grid in the Alaskan bush. There was plenty of interesting detail into how to survive in those conditions and the narration helped me to picture the scenes being described. The author clearly has a love of guns which took up too much time for my liking. There was some repetition but all in all I enjoyed this audiobook.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good Listen

Very interesting listen, well worth the time. Would love to have the bottle to live in this way

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