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Los búfalos de Broken Heart: La aventura de recobrar una vida noble y salvaje by Dan O'Brien
ann40's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
judetchi's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
The author strikes me as a really sensitive person, both because of his land preservation ethos and his poetic writing style. He is deeply critical of the way that farming and ranching are done, but can sense and describe the greys of people in a compassionate manner.
It got a tad bit repetitive by the very end and the afterword, but it was overall really enjoyable and educational to me. I liked the way that his thoughts unfolded along with the story. His descriptions of the grasslands, the animals and the people were always vivid and interesting.
It got a tad bit repetitive by the very end and the afterword, but it was overall really enjoyable and educational to me. I liked the way that his thoughts unfolded along with the story. His descriptions of the grasslands, the animals and the people were always vivid and interesting.
saraep9's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.5
kairosdreaming's review against another edition
4.0
So I actually expected this book to be more of a memoir of sorts. And in a way it was, but largely, it was what the cover said, "restoring life to a black hills ranch." More specifically, restoring buffalo to the land.
Dan O'Brien has owned a ranch in the Black Hills for some time. And he started out with cattle. But like most ranchers in the area, making ends meet with this type of ranching is near impossible. So much so that he has to take jobs elsewhere just to make the mortgage payment. But in addition to being a rancher, O'Brien is also a teacher, ecologist, and so many more roles and he's interested in bringing the wildlife back to the Black Hills after years of overgrazing. One step further has him start raising Buffalo instead of cattle and while he's a novice to begin with, he learns as he goes. This book greatly details how running a sustainable Buffalo farm works for O'Brien and his hardships and triumphs within the first few years.
O'Brien talks about the Buffalo in this book mainly, but there are small snippets of his life. From his sadness over his divorce, his joy in children discovering the buffalo, and just getting along with his neighbors, we can see that overall he's a good person, who's committed to the land. He doesn't hesitate to point out flaws, like the sloppiness of the guy who helps him work the ranch, but he is kind about it and still makes sure to point out all the good things too. And he cares about all the animals. From the falcons he keeps as a hobby, to the bird dogs, to the buffalo themselves, he doesn't mistreat them. He lets nature take it's course and doesn't add any cruelty to it. He lets them be animals.
I'm not going to lie, I did find this book dull at times. Most specifically when he is at auction buying more buffalo. I much prefer his descriptions of them out on the land and the care of them. Even the roundups are kind of exciting, but still not nearly as good as him just describing the land. And it is nice he's still making it work, even selling the meat on the internet through his wildideabuffalo site. He's a believer in not finishing his buffalo in feed lots, and that's admirable. O'Brien does a good job describing the life of a rancher. It's not glorious or romantic and you can tell you really have to love what you're doing to stay in the business.
An inspiring read. I definitely learned a lot more about buffalo than I ever knew before.
Buffalo for the Broken Heart
Copyright 2001
254 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2013
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
Dan O'Brien has owned a ranch in the Black Hills for some time. And he started out with cattle. But like most ranchers in the area, making ends meet with this type of ranching is near impossible. So much so that he has to take jobs elsewhere just to make the mortgage payment. But in addition to being a rancher, O'Brien is also a teacher, ecologist, and so many more roles and he's interested in bringing the wildlife back to the Black Hills after years of overgrazing. One step further has him start raising Buffalo instead of cattle and while he's a novice to begin with, he learns as he goes. This book greatly details how running a sustainable Buffalo farm works for O'Brien and his hardships and triumphs within the first few years.
O'Brien talks about the Buffalo in this book mainly, but there are small snippets of his life. From his sadness over his divorce, his joy in children discovering the buffalo, and just getting along with his neighbors, we can see that overall he's a good person, who's committed to the land. He doesn't hesitate to point out flaws, like the sloppiness of the guy who helps him work the ranch, but he is kind about it and still makes sure to point out all the good things too. And he cares about all the animals. From the falcons he keeps as a hobby, to the bird dogs, to the buffalo themselves, he doesn't mistreat them. He lets nature take it's course and doesn't add any cruelty to it. He lets them be animals.
I'm not going to lie, I did find this book dull at times. Most specifically when he is at auction buying more buffalo. I much prefer his descriptions of them out on the land and the care of them. Even the roundups are kind of exciting, but still not nearly as good as him just describing the land. And it is nice he's still making it work, even selling the meat on the internet through his wildideabuffalo site. He's a believer in not finishing his buffalo in feed lots, and that's admirable. O'Brien does a good job describing the life of a rancher. It's not glorious or romantic and you can tell you really have to love what you're doing to stay in the business.
An inspiring read. I definitely learned a lot more about buffalo than I ever knew before.
Buffalo for the Broken Heart
Copyright 2001
254 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2013
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
chocodile28's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
jo_crescent's review against another edition
4.0
Picked this up to send to a cowboy friend in Montana & decided to read it first. Surprisingly readable, if stark & depressing in parts, particularly reading about the great slaughter of the buffalos. Appreciated how he wound history, biology, botany into his own story. In that way, it reminded me of another favorite, The Green Mile.
margardenlady's review against another edition
5.0
This completely charmed me. Kind of a modern day Sand County Almanac with an economic sidelight. Dan tells the story of how he end d up bidon ranching in SD. And the tale is leavened liberally with historical references and environmental background and life. Simple life - in which you are finding joy in everyday occurrences as you keep your personal wolves at bay.
repixpix's review against another edition
1.0
¿Dónde está la nobleza en criar animales "casi extintos" para hacer dinero vendiendo su carne?
¿Dónde está la nobleza en cazar sin necesidad o en tener perros en jaulas a la intemperie?
Un libro más donde se presume de la falta de empatía con los animales.
¿Dónde está la nobleza en cazar sin necesidad o en tener perros en jaulas a la intemperie?
Un libro más donde se presume de la falta de empatía con los animales.
kathleenitpdx's review against another edition
4.0
This is a wonderful book. Dan O’Brien writes about his experiences owning and running a ranch in South Dakota that he decides to convert from cattle to buffalo. Along the way he tells stories of his predecessors, the land and his neighbors as well as the buffalo that he gathers. I laughed at his gentle humor and shed tears as he describes his own over the tragedy that neighbors suffer. He agonizes over the decisions that he (and other ranchers and farmers) has to make. He paints a wonderful portrait of his land. One of the reasons I read is to experience vicariously lives that I never will--both the things I have in common with others and those that are different. O’Brien has given me a moving description of his own challenging and interesting life.