Turn Around Time: A Walking Poem for the Pacific Northwest

by David Guterson (Introduction), Justin Gibbens (Illustrator)

Reflections on life and landscape expressed in elegant verse By the New York Times best-selling author of Snow Falling on Cedars
Beautiful, illustrated package
Most outdoor enthusiasts understand the phrase "turn around time" as that point in an adventure when you must cease heading out in order to have enough time to safely return to camp or home--regardless of whether you have reached your destination. For award-winning novelist David Guterson, it is also a metaphor for where we find ourselves in the middle of our lives, and his new narrative poem explores this idea through a lyrical journey along a trail, much like those in Washington's mountain ranges he hiked while growing up.

Even outdoor-lovers who are not normally readers of poetry will relate to the physicality of hiking represented here, from endless trail switchbacks to foot and ankle pains. There is a fast-moving, propulsive quality to David's writing, with lush language, vivid imagery, and pacing that resonates as a journey on foot. His words are brought further to life by the delicate yet mythical illustrations by award-winning artist Justin Gibbens.

Genres: Poetry, Nature, Nonfiction, Travel, American

139 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2019

About the author

David Guterson is an American novelist.

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this. I *love* the idea — a rhythmic walking poem meant for people in the woods, on the mountain. And while it’s true that if you’re spending several days with someone in the woods, there will be times you hate their guts, more of this book was dedicated to salty old man musings about his trail partner than I would’ve liked, when the alternatives are the wonders of the forest. It was ok.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

For several summers after high school, Seattle-born David Guterson worked on the brush-disposal crew for the US Forest Service in Randle Washington, with access to Mt. St. Helens, Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, and "daily dwelling in the high country." In the 1980s, our poet taught English and composition and wrote the award-winning Snow Falling Cedar.

For several summers after high school, Seattle-born David Guterson worked on the brush-disposal crew for the US Forest Service in Randle Washington, with access to Mt. St. Helens, Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, and "daily dwelling in the high country." In the 1980s, he taught English and composition and wrote the award-winning Snow Falling Cedar.

You perhaps and I grew up appreciating that it is a good idea to have a plan and adequate provisions on a journey. Yet, we come to know that sometimes, it is time to turn around rather than reach the summit.

"We follow the rule that governs our dominion:

beware of the trail wherever it takes you.
Getting a little lost might be beneficial,
but marooned for good, that's limiting.
Recall the more productive forms of madness—
dancing, babbling, certainty, poetry—

and there you have it, as in a slide of flailing misery,
unflagged for a crossing.
We'd have to find our trail on the other side,
the earth upended.
It wasn't in your guide—the unexpected."

I envision Sasquatch sneaking up on an alpinist, hugging and laughing before running back into hiding -- he, he, he.

[Teya Z · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5?

Still trying to get into more poetry. My low rating might be because I don’t read enough of the genre. I just couldn’t stay focused.

Some very strong prose in this one and some not so much. Found the lyricism was in-tune with how I imagine a trek. That was pretty neat.

A lulling read.... not in a bad way.

[Nancy Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This just didn't grab me the way poetry I like grabs me. It was unremarkable at best. It felt like the author was trying to be clever, but didn't actually say anything.

[Jasper Hickox · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few bangers, a few big duds and some good and some bad. Reading poetry stuff was fun because you have to read it so differently. I’ll definitely be coming back to the ones I really liked

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Might be better if you know a lot more words than I do. I felt like it was hard to follow and one piece of that was there were often multiple esoteric words on a page that I would either have to look up or just move ahead not knowing what they meant, and the context wasn't always enough to guess.

[Susan Lampe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book to treasure. David Guterson shares his love of mountains, and their trails through stories of mountain lore, poetry and incredible artwork. He leads us through his own introduction to the natural world influenced by his Uncle Henry Shain. He also tells us how poetry became part of his life. The title of Guterson's book and many of the poems lead the reader repeatedly to the haunting question of a climber--when to turn around on the trail. This is a book to add to your library, one to take out many times and reread.

[Bill O'Neill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I think of "Turn Around Time" and that's probably good. I guess I expected it to be more like somethings by Gary Snyder, Mary Oliver or Donald Hall, but it's not. I assumed it would be about midlife or late-life, and it is. But it also concerns a hiking partner, who is hard to like, which may be the author's alter-ego. My copy is dog-earred on many pages which I want to reread and consider - preferably while walking - before re-reading the entire poem. I think that's a good sign. The places and most of the experiences and feelings are familiar to me, after spending a lot of time in the western mountains over more than fifty years. I'm surprised not to learn what happens to the hikers toward the end and when they return. I doubt that people who don't live and hike in western Washington will be able to relate to this as so many all over the globe identified with "Snow Falling on Cedars". Those of us here, especially of a certain age, should appreciate Guterson's having published something special for us - though it is so introspective that I'm sure he HAD to WRITE it. Now I need to try harder to appreciate it. It made me glad I have made it a habit to walk alone most of the time.

[Christopher Matthias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turn Around Time: A Walking Poem for the Pacific Northwest is a different kind of poetry book. It functions like a long but segmented epic poem, with each section unique in its contribution to the whole. What delights is the imagery of the Pacific Northwest paired with both the common experience of outdoors lovers and detailed personal encounters along with internal monologue.

Some of what is challenging with this book is that at points the poetry grows more cryptic and it becomes challenging to stay emotionally present to the text.

Ultimately, this is an exquisite text, but like ascending a mountain, there are periods requiring sustained effort and other times that are refreshing and bright with beauty.

[Jenesis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to think of this book. There are portions of it that are beautifully written and capture the feeling of being outdoors and really working for it. But mostly, the book comes off as the inner rantings of an honery old man who's sick and tired of hiking and is annoyed with his hiking buddy. I expected an exultation of the wonders of the PNW, a celebration of nature's beauty and instead got David Guterson muttering to himself about how annoying his companion is. I mean, is David Guterson okay? Is this the point of the book? To show the maybe-not-so-glamorous side of the outdoors? If it is the point, he succeeded. Beside the overall tone, there were parts that were beautiful and incredibly lyric with nice alliteration and wordplay. I loved the use of illustration. Overall though, I guess this book is just not for me.

[Rowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid PNW poetry. Gorgeous illustrations.

[John Sperling · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Guterson writes with celebratory roughness and a good dose of the mystical. His poems are full of grit, mirth, and a palpable sense of wildness. I consulted the dictionary multiple times, which is actually something I appreciate in a writer because I enjoy expanding my vocabulary (Strunk and White notwithstanding).

I like the way the title plays with time. Our world is full of time-savers and things which allow us to make the most of our time while hurrying us rapidly towards death, a fact which we are perpetually conditioned to ignore. These poems flip the script, throw out the clocks, and allow the reader to savor the journey, one step at a time. And at the apex of the trek, when it's time to turn around and head back on the inbound trail, you can take a glance skyward and be thankful there are poets like Guterson out there, doing their raw, efficient, random, singular work.

[Gabriela Teixeira · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book did not work for me. I picked it for the prompt PNW Nature of the library summer bingo, but was very disappointed. I admit I'm very hard to please when it comes to poetry, but the main problem with this book wasn't even that, the poetry was okay-ish. But the main issue I had was that the contents of it was so annoying. I was expecting that the author would either tell the story of his hikes in verse (expected some rhymes and rhythm, which I couldn't really find here), or that he would write an ode to the outdoors and the nature he encounters during his hikes that would depict nice images. Instead he whined about the hardships of the walks, complaint about his companion, the trail, the gear.... To be fair there was one or two poems that talked about the nature around, but even on these I could not "see" a pretty picture of the PNW.

[Alison M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I did. I think if I regularly read poetry I probably would have liked it more. I was interested in reading it as I hike in the Pacific Northwest. All the poetry was beautiful but there was honestly a lot of vocabulary I wasn’t certain on, which made it harder to appreciate what was trying to be conveyed. I enjoyed the parts of it that I read slower. I would definitely recommend slower reading to other readers. Try to savor every stanza. It’s just a lot of stanzas to try to do that for each one! Which gets back to, I probably would have enjoyed this more if I read poetry on a regular basis. The illustrations were beautiful, and the physical book feels really nice to hold.

[Kasey Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Turn around time” is an alpinist’s notion—that preplanned moment when, no matter what, it’s time to reverse course and head back. The principle acknowledges an unstoppable coming darkness and the prospect of tragic outcomes spurred by hubris; it mitigates against both; it commits to the prudent; it speaks against enticement; it wells up in the pit of the stomach when a summit makes its siren’s call. All this to say that it’s fundamentally rational. Many narratives of fatality compel it. There’s no small irony in the fact that turn around time gets established—or not—long before it’s needed. Our fate is laid down far in advance. Already, now, we’re dictating our futures. It can be too late very early, as it turns out.”

[pennyg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this but sadly I did not. If a person can have a close connection to a location, my heart belongs to the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., so I had very high hopes. The author describes this as a walking poem, rhythmically propulsive. The act of hiking the trail physically and as a metaphor for life's journey in text and title. The title references that pre-planned moment when, no matter what, its time to reverse course and head back. All the elements are there it just didn't touch me emotionally, and for me that's what poetry is all about. That's not to say its bad and it just may be a case of its me not you. Its a small little book that would fit nicely in a back pack with lovely illustrations by Justin Gibbens.

[Mark Valentine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This voyage, this trek, this journey of words out and back has the audacity to be ever alert on every page. Imagine. Walking in the Olympics with an everyman companion and being keen on the terrain, the trees, the vistas, the fauna, and the experience lived.

I can trace T. S. Eliot, Dante, and even maybe Rothke in these lines. Guterson's language is so rich with lustre and timbre--twin qualities of sight and sound--that it makes for a slow walk through the stanzas. I am not sure I made all the connections with only one reading, but it invites multiple readings to appreciate this.

I learned in reading this to be cognizant of matching the experience to the language and back again. That's my turn around: To go out with the journey and arrive with the experience.

[Barbara Ginsberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I needed a Written in Verse book for a reading challenge. Had read a few books by Guterson and admired his fictional writing so this was a safe bet. His words flowed well and as a hiker I appreciated his thoughts on Nature. He captured the feelings and thoughts one can have while hiking which are different than other parts of one’s Life. Alone with nature frees your mind.

I really enjoyed about half the poems. Others were more complex and so I read twice to gain understanding. And there were some verses I could have looked up historical phrases and words I didn’t know. But it was the flow of language that I enjoyed. But overall I enjoyed this book. I am not an avid reader of poetry and had to push to the end. Kind of like pushing that last mile on a hike.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

It does seem the reflections of a tired, uninspired, foot-dragging hiker who has lost the joy of living in the wonders of the woods and mountains. Mr. Guterson seems to be leaning on fellows (none other), without sufficient attribution (weak acknowledgement note) - directly quoting lines without quotation marks and stanzas paraphrasing the ideas of stronger writers and poets. Weak as prose-poetry - neither evocative nor satisfying. Obviously, after Snow Falling on Cedars, I was greatly disappointed, as was my amazing reader (English-major, professor) wife.
Since someone else might find more in this effort than I and my wife, we donated it to our local library book-sale.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many poems, the first read-through (which is all I’ve done so far) of this novel in verse is only enough for me to get a general sense of the meaning. I think a re-read, probably with a dictionary in hand, would be a great way to both appreciate and understand Guterson’s intentions on a deeper level. Even so, as someone who loves the beauty of nature as well as masterful navigation of language, many passages resonated with me. Like some of my favorite trails, this book begs me to return to it, though I know there are many others I might explore before I do.

* I LOVE the illustrations by Justin Gibbens!

[Gregory Lamb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guterson's sweet compact collection of poems that connect the reader to nature, isn't a book that you can say you've ever finished. Why? Because this kind of poetry has style, memory, nostalgia, and a very strong sense place. I admit that I am not an avid reader of poetry, but I will come back to several of the poems that Guterson has put into the palm of my hand.

Though if I only had the choice to read a kindle/digital version, I would go for it. However, John Gibbens's illustrations are a treasure in themselves. Get hold of a printed copy - leave it out where visitors will pick it up. The illustrations will grab them and they will read...

[Claudia Skelton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This narrative poem focuses on the author's journeys through Pacific Northwest mountain ranges. It is also a metaphor for how we are in the middle or later part of our lives. When we are on a journey we often realize that we have to turn around and then go back. The illustrations add to the book. I also think it would be worth reading again to better get a sense of the author's meaning from the very beginning.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being a fan of David Guterson's novels I had hopes that this would be dramatic and interesting. Unfortunately I found it not so appealing. The introduction made it clear that it was written for hikers and climbers, and though I've done a bit that's not me, and it also made me a bit guilty I haven't done more exploring in my adopted Northwest home. The poetry itself became long winded and repetitive in form and substance. Maybe this was just not for me.

[Mandy Applin Northwoods · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love poetry, and you love hiking, you'll also love this really neat little book. It's a little "twisty" in spots, and a little humorous in others, and extremely clever in the way that it's composed. There are some references specific to the Pacific NW. The book is divided into "out" and "back" and I really fell in love with the author's cleverness, especially the last chapter/poem "The Crux".

[Katie Bliss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an amusing book of poetry that felt authentic as I have done a bit of hiking around the Pacific Northwest (just a taste, compared to his experience). I loved the illustrations and the whimsy he added, along with the realism of hiking in and out in this beautiful, but many times soggy landscape.

"We're ready for them now.
We've walked in blasts before,

and will not ask this latest rain
to stop or falter.
We've got it down our necks again
and dry our tears with it and go on walking."

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, melodious stanzas of the hiking experience in the Pacific NW. Having hiked much here in Washington and Oregon, I could relate to the wonders and pitfalls captured in Guterson's enthralling verse. He captures the essence of the land, the wildlife, the effort, the weather, all that we encounter on foot on wilderness trails. Favorites, #5 The Weight of Windfall and #2 The Inner Amble.

[Sugavanesh Balasubramanian · Rating 3 out of 5]

As other reviewers mentioned, I had a dictionary by my side all the time. I never felt so much complex about my vocabulary before ;) Originally, I planned to read this on a hike, by a lake or at the summit. Glad, I didn't do that.

I personally loved the pacing and the meandering thoughts in the second half. Easily able to relate to some of those verses on the hikes in PNW.

[Egbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A treasure book. David Guterson is one of my favorite authors, in this book he shares his love of mountains, hiking trails through poem stories of mountain. What I also like is the the great artwork. He let us participate on how he has been influenced by his Uncle Henry Shain, how poetry became part of his life. However, for non native English speaker it's not an easy read, but worth the effort

[Bill Yake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorry, I found this look poem mediocre -- and, at times, even tedious. Sometimes verbose. Rarely engaged with the wild world Guterson is presumably traversing. And, as others have noted here, often grumpy. There are so many poems out there that do a better job of connecting with walking the woods, the ridges, and the wilderness.

[Donny Forbes · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the author of Snow Falling on Cedars comes Rain Falling on Pines and Firs. Being poetry this may have just gone right on over my head, yet I still believe it is just a collection of incredibly boring and grey (pun absolutely intended) poems for the PNW.
Then again, I may just be an idiot.