Libre
Member
I'm reading Alaska, by James Michener.
At first, I found his style to be sparse, which is odd, considering the book is like 1000 pages. But once I got used to it, well, I'm totally enthralled by the book.
He starts from the geological formation of Alaska, through prehistoric times, continues through the age of the mastadons and mammoths, sabre tooth tigers, ice ages, eskimos, alutian islanders, Russian fur trades, Indian wars, sale of Alaska to US, settlers, gold rush, and oil pipeline. Skips 10,000 years here and there, but pretty much it's a continuous history of Alaska from its formation to the present day.
I haven't finished it yet - I'm in the gold rush right now.
This is not a dry history book - and all the way through, there are made-up (and some factual) characters, their adventures, their relationships, it's just awesome! People are born, they grow up, they have children, Alaska develops, their children have children, they get older, Alaska develops, they die, their children get old, they die, THEIR childred get old, and the passage of time is palpable.
One reason this is so fascinating, is that I was there last month! Some of the places described - especially in the gold rush section, I was just there! I can visualize exactly what he is describing. His descriptions are so good that I can do that even where I haven't been in the places he's writing about, but it lends an added element of realism when I know I've stood in the spot he's talking about.
Needless to say, I highly recommend the book.
It's a wonder.
Here are my pictures, by the way:
http://marcfriedlander.com/cruise_to_alaska.htm
At first, I found his style to be sparse, which is odd, considering the book is like 1000 pages. But once I got used to it, well, I'm totally enthralled by the book.
He starts from the geological formation of Alaska, through prehistoric times, continues through the age of the mastadons and mammoths, sabre tooth tigers, ice ages, eskimos, alutian islanders, Russian fur trades, Indian wars, sale of Alaska to US, settlers, gold rush, and oil pipeline. Skips 10,000 years here and there, but pretty much it's a continuous history of Alaska from its formation to the present day.
I haven't finished it yet - I'm in the gold rush right now.
This is not a dry history book - and all the way through, there are made-up (and some factual) characters, their adventures, their relationships, it's just awesome! People are born, they grow up, they have children, Alaska develops, their children have children, they get older, Alaska develops, they die, their children get old, they die, THEIR childred get old, and the passage of time is palpable.
One reason this is so fascinating, is that I was there last month! Some of the places described - especially in the gold rush section, I was just there! I can visualize exactly what he is describing. His descriptions are so good that I can do that even where I haven't been in the places he's writing about, but it lends an added element of realism when I know I've stood in the spot he's talking about.
Needless to say, I highly recommend the book.
It's a wonder.
Here are my pictures, by the way:
http://marcfriedlander.com/cruise_to_alaska.htm
