Alaska

Rating:
Summary: This book inspired me to move to Alaska.
Review: This is the first "thick" book I ever finished. Having put-it-down-itis, I avoided books of great magnitude. Not so in this case. I had attempted to read "Chesapeake" & very much enjoyed the first ten chapters. I liked Michener's style: taking a specific geographic area and tell it's story through individual people occupying it's space, combining fiction with reality. He captured the mystique Alaska holds from the forming of the land masses to the present day.

He writes of woolly mammoths being hunted by early man through the mammoths' eyes, and then the following chapter through the perspective of the hunters. Michener conveys the struggle of survival from both sides with great emotion. He follows the speculative history of early nomadic tribes following their food supply across the Bering Strait.

Mr. Michener then reveals early voyages from people such as Captain Cook and how they survived harsh winters while their ships were frozen in the Alaskan seas.

Then Russian explorers establish military forts and desire to "save the barbaric savages" they discover when they arrive. Following are the bloody battles they fought with them.

The book unfolds further with Seward's Folly and the Gold Rush and of how the United States government persuaded some of its more adventuresome citizens into creating a new life in the last American frontier. This book also reveals the continuing struggle between the "progress" of corporations using Alaska's natural resources such as fish and oil and how it affects the Native inhabitants and how companies in Seattle "the gateway to Alaska" took advantage of it's close proximity at the expense of the Alaskan people.

The late Mr. Michener writes through the unique perspectives of the characters he creates and borrows from history. If I continue, this will be as long as the book!

Rating:
Summary: This book inspired me to move to Alaska.
Review: This is the first "thick" book I ever finished. Having put-it-down-itis, I avoided books of great magnitude. Not so in this case. I had attempted to read "Chesapeake" & very much enjoyed the first ten chapters. I liked Michener's style: taking a specific geographic area and tell it's story through individual people occupying it's space, combining fiction with reality. He captured the mystique Alaska holds from the forming of the land masses to the present day.

He writes of woolly mammoths being hunted by early man through the mammoths' eyes, and then the following chapter through the perspective of the hunters. Michener conveys the struggle of survival from both sides with great emotion. He follows the speculative history of early nomadic tribes following their food supply across the Bering Strait.

Mr. Michener then reveals early voyages from people such as Captain Cook and how they survived harsh winters while their ships were frozen in the Alaskan seas.

Then Russian explorers establish military forts and desire to "save the barbaric savages" they discover when they arrive. Following are the bloody battles they fought with them.

The book unfolds further with Seward's Folly and the Gold Rush and of how the United States government persuaded some of its more adventuresome citizens into creating a new life in the last American frontier. This book also reveals the continuing struggle between the "progress" of corporations using Alaska's natural resources such as fish and oil and how it affects the Native inhabitants and how companies in Seattle "the gateway to Alaska" took advantage of it's close proximity at the expense of the Alaskan people.

The late Mr. Michener writes through the unique perspectives of the characters he creates and borrows from history. If I continue, this will be as long as the book!

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating story
Review: This novel is an informative and in-depth historical yet fictional story. It tells of the struggles of American visionaries who fought to acquire the Alaskan territory from Russia and China. It was a great mix of fact and fiction, typical of the Michener style.

Rating:
Summary: My First Michener
Review: When I was about 12 my mother told me that she was tired of buying me Hardy Boys books which I would whiz through in about an hour. Books had starting climbing in price and it was getting pretty costly. So I asked my mom what she wanted to do for a solution. She produced a book that had to be almost 2 inches thick to my young eyes. The title was Alaska. I was quite intimidated by the size of the book but since I was a bookworm I decided to try Mr. Michener out. By the end of the first chapter I was hooked. James Michener's impeccable research methods and character developments were genius. I had finally found a favorite author. I've read several of his books since. His books require a lot of time of course. Right now I'm working on Chesapeake. But, I will never forget Alaska. I'll remember the Tlingit, the stories of the pelt salesmen, the Yukon, etc. Michener makes historical fiction far more enjoyable than one would imagine.

Rating:
Summary: one of the best books ever
Review: Without trepidation i would have to say that this is one of the best books that i have ever read. I have never been there but this book makes me want to go. highly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: The story of Alaska in all its glory!
Review: Written in 1998, Alaska is true to James Michener's mode of sweeping epic, historical facts and memorable characters. I personally love books about Alaska and because of its length, I purposely took my time reading it, looking forward each evening to opening the pages and losing myself once more in this special world.

This is the story of Alaska in all its glory. From the anthropological details of early animals and human beings, right up to the late 1980s, the main focus is on the last few hundred years. There are the early explorers who were awed by its majesty. There were the first Russian settlements with strong and courageous people. There was the gold rush. And the beginnings of the salmon industry. The horrors of colonialism. The lawlessness. The quest for statehood. And the politics.

Most of all though, it is the story of a place. And because the timeline of the book spans hundreds of years, the characters are interesting but somewhat one-dimensional. We follow their family lines, but they come and go, leaving legacies for future generations but never really being developed to their fullest.

I loved the book for what it was though, a background to all the other books I've been reading about Alaska lately. Thankfully, the author informed the reader in a chapter by chapter prologue exactly what was based on fact and what was truly fiction. Yes, someone did once ride a bike from Dawson to Nome in the dead of winter. And yes, some of the deeds of the early sea captains were taken from actual records.

Again, because the book covers many centuries, there is a limit to how deeply he could go into a theme. For example, I would have liked more about the different native peoples. It's impossible to do it all. But James Michener sure did try.

I do feel that this book is a worthy read and I do recommend it. Give yourself time though to let yourself be swept into this wonderful story of Alaska. There's certainly a lot to learn.