The Fur Country

Rating:
Summary: Classic Verne in the Arctic Circle
Review: I bought this book last fall, and after a month or two it finally arrived from England. It was worth the wait. Excellent. The story is captivating and the characters are memorable. The environmental issues cannot go unnoticed, nor can the allusions to Noah's Ark. Verne takes some shots at the fur industry of North America during the mid-1800s. He criticizes their endless and mindless killing of animals just for the purpose of making a buck. The story also demonstrates the will of man and the power of faith in God when facing seemingly insurmountable odds.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Jules Verne book both adults and kids will enjoy!
Review: The story is set in the 1860's and is about several people from a fur company in Canada who set out on a journey to find a open a new store. They have to bulid it above the 70th parallel because that is where all the most animals are to be found in the area. They set out from their store in central Canada and head towards the west coast of Canada. Also with them comes a woman and her housekeeper whom she treats like a sister. This woman has traveled all over the world and now wants to discover the wetern part of Canada. Also along is an astronomer who came to study the solar eclipse that will be totally visible along the 70th parallel the following year.
The story talks about their adventures on their journey, finding the perfect location for the store, life at the store and how theire store turns out to be built on a piece of ice that breaks apart from Canada and begins floating in the far Northern Pacific Ocean.
Jules Verene makes you feel like you are there in northwestern Canada with his descriptions of the scenery. Verne also describes the characters and how they feel in a way that makes you feel for the characters and hope that they make it to saftey when the land becomes an island.
This is an excellent book about Canada and the landscape and climate of the area, and about the fur trading business that went for a long time in our history. This is another wonderful adventure book from Jules Verne that everyone should read. I am 21 and in college to become a high school english teacher and I this is a book that I would highly recommend teachers using as reading material in their classes. I will use it in my classes when I begin teaching.