Michener's Alaska

[marysb]

Just finished reading Alaska by James Michener.

 

I highly recommend it before you go. This is my 3rd trip and I just got around to reading it now. Having been there, you could easily picture a number of the locations, but getting a rich history with an interesting story line was very engaging.

 

 

Boy - I wish I picked an itinerary with Sitka.

.... guess I will just have to come back:D

 

 

.

[Putterdude]

I agree, it is a great book. I read it many years ago and should probably read it again one day soon.

[agabbymama]

And another good one to read is Jack London's "Call of the Wild". I was on a cruisetour to the Yukon and Alaska. We visited Dawson City and saw a replica cabin that Jack London stayed in. Then at one of the stops out in the middle of nowhere, the small gift shop had a used copy of his book. I purchased it and read it as we traveled.

 

And OP, you definitely need to return and visit Sitka. It is my favorite Port. Dawson City is also another favorite, if you get the chance to head to the Yukon.

 

ON our first cruise, Sitka was included in the itinerary and we really enjoyed the Native and Russian History. When I was planning the 2nd visit, the Gold Rush history was key to my choosing the Yukon/Alaska itinerary.

 

I was a planning a 3rd visit on the HAL 14 day cruise in August to a lot of the smaller ports (that the big ships don't do), but alas, my husband had a stroke, so I had to cancel the cruise. While he has recovered, there are still some major problems, so I don't think a 3rd cruise is in our future. So enjoy your travels while you are able to.

[Keith1010]

Yes, it is a wonderful book. Thanks for reminding us about it.

 

Keith

[bottom-dragger]

it's one of those books that make you clinch your teeth and go "eeerrrrrrrr", i don't know whether to enjoy it or throw it.

 

a good read but there's a reason it's filed under fiction and not history.

 

there are some good/interesting/trash mystery novel alaska book threads already on the forum you could search. if you need help i can try to locate the threads.

 

one that i don't remember being listed that i've just finished is "Passage to Juneau" by Raban. he paddles from seattle to juneau on the traditional 'inside pass' and discusses history along the way. not a book if you hold Vancouver on a pedestal or you'll fling it in the corner with michener.

 

if you are a true southeast alaska history geek, try to find a copy of "Handloggers" by Jackson.

[huskyguy]

The real history is far better than Michener's soap opera version of it.

[allmysquirrels]

I enjoy reading about places before I visit so was excited to see this thread :) I'd tried to start Michener but had some trouble...I'll keep plugging along;) Also plan on reading Sitka by L'Amour and The Letters: A Novel by Luanne Rice and Joseph Monninger. I started The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon which is set in a (very!) fictionalized Sitka...didn't think it would be my type of book but am really enjoying it.

 

I found this interesting list while trying to find a decently priced Alaska Cruise Companion (Cartwright)...

http://www.librarything.com/list/506/all/Books-about%25252Fset-in-Alaska

[mytime53]

After reading Michener's "Alaska", I had to rethink what I thought I had "learned" about the locales of his other books.

[marysb]

Well, it is call Historical FICTION!

 

Still an interesting read and then it's fun to compare the story line with the real history. I found myself googling a lot when reading the book and YES, I could find quite a few deviations from the true history and people. (and yes, sometimes you didn't have to google to know something was a bit of a stretch ;) )

 

If you are having a hard time getting into it - it starts really slow like all the Michener books with the geology and early peoples and mammoths crossing the land bridge from Siberia. Stick with it until you get to the Russians in the Aleutians and Sitka. The story line picks up there.

[bottom-dragger]

Well, it is call Historical FICTION.

 

 

the characters can be fictional, history isn't

[marysb]

the characters can be fictional, history isn't

 

hmmm.... so historical fiction is an oxymoron .... ever really thought of it that way. Good one! :D

[Putterdude]

All of Michener's books have some basis in history and some of the characters were often real but they have categorized as fiction. I have found that they give you some feel for the area you may be visiting, Alaska, Caribbean and Hawaii jump to mind. I have found that his books take a long time to get into sometimes as much as the first 1/3 of the book...then you can't put it down. Now if you really enjoy history .... then they are not for you.

 

For anyone going into the Yukon an interesting read is Pierre Berton's "Klondike" and his mother's "I Married the Klondike".

[huskyguy]

For anyone going into the Yukon an interesting read is Pierre Berton's "Klondike" and his mother's "I Married the Klondike".

 

A dozen or so years ago the staff at the Yukon Archives had a discussion about whether "Klondike" should be in fiction or non-fiction. Nobody was able to find a single story that wasn't true.

 

If Michener's shipwreck story caught your interest, you'll enjoy the real story as told by real historians in "Sinking of the Princess Sophia: Taking the North Down with Her" and "The Final Voyage of the Princess Sophia".

[Northern Aurora]

A few weeks ago I had a discussion with another Fairbanks resident about Michener's Alaska, and realized that the topic of this book hadn't been raised on this forum for several years.

 

While Michener fans always respond that they know that they are reading fiction, when a few historical facts are intertwined with fiction it is extremely difficult for many to determine what is accurate and what is not. It seems to be nearly impossible for some folks to erase what they have read. The number of historical inaccuracies is incredible in this book, and range from pre-European contact, the Russian era, the numerous gold rushes, the issues in the statehood movement and so on and so on.

 

This inability to forget what has been read rises several times each summer at the Wickersham House Museum in Fairbanks when someone visiting the museum declares that Judge Wickersham was a crooked judge. Each time this happens the source of the information is Michener's Alaska which includes a fictional account of the McKenzie - Noyes scandal in Nome. The visitor assumes that Wickersham was the judge. Of course they have no idea how many federal judges were in Alaska in 1901-1902 (the correct answer is 3), and in fact Wickersham was the federal judge who was sent to Nome after the scandal to handle the aftermath. Of course, these folks also believe that Nome is located on the Yukon River.

 

If would feel more charitable about the book if I thought that the book at least provided some sense of what we who actually live here experience. But alas, Michener can't even accurately depict what it feels like in the Interior of Alaska to experience -50F. Michener actually spent a few days in Eagle, Alaska (on the Yukon River), where the then-president of the Eagle Historical Society had to host him at her house, during a period of extreme cold. But when he describes the experience of extreme cold in the book he again writes total fiction (actually, the real experience probably wasn't dramatic enough for the book).

 

Essentially, I just don't understand how reading this book either enhances or prepares someone for a trip to Alaska.

[bottom-dragger]

rather than continue to flog this dog, Putterdude and I have made other recommendations.