Alaska: A Novel
by James A. Michener
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Book Summary Information
Author: James A. MichenerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-11-12
ISBN: 037576142X
Number of pages: 896
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780375761423
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Alaska: A Novel
Book Review: Historical Storytelling with a Dash of Social Commentary
Summary: 4 Stars
"Alaska" is a well-researched, well-told, 900-page story of the exploration and settlement of our nation's 49th state, with a characteristically Michener-like blend of fact with fiction, breathing life into an otherwise-dry train of historical events: geologic beginnings with "clashing terranes" a billion years ago, the first human settlers who wandered eastward from Eurasia 14,000 years ago when glaciation raised the polar ice caps and exposed a land bridge connecting present-day Alaska and Siberia, Vitus Bering's exploratory voyages sponsored by Peter the Great in the 1700s, Russia's controversial $7.2 million sale of Alaska to the U.S. in 1867, the Yukon and Nome gold rushes of the late 1890s, the establishment of salmon canneries in Alaska's southeast by profiteering Seattle-based companies in the early 1900s, the government-supported "seeding" of Matanuska Valley through relocation of starving settlers from Minnesota during the Depression years, the entanglement of the Aleutian Islands in battles against the Japanese during World War II, Alaska's political fight for statehood in 1958, and the impact of the discovery of Prudhoe Bay oil on the lives of North Slope native Alaskans through the 1980s (book published in 1988). True to form, Michener weaves together ostensibly disparate events into a captivating, colorful parade of multi-generational characters, often so endearing that you'll want to cheer and cry alongside these memorable pioneers in their courageous and spirited struggle to eke out a living from, understand and exploit Alaska's harsh and wild, expansive and endlessly enticing, resource-rich and rewarding frontier.
Superlatives aside, compared to Michener's "Hawaii" (published in 1959), I find "Alaska" to carry a weaker, less hopeful message. "Hawaii" establishes a powerful, encouraging theme of how cultural diversity--despite our being inevitably encumbered by parochial beliefs, social prejudice and economic avarice--has the very real potential to "bear new fruit." On the other hand, "Alaska" unfortunately fails to lift humanity higher. In their unbounded greed for otter and seal skins, early Russian merchants turn native men into their slaves, while abusing and raping native women. With few exceptions, American whalers are ethically no better, devastating entire native villages through exploitative sale of rum and guns. During the gold rush, lawless settlers from the mainland U.S. selfishly bend mining rules in their own favor, stripping away claims from Norwegians, Siberians, Eskimos and others who got there first. Seattle businessmen extract tons of salmon from Alaskan waters, offering neither employment nor compensation to the native people. Even when oil taxes bring wealth to native Eskimos and Indians, the intricacies of the Settlement Act allow lawyers and accountants from the "lower 48" to line their own pocketbooks by charging exorbitant rates for professional services, effectively pilfering assets from the native people. Ultimately, it seems that, although natives now have their snowmobiles and opportunities that college education offers, they remain lost between the "native" and "modern" worlds, unable to derive adequate fulfillment from either and, too often, sadly resorting to alcoholism and suicide to escape from their emotionally devastating dilemma.
In the last section of the novel, the debate between the two lawyers, Jeb Keeler and Poley Markham, while mountain goat hunting, reveals Michener's sentiment: Jeb speaks out for helping Alaskan natives retain their ownership of land and maintain a subsistence lifestyle, while Poley is eager to "pick them off" for his own personal profit when natives on the verge of bankruptcy become forced to liquidate their corporate assets to pay off accumulated debt. When an unexpected submarine earthquake unleashes a massive tsunami, Poley succeeds in scrambling up the mountainside, while Jeb is consumed by the swiftly retreating waters and washed out to sea, issuing a final cry: "Go it, Poley. You win!" Interpretation: in with the new and exploitative, out with the old and traditional--whether we like it or not. In the 30 years between the publication of "Hawaii" and "Alaska," did Michener's youthful optimism darken into a more pessimistic realism, or is the ending of "Alaska" just not as carefully composed? The optimist in me suggests that Michener rushed into delivering a half-baked ending to "Alaska," when he could have (and should have!) put more effort into reaching a more profound conclusion. From Michener, the masterful writer of historical fiction, I would expect a message with more far-reaching impact, particularly after all the years of research and drafting that certainly went into the novel's production.
Summary of Alaska: A Novel
In this sweeping epic of the northernmost American frontier, James A. Michener guides us across Alaska?s fierce terrain, from the long-forgotten past to the bustling technological present, as his characters struggle for survival. The exciting high points of Alaska?s story, from its brutal prehistory, through the nineteenth century and the American acquisition, to its modern status as America?s thriving forty-ninth state, are brought vividly to life in this remarkable novel: the gold rush; the tremendous growth and exploitation of the salmon industry; the discovery of oil and its social and economic consequences; the difficult construction of the Alcan Highway, which made possible the defense of the territory in World War II. A spellbinding portrait of a human community struggling to establish its place in the world, Alaska traces a bold and majestic history of the enduring spirit of a land and its people.Action & Adventure Books
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