Total Page : 192
Publisher : IndoEuropeanPublishing com
Publication Date : 2010 02 14
>> A Visit To Pristine Alaska
Travels In Alaska is essentially a diary which John Muir kept during his three visits to Southeastern Alaska from 1879 1890 In the course of his travels he describes the Indians plants wild life mountains and glaciers He is especially interested in his explorations of the glaciers He provides the reader with an insight into pristine Alaska His comments about retreating glaciers are of interest given the current claims of man made global warming
The reader comes to respect Muir s love of nature and his bravery as he paddles around ice bergs camps on glaciers and enters the domains of bears and whales
The downside of this is that there is very little analysis beyond what he recorded at the time of his journeys While his observations hold your interest Muir s writing style adds little to the narrative This book pales in comparison to Ranch Life the Hunting Trail by his friend Theodore Roosevelt see my Amazon review
Overall I enjoyed Travels In Alaska but have read better nature books Perhaps a reader more familiar with the Alaskan Panhandle or outdoor adventures would have a greater appreciation with this work
>> Muir and Alaska
The beauty of this wonderful reprinting is how it shows John Muir as a person how it helps us to understand the dynamic and overwhelming beauty of Alaska and the changes in the people of Alaska Muir s complete tireless and joyful commitment to nature comes through on every page The book unintentionally provides an excellent portrait of the kind of inexhaustible devotion it takes to change the world as did Muir The book also provides a stunning portrait of Alaska in the latter part of the 19th Century and allows one to compare the Alaska of those days with Alaska of earlier times and of today The biggest changes are in the glaciers and in the people The glaciers have receded dramatically as a natural part of their centuries long retreat It is interesting to compare what Muir saw with the experience of Vancouver almost exactly 100 years earlier ca 1793 Vancouver could hardly enter Glacier Bay Muir could enter quite some distance but the glaciers were still the dominant features Today the glaciers have largely receded into deep valleys Muir encountered people in Alaska living largely as they had for centuries They were hunters and fishermen and lived in small groups along the shore line As Jonathan Raban points out in the intricately woven fabric of his sublime book Passage to Juneau the people of southeast Alaska considered the sea to be the real environment of their lives while the land was considered dangerous and unknowable They lived along the shore and knew how to live off and with the sea year round The lives of the Alaskan people are very different today but greatly influenced by the past Raban often characterizes Muir s writing as overblown and florid However it is a portrait of a man a maritime land and a people To do justice to those three the book had to be what it is an astonishingly colorful and detailed portrait in words
>> Southeast Alaska Once Upon A Time
John Muir s Travels In Alaska is his accouts of his trips to Southeast Alaska in 1879 1880 and 1890 Southeast Alaska 125 years ago was sparsely settled and poorly explored Muir s adventurous spirit and enquiring mind led him to investigate the numerous inlets and glaciers in the area including the magnificent and much celebrated Glacier Bay
Muir s simple muscular prose weaves a fascinating narrative out of descriptions of the people wildlife and geology he encounters on his journey suffused with his endless sense of wonder at the landscapes in which he saw the hand of God The reader can hardly help but be carried along by Muir s enthusiasm Muir s descriptions may be most relevant to those traveling Southeast Alaska by cruise ship for a sense of what the landscape looked like before the population reached today s size and spread Those not interested in the travel aspects of the book and in numerous descriptions of glaciers may find this book less interesting
This book is highly recommended to fans of John Muir s writings and to those planning a trip through Southeast Alaska
