Call number
Collection
Publication
Description
Brian Keenan's fascination with Alaska began as a small boy while reading Jack London's wondrous Call of the Wild. With a head full of questions about its inspiring landscape and a heart informed by his love of desolate and barren places, Brian Keenan sets out for Alaska to discover its four geographical quarters from snowmelt in May to snowfall in September, and en route, finds a land as fantastical as a fairytale but whose vastness has a very peculiar type of allure... From dog-mushing on a frozen lake beneath the whirling colours of the aurora borealis to camping in a two dollar tent in the tundra of the arctic circle, Brian Keenan seeks out the ultimate wilderness experience and along the way, encounters hard-core survivalists who know what struggle and endurance mean from their daily battle with nature to exist.He discovers that true wilderness is as much a state of mind as it is a place.And ultimately to make Alaska home, one must surrender to the land.… (more)
User reviews
Based on a little more than a whim the author decides to take his family for an extended holiday - from their native Ireland, too one of the most extreme places on earth, Alaska. Little detail is given about the fmailiy's reaction to this, or to the arrangements required - it seems the author had contact with a lot of friends who did most of the hard work. Once there they move around a bit with the family, and alos just the author on his own while the family are left behind to amuse themeselves. THis is somewhat disappointing as the observations of the family coul dhave addeda great deal to the commentary of life in Alaska.
TBC
All in all it’s an interesting book, well written and full of inspiring and heart-warming stories, but unfortunately I did find it a little bit uneven in parts.