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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
adventurous
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
medium-paced
I don't usually read books about the north. I put this aside to finish cyclonopedia.
Truly a master of narrative fiction. The last book of three is a bit on the long side though.
I have read this book before, but that neither lessens or increases my enjoyment of the book particularly. Although technically I would call McPhee a journalist, his writing at its best is better than that of most novelists writing today and his turn of phrase and powers of description can have a poetic quality. That said, although I loved reading this book, it is not my favorite book by this author and hence, not in my mind at least, his best, hence the rating of only four stars.
I have never warmed up to the middle section of the book, "In Urban Alaska" and tended to read this portion much more quickly, almost skimming at times, whereas the first and last sections were more worth savoring. I am not sure that the writing is less compelling, or if it is just my own biases, but I find his descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness and the iconoclastic people who live there far more compelling.
It is a book I will read again.
I have never warmed up to the middle section of the book, "In Urban Alaska" and tended to read this portion much more quickly, almost skimming at times, whereas the first and last sections were more worth savoring. I am not sure that the writing is less compelling, or if it is just my own biases, but I find his descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness and the iconoclastic people who live there far more compelling.
It is a book I will read again.
I have read and admired John McPhee's writing in the New Yorker, but this is the first book of his I have ever read. Extremely well-done. I didn't love the middle part about the capital of Alaska but I loved the first and last section. I came away feeling that I knew Alaska and its people. I love a writer who can make me feel as if I have traveled to a place and gotten to know the people who live there.
There is a lot here. Made me realize how alien Alaska is compared to anywhere else. It's just different. The land is different. The people are different. The philosophy you earn is welded together by the air trying to kill you. Good read.