Disappointment River by Brian Castner, A Book Review by Rebecca Moll
Are you guilty of romanticizing the past? Find yourself dreaming of bygone days, eras, placing yourself among the people, places, and events with rose-colored glasses? Well, join the club! Membership is free and the benefits are endless. Unless, of course, you cross the realm of imagination into reality as Brian Castner did in Disappointment River: Finding and Losing the Northwest Passage.
As real as the waters of the De Cho, the continual onslaught of les moustiques, and the extreme toll lodged deep within his bones, Castner tested his membership in a way few would dare.
Alexander MacKenzie. 1789. The great Deh Cho. Brian Castner. 2016. The Mackenzie River (formerly, Deh Cho). Past meets present upon the water, in a canoe, a paddle and a hull of provisions for a grueling 1200 miles.
In alternating chapters, Castner tells the story in relief of his voyage against that of Mackenzie's. Although armed with a few modern navigational aides, the grueling menace of the raw Northwest Territories, the Pays d'en Haut, is much unchanged from the voyages 200+ years before.
Yet, it is the writing that held and spellbound this reader, allowed my own transport to the great Deh Cho, my placement upon the river, in the canoe with Mackenzie and Castner. With each song of the voyageurs, each stroke of the paddle I, too, rode the rapids, in the company of The English Chief, his Chipewan wives, hunters and guides, descended canons, passed sheer cliffs, and traded with Native Nations. And lest you lull too long in the sepia of the past, the river will wash you anew with a deluge of waters, toss you upon the shores of present day, portage you in the company of Castner himself and one of his four venerable canoe-mates, hunger, extreme heat, and 12 hour days of labor. Casnter has the unique ability to render the beauty and grandeur of the Northwest Territories, the romantic realm of the past and the humiliating vigor of the present with the language of love.
Disappointment River is both a historical recount and a modern memoir.
If you love the beauty of raw nature, respect the worthiness of its armaments, yet applaud the defiance of man, his singular belief that he will conquer at all costs, then this is a book for you.
Begin with the Epilogue, nestled at the end. Seed the story, the raw ingredients that made the men who dared to conquer, to voyage lands unknown.
In 1789, Mackenzie's voyage ended in disappointment, upon the Artic Sea, far from the intended Pacific. Yet, he lost not one person and returned to give account. Unknown to him, his story was seeded for those of the future. So, too, is Brian Castner's journey. A sapling in the making, a towering topiary to come, Brian has rendered his account into the logbook of God's creation, written his memoir upon the waters of the great Deh Cho, a gift for those of the future.
So, pack your canoes and ready your paddle, the journey has just begun.
As real as the waters of the De Cho, the continual onslaught of les moustiques, and the extreme toll lodged deep within his bones, Castner tested his membership in a way few would dare.
Alexander MacKenzie. 1789. The great Deh Cho. Brian Castner. 2016. The Mackenzie River (formerly, Deh Cho). Past meets present upon the water, in a canoe, a paddle and a hull of provisions for a grueling 1200 miles.
In alternating chapters, Castner tells the story in relief of his voyage against that of Mackenzie's. Although armed with a few modern navigational aides, the grueling menace of the raw Northwest Territories, the Pays d'en Haut, is much unchanged from the voyages 200+ years before.
Yet, it is the writing that held and spellbound this reader, allowed my own transport to the great Deh Cho, my placement upon the river, in the canoe with Mackenzie and Castner. With each song of the voyageurs, each stroke of the paddle I, too, rode the rapids, in the company of The English Chief, his Chipewan wives, hunters and guides, descended canons, passed sheer cliffs, and traded with Native Nations. And lest you lull too long in the sepia of the past, the river will wash you anew with a deluge of waters, toss you upon the shores of present day, portage you in the company of Castner himself and one of his four venerable canoe-mates, hunger, extreme heat, and 12 hour days of labor. Casnter has the unique ability to render the beauty and grandeur of the Northwest Territories, the romantic realm of the past and the humiliating vigor of the present with the language of love.
Disappointment River is both a historical recount and a modern memoir.
If you love the beauty of raw nature, respect the worthiness of its armaments, yet applaud the defiance of man, his singular belief that he will conquer at all costs, then this is a book for you.
Begin with the Epilogue, nestled at the end. Seed the story, the raw ingredients that made the men who dared to conquer, to voyage lands unknown.
In 1789, Mackenzie's voyage ended in disappointment, upon the Artic Sea, far from the intended Pacific. Yet, he lost not one person and returned to give account. Unknown to him, his story was seeded for those of the future. So, too, is Brian Castner's journey. A sapling in the making, a towering topiary to come, Brian has rendered his account into the logbook of God's creation, written his memoir upon the waters of the great Deh Cho, a gift for those of the future.
So, pack your canoes and ready your paddle, the journey has just begun.
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