The Tip of The Iceberg
Just finished reading "The Tip of The Iceberg - My 3,000-Mile Journey Around Alaska, The Last Great American Frontier" by Mark Adams, published by Dutton back in 2018.
As frequent readers of my reviews here on Facebook, Goodreads, and other social media websites know, I have a rather large tsundoku, my anti-library of unread, yet-to-be read books stored in my library and my baby sister's old bedroom - probably about 2,000 unread, yet-to-be-read books or more. The "Tip Of The Iceberg" has been waiting patiently in my sister's room for about six years for me to read it.
I had enjoyed reading Adam's "Turn Right At Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step At A Time."
It is an enormously satisfying parallel adventure, pairing the story of Edward Harriman’s 1899 expedition to Alaska with the author’s modern retracing of the same adventure nearly 120 years later. Both stories are beautifully told, with plenty of illuminating historical context to bring the past to life, and enough wry observation, real adventure and beautiful nature writing to make the modern story almost as amazing as the original one.
The constant throughout is the Alaskan wilderness. Adams allows the original explorers to speak for themselves, and passages by John Muir and John Burroughs are powerful in communicating the wild vastness and shocking beauty of Alaska and the awe they felt as they encountered it. But Adams’ writing is so vivid and affecting about nature, and his descriptions so good, that it is his writing that makes the real connection for you to wild Alaska.
Finally, Adams is no armchair adventurer, and his enthusiastic pursuit of the journey pays off in two ways. He has real adventures, recalled with humor and terror disguised as humor. But most rewarding are the portraits of the people he encounters in Alaska. He honors all by truly seeing them and reporting with compassion what he sees. Throw in some fascinating and tragic Native American History, some environmental history, some climate change, some geology, some huge earthquakes, some modern Alaskan political science, some tsunamis and some beer for dinner. Adams also highlights his encounters with bears in the Alaskan wilderness.
Strongly recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Tip-Iceberg-00...
As frequent readers of my reviews here on Facebook, Goodreads, and other social media websites know, I have a rather large tsundoku, my anti-library of unread, yet-to-be read books stored in my library and my baby sister's old bedroom - probably about 2,000 unread, yet-to-be-read books or more. The "Tip Of The Iceberg" has been waiting patiently in my sister's room for about six years for me to read it.
I had enjoyed reading Adam's "Turn Right At Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step At A Time."
It is an enormously satisfying parallel adventure, pairing the story of Edward Harriman’s 1899 expedition to Alaska with the author’s modern retracing of the same adventure nearly 120 years later. Both stories are beautifully told, with plenty of illuminating historical context to bring the past to life, and enough wry observation, real adventure and beautiful nature writing to make the modern story almost as amazing as the original one.
The constant throughout is the Alaskan wilderness. Adams allows the original explorers to speak for themselves, and passages by John Muir and John Burroughs are powerful in communicating the wild vastness and shocking beauty of Alaska and the awe they felt as they encountered it. But Adams’ writing is so vivid and affecting about nature, and his descriptions so good, that it is his writing that makes the real connection for you to wild Alaska.
Finally, Adams is no armchair adventurer, and his enthusiastic pursuit of the journey pays off in two ways. He has real adventures, recalled with humor and terror disguised as humor. But most rewarding are the portraits of the people he encounters in Alaska. He honors all by truly seeing them and reporting with compassion what he sees. Throw in some fascinating and tragic Native American History, some environmental history, some climate change, some geology, some huge earthquakes, some modern Alaskan political science, some tsunamis and some beer for dinner. Adams also highlights his encounters with bears in the Alaskan wilderness.
Strongly recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Tip-Iceberg-00...
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