Houseboat Chronicles: Notes from a Life in Shield Country

by Jake Macdonald

This is the story of Jake MacDonald’s discovery of some of the last wild places in North America. The Precambrian Shield extends from the Arctic, across much of eastern Canada, and south into the United States. When Jake was still a boy, his father built a cottage in Manitoba. It was here that Jake developed a hankering to live in wild places, and why he decided to quit his graduate studies and explore the distant corners of the continent in a second-hand van.

First he worked as a guide, then as an odd-job person, and ultimately, as a kind of hunter-gatherer of stories. He met Inuit hunters who had been mauled by polar bears and Native trappers who walked routinely across thousands of miles of roadless wilderness. He came to know the cops, the tourists, and the Native people. He made friends with the hardy individuals who made a life for themselves in the wilderness: a German soldier imprisoned in northern Ontario in the Second World War who fell in love with the land; a guide who built an extraordinary houseboat out of exotic wood; and a bachelor known as the Prince who lived in a trailer behind a town’s community centre. In telling their stories, Jake MacDonald tells us something about the Shield Country, and something about ourselves.

MacDonald argues that the heart and soul of Canada are to be found in Shield country. On its countless cold lakes, under its impossibly starry skies, we come to know ourselves. Its vastness and indifference show us our limitations and help to define us. This exploration of Shield country is, finally, an exploration of Canada itself.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Canada, Book Club

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Jake grew up in River Heights in Winnipeg, one of seven talented siblings raised by Peggy, a homemaker and university student and Donald, who was Chief Commissioner of the City Of Winnipeg. Jake attended St. Paul's Catholic High School and studied literature at the University of Manitoba.

The celebrated Manitoba author took pleasure in the world's memorable landscapes - Canada's west coast, the Bahamian out islands, and the Pacific coast of Mexico, Northwestern Ontario rivers, lakes, granite, boreal forest, the muskies, bears, eagles, domesticated animals.

One of Jake's best stories, "Norris", was about a pig raised on an island like the one where Jake had his first houseboat in the Winnipeg River during the 1970s. "Becoming" was about a man morphing into a pickerel.

Jake's success was a genius for storytelling. "I like the idea of sitting on top of the water because it's like sitting on the subconscious and the fish below are stories and dreams. You go down there and try to bring them to the surface."

Jake will be lovingly remembered by his partner Petra Kaufmann and her children, Rory, Lily, Theo and Julia; his daughter Caitlin MacDonald and her husband Alex Nisbet. Also Wendy MacDonald, Dawne McCance, Sally & Bert Longstaffe, Danny & Deb MacDonald, Peter & Sherry MacDonald, Mary-Kate & John Harvie, and their children to whom he was very close.

Reviews

[Sophy H · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think I daftly assumed this book was written by a much younger person and that it would be about someone who had constructed a modern houseboat to live on in the American wilds, totally not realising Jake is a boomer and his childhood is one of huntin', fishin', maimin' destroyin'. Eugh, I should have researched better, one of his other books is entitled "With the Boys: Field Notes on Being a Guy"! Really?!

In all honesty, a small ways in, I realised this book wasn't for me. Boys shooting at various wild animals and getting all fired up about bear traps, ffs! No, just no. Take your animal cruelty and shove it up your Shield Country, gun totin arse!

[Foxthyme · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love to read Jake MacDonald. He has such an open and friendly style. Though in some ways I feel he was too honest in this book. And his guilt of [potential plot wrecker so blotted out section] makes me feel guilty too. Cause he writes it in such a way, I feel like I was there too and played some part in it. Ach!

One of my favourite excerpts from this book comes from the section on his childhood family summer travels in the Buick:
That particular day, it was fantastically hot, as only southern Manitoba can be in July. I drank too much grape juice and fell asleep with my head tilted drunkenly askew in the direct blast of the sun. When I awoke, with a wretched gurgle of the stomach, a purple column of vomit spewed out of my mouth and arced across the back seat onto my brother Danny, who looked at the vomit on his shirt and immediately threw up on Sally, who threw up on Babe...

Man, I laugh hysterically every time I read that part.

[Woolfhead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable read about a writer who finds a place for himself in sparsely populated Northern Ontario amongst bears, lakes and fish. It's more of a Walden Pond wilderness experience with canned beans and never too far away from a Northern Exposure-type town. But he lives on a houseboat and works as a guide and writes about it all in such an honest, yet unmacho way. Maybe I'm reacting to the fact that he's Canadian, but it was understated and funny and lyrical, and a very nice read, indeed.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of stories around the iconic Canadian Shield. While told in mostly chronological order, the book has no chapters and moves from one interesting story to the next. Part memoir, part travelogue, with a bit of Canadian history thrown in, this book is a must-read for anyone living close to Shield country. I’d love to venture out to the areas he so fondly describes and see the beauty with my own eyes.

[Tommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! Perfect timing too. I read it in a cabin in Maine about 30 yards from the water. I love his ability to convey his childhood and love of the outdoors. He was a good storyteller and I could definitely relate to some aspects of it. A great read for anyone who loves and grew up in the outdoors.

[Bill Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very entertaining book! When I read it, I was unaware that it had been written by the author of Lakes, Lures and Lodges, another book in my collection. As a contemporary of Jake, I recognized many of the Winnipeg locations as well as his description of a now-famous musician, who was playing in local community clubs back then. A bigger surprise came when I found Jake's sister and my wife were high school friends. I found his company to be as enjoyable as his writing when I met Jake later, and I have continued to acquire his books.

[Kathleen (itpdx) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful. Jake Macdonald demonstrates what Shield Country has meant to him from his childhood on--the sights, the sounds, the smells and his fellow inhabitants-human and otherwise. His tales from his childhood--the nun hovering in the back of the classroom during art class, the tree fort, the potato gun have echoes in my own. His descriptions of moving a boat across clear and rough waters, the overwhelming sight of a truly dark night sky are beautiful.

[Arlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jake grew up in Winnipeg and went to St Ignatius school. Tells of his childhood experiences of being at the cabin as a young child and want to experience the wilderness and learn more about the Canadian Shield. Well written and entertaining and interesting to relate to

[Eric Northwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious. Mandatory Canadiana.

[Chana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book so much that I would like to buy my own copy.
Jake M. tells his story in a way that is entertaining, he teaches while making you laugh. He keeps a level voice, self-deprecating but optimistic and kind. I learned a lot reading it and kept reading passages aloud as I thought my family should appreciate his knowledge, thoughts and insights as well. I enjoyed his sense of humor very much because it doesn't come at any one else's expense. Even the sad things are told with appropriate seriousness and respect but he doesn't dwell on them. My son thought his sentence structure was too simplistic, but Jake must write the way I think because I was at ease and in tune with this book. My only negative comment would be that he wraps up the book in a way that seems hurried compared to the pace in the rest of the book, and his last sentence doesn't really feel like a last sentence. Very minor. I liked Jake and I liked his book.

[Lamec Mariita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great Canadian biographical novel. it's touching and engaging auto biography of Jake.
He intertwines interesting facts and history with his own experiences. The book is never boring.
It's definitely a good read.