No comments about Alaska (Beautiful America).

No comments about Alaska's Ocean Highways: A Travel Adventure Aboard Northern Ferries.

2 comments about Alaska: Images of the Country (Sierra Club Books Publication).

1. "Alaska" is one of those books that, after teh first few pages lets you forget the world around you and fly to other places. His pictures are breathtaking, and it is true : a picture sas more than a thousand words; rowell manages it to tell you more about Alaska with a couple of photographs than 100 professors could tell you. He shows the reader that there is still some pure wilderness out there and that it is worth to preserve it. rowell is someone who loves the wilderness and the beauty of nature and he makes you love it too.



2. Galen Rowell was one of the great outdoor photographers and most of his books are full of spectacular pictures of mountain scenery. But if you are expecting a normal picture book about Alaska, this isn't it. Instead this is a look at a place that is full of ambiguity.

   The book is structured around John McPhee's book "Coming into the Country". In that book McPhee gives an insightful description of Alaska as a place, and its inhabitants. The Alaskans seem torn between preserving the wilderness and developing it and the extracts contained in this volume capture that spirit. For example, McPhee provides admiring character studies of a number of people who came to Alaska because they just didn't fit in back in the lower 48 states. Even his descriptions of travels in the wilderness have an overlay of the politics of the state, where the federal government, which once owned most of the land, is distrusted by most citizens.

   Rowell decided that he wanted to take McPhee's writing and illustrate it with his own pictures. The preface makes clear that McPhee didn't offer a lot of cooperation. In fact he warned Rowell not to overprint his verbal pictures with Rowell's. The text selection was made by Rowell and the pictures included are not directly related to the words but have a close connection to their spirit.

   As I noted, this is not any ordinary Rowell book (if there is such a thing). There are far more pictures of human beings and their artifacts then one usually finds in such a book, and I sometimes felt that the pictures were gritty and dark. At first I thought that this was a shortcoming of the photographs but then I realized that Rowell had specifically selected these pictures because he believed that they reflected the spirit of McPhee's words. Oh, there are some grand landscapes like a picture of snow-covered Mount McKinley across isolated Nugget Pond, but there is also a picture of the same snow-covered peak taken across a dark, intruding asphalt highway into the wilderness.

   The final pages capture the essence of this book. McPhee describes the role of the 55 gallon steel drum in the Alaskan landscape, and tells how his view has gone from considering them ugly to finding them almost blooming. Opposite these words Rowell has placed a picture of a long line of rusty drums curving sinuously out of the frame into the Arctic Ocean.

   This book is more than 20 years old and the McPhee book almost 40 years old. Alaska may have changed since then, although everything I've read about it recently makes me believe that the same forces are still at work out on this frontier. But for a person interested in Alaska this book provides a feeling for the place and its people that has the ring of authenticity.

   If you want to see Alaska as a work of art, then I would recommend Art Wolfe's recent book of photographs "Alaska". But if you want to understand how a bright place can still have a dark soul, "Images of the Country" is a good place to start.

No comments about PURSUING THE UNTAMED.

No comments about Northwest Passages: From the Pen of John Muir in California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska.

2 comments about Aleutian Adventure.

1. As a fourth grade teacher in the central California foothills, I am always looking for nonfiction titles with high interest for my classroom. A friend bought this book from Barry Tessman's widow and I immediately ordered a copy. We study Explorers and Geographers as part of our 4th grade curriculum and this book leads into a great discussion about modern day exploring. Pictures and maps are easy to read, text and font grade-appropriate, natural history and wildlife pictures very appealing.



2. This is not a flawless book, by any means. The author dumbs the writing down just a little too much for a suggested audience of "Ages 10 & up," the book shifts randomly from past to present tense, and there's at least one paragraph that's repeated almost word for word more than once.
   But, that said, it's one of the ONLY books about the Aleutian Islands, and as far I can tell, is the ONLY book period about kayaking along them. For that alone, it's worth a lot.
   One of my dreams is to kayak from Anchorage, Alaska to Russia, along the Aleutian peninsula and the Aleutian Islands, and in my research for this trip I've come across very few books on the topic. My wife found this one for me.
   Not only does this book contain some beautiful photos (by Barry Tessman, R.I.P), but it gives a good idea of the dangerousness of the waters, of the area's history, of the general terrain, and of the preparations neccesary for such a trip.
   It's a quick read, but for those in love with Alaska or this area in particular, it will haunt you for days.

No comments about Portrait of Alaska's Wildlife ("Portrait" Series).

No comments about Juneau: Yesterday and Today (Alaska Geographic).

2 comments about Pacific High: Adventures In The Coast Ranges From Baja To Alaska (A Shearwater Book).

1. Great book. Who says we have to travel to far away places for adventure? Tim Palmer had what for most of us would be a lifetime of adventures on this 9 month journey. At the same time the people he introduces us to and the observations he shares about all that he sees will make any reader think harder about our place on and responsibilities to this world.



2. Tim Palmer is an excellent writer - his evocative imagery, jaunty pace, and contagious enthusiasm pervades this book. Truly one for adventure, Palmer and his wife set out to explore the coast ranges from Baja, Mexico to Kodiak Island, Alaska. Palmer prefers mountain to ocean and it is among the mountains and about the trees that he waxes most eloquently.
   
   Firmly left of center, the author seems to struggle with himself to keep his book from descending into mere ideology. He is largely successful, though there are places where one wishes he'd keep to the scenery. Environmentalism is a crucial cause - one for which Palmer advocates aggressively - but his dogmatism occasionally overflows it's banks bringing an awkward bitterness aimed well beyond the theme.
   
   Nevertheless, Pacific High is a page turner. I returned to it often, reading large chunks at a time. It's vicarious, though informative nature makes for a pleasurable piece of travel writing. From mountaintops to river runs, I've been given more places I need to see. 4+ stars.

No comments about Pacific North Coast: The Best of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Southeast Alaska (Fodor's Gold Guides.....).