Oh my god, you guys, this book is so bad! It's not the size- I love long, involved books. It's not the 100,000 year scope- I love a multi-generational epic. It's the writing, which is the only real epic here. Epic-ly terrible.Anyone would be far better off just reading a non-fiction history of Alaska. That's what this is, except with extremely flat fictional characters that make Alaska seem like the dullest place in the world- even when they're doing exciting things. Fighting off a mammoth? Yawn. Sledding down a glacier? Whatevs. Can't land your plane in the storm? Wake me up when it's over.Overall it's bad enough, but the dialogue is the ABSOLUTE WORST. For example, I'm about to make up a scene that could have been lifted strait from the pages of this tome (but wasn't):PerkyGirl: "So many fish. It is amazing. But, PluckyBoy, how do salmon reproduce?"PluckyBoy: "Well, PerkyGirl, this is how salmon reproduce. Eggs are laid in nests called redds upstream. When the eggs hatch, they're called alevins. Then they grow into smolts and move downstream to the ocean. Then they spend several years in the ocean, growing and feeding on copepods. When it is time to reproduce, the miraculously know how to swim to their natal stream. Then they swim upstream, mate, and die. And that is how salmon reproduce."PerkyGirl: "That is miraculous."And then this PluckyBoy and PerkyGirl looked into each others eyes and knew they would never be parted again.Information is imparted via obscenely contrived dialogue, all which sounds like it was answered by a third grader filling out a homework assignment. The ongoing stupidity of the characters (seriously, a guy who's lived in Alaska for years and doesn't know what glaciers are? Give me a fucking break) is a prop not for plot, but to work in a few more facts. The romantic relationships seem randomly assigned (need inter-racial marriage: write one native girl + one white boy, they see each other, get married, repeat). The stories don't actually weave together as they should in this style, they just end. For instance, the bush pilot that blacks out one day (at home, not while flying). We get a description of how bad his health is. He decides he should stop flying. Doesn't stop flying. Has great fun and then dies at home in his bed. WTF was with the blacking out? If you're going to put a gun on the mantle, Mr. Michener, it's got to go off at some point.But perhaps the most annoying thing is that apparently when men get to Alaska, they lose their ability to use prepositions and definitive articles. Native Russians speaking Russian? Americans speaking English? Eskimos speaking their native languages? All sound like they were lifted from a Tarzan novel: "Me go store. Me go fish. You sleep now. He no love woman." I suppose that this is to show us the rugged taciturnity of the Alaskan male, but it makes me want to slap everyone in this novel. You go TO THE store, you stupid idiot! Your parents must have been savages and all your teachers were failures!This book was a drag. I've never read any other books by Michener, but I've had my eye on them for some time with excitement, because I adore the genre and he's been so prolific over his life. From other comments it appears that this may have been his worst, but I'm going to have a hard time convincing myself to start another.
James A. Michener is known for his highly detailed narrative and pages-long expository on the history of a region. When done correctly, a reader is taken on a whirlwind adventure through time, following the growth and development of an area through the eyes of the land and of a select few founding families. When done poorly, the effect is more like a lengthy history textbook. Alas, Alaska falls into the latter category.What Michener does well can become nauseatingly boring over time without a human factor. Where there is a human factor, the construct of the overall novel is such that the human factor is deliberately interrupted. Each chapter is like an individual novella. There is some attempt to connect the characters through the generations and across the state, but the individual chapters and lack of depth of character development creates an extremely disjointed story.In addition, there is an undercurrent of dispassion and lack of affection for Alaska that does not exist in some of Michener's other works. The best example of this would be Hawaii. His love of the South Pacific is palpable on every page. It is not overt, but it is something that permeates all of his descriptions and makes them more vivid. Unfortunately, the descriptions of Alaska are more rote and clinical. The fascination with the flora and fauna is missing, and the reader is left struggling through dry and lengthy descriptions.At 868 pages, Alaska is simply too long. There are too many native Alaskans, too much land, and too much political infighting. Michener's choice of creating stand-alone chapters does nothing to help foster understanding or clarity. Readers looking for something similar to the magical Hawaii or even the excellent Chesapeake are guaranteed to be disappointed. The lack of memorable generational families and tedious descriptions make this more of a slog than something to enjoy.
What do You think about Alaska (2002)?
The harsh climate and unique geography of Alaska have made it a place where only the hardiest thrive. In James Michener's "Alaska" he highlights those hardy souls, starting with the earliest inhabitants, the mammoths. He then takes us through the human history of Alaska's various peoples: the earliest settlers who came from eastern Asia, and later the Russians who came seeking the valuable pelts of sea otters. After Alaska was sold to the United States gold was discovered in the Yukon and Nome and the gold rush occurred, followed by bids for statehood and the latest rush for oil. Throughout we are treated to a picture of the various people it took to survive and build the modern-day civilization that currently exists. I appreciate the insights gained into this land and it's people from reading this book, and that Michener included a brief listing of which people/parts were truly fictional and which were real. As is typical of his style characters drop in and drop out of the story. Missy Peckham and Tom Venn from the gold rush days seem to linger longer than most in this novel, but sometimes it's a little annoying when you get interested in a character and then they kind of fizzle out of the story to be replaced by others. Kendra Scott at the end is also very likeable, but then abruptly fades away. This style also makes it hard (for me) to recall the earlier characters. But overall, the story(s) were enjoyable and left me with a desire to visit this great place.
—J.
I have rated this a 4, though I'm closer to a 3.5 on this particular book. I love Michener, and I love his style of writing. His books are a blend of historical exposition with a narrative and fictional story. He's very adept at creating families of characters that walk through the history of place and that hold and retain your interest. I give Michener a 5 while giving "Alaska" a 3.5.The book is long (over 850 pages) as is typical for Michener. I didn't find that this book stuck together as well as "Texas" or "Hawaii," but I did enjoy it. I always learn a great deal about a place from Michener. He starts tens of thousands of years ago, as Asians crossed the land bridge into Alaska. I was surprised to learn that the "land bridge" is still there and that it was caused as level of the ocean fell. I enjoyed the stories of early mammals and early tribes as they developed a way of life from the sea and from the land in a most inhospitable place. The modern era begins with the Russian explorers and traders and, though sometimes cruel, their governance of Alaska and their interest in Alaska seems quite sophisticated in comparison to the way Alaska was treated and used after falling under the control of the United States. In some ways, this benign neglect extended deep into the 20th Century beyond the long postponed achievement of statehood in the late 1950s.Of course, the stories of the multiple gold rushes are compelling, as are the stories of successive booms tied to salmon, oil, and tourism. Still, I was left with the idea that the U.S. still doesn't know what to make of Alaska and that the people of Alaska are still struggling to figure it out.
—Michael Sump
You can tell it’s the holiday season, because I finished reading this book a week ago and it’s taken me until now to write my review. And, did I mention it took me about three weeks to finish it? Well, it IS a Michener novel, which means not only is it really, really long, but happily, it’s really, really engaging as well!When I began Alaska, I tried to recall some history of the state, to predetermine what Michener might include in the book. All I could come up with was gold, oil and cruise ships. That just shows how narrow my knowledge of Alaska is. Which is why I love reading historical fiction in the first place!At the outset, the author takes us on a physical journey – how the land masses were formed, the mountains, the seas, etc. It’s much like the beginning of Hawaii. Then, about 385,000 years ago, we learn about the land bridge and the animals that made their way from Asia to North America. The story about people (ie, the natives that came over from Asia), occurs about 29,000 years ago with whale hunters that discovered the new land while in pursuit of this large prey. More modern settlements occurred with the Russians, it was at that point that I was totally engrossed in the book – and stayed that way until the very end.I liked how Michener included things other than specific events in the book. For instance, the building of roads, the invention of the airplane and the impact of oil money had huge consequences for Alaskans. Another interesting section of the book dealt with the state’s role in World War II – specifically the battle over the Aleutians. That’s a subject you don’t find very often in the historical fiction books I’ve read.All and all, I really enjoyed it. Not quite as much as Hawaii, but probably only because I was more interested with the history behind the islands in the south Pacific than with Alaskan history. But still, it’s well worth the read.
—Suzanne
