What do You think about Journey: A Novel (1994)?
I've always enjoyed Michener's works, especially Hawaii and Ice Palace, so I was expecting another saga spanning over a few generations in "Journey". I was a little disappointed to discover the time elapsed in this work was just over 2 years and it was focused on one episode in the characters' lives.Lord Luton and four companions set forth from England to mine gold in the Klondike - thus, the journey referred to in the title.The linear timeline does move along smoothly, and maybe I read too fast
—Joanna Mieso
Couldn't sleep one night and, for some unknown reason, this book was on the table by my bed. I realize some people don't like Michener, but I'm not one of those people. The book is about The Luton Party consisting of five Englismen and their journey to find gold on the Klondike River. It's based on detailed historical, cultural, and geological research. It's really about, as Michener says, dreams and determination. Couldn't put it down and now am going to research that time in history. The hardship of travel, the lack of correct maps, all the misleading information given, and the people along the way took me back in time and made me wonder about these men and women who were true adventurers.
—Tia
This was a terrific story that was ruined by Mr Michener's self-indulgence for tacking on a chapter of poetry (including-unfortunately-his own)and another chapter explaining-interminably-what inspired him to write the book and everything having to do with his interactions with all things Canadian. At least it helped to partly explain why he included the photo of the woman on the frontispiece. (But not so much as to where he came by her name.)Then again, if he had left off the last two "chapters", he would have given his publishers a book that a was a little more than 200 pages long-and how were they going to sell that to the public?Still, the book was a hell of a lot better than the two previous novels I unintentionally read that took place in the Arctic ("The Terror" and "The Solitude of Thomas Cave").I think that I'll stick to Jack London.
—Gary
