Journey

Rating:
Summary: A New Definition
Review: I think I'm beginning to understand how popular fiction writing becomes "Literature." It apparently has to be depressing. If this is "the best novel of Michener's career," as the Milwaukee Journal states it, then I don't need to depress myself further by reading the rest.

I just don't believe it was necessary to kill off his major characters to make this a believable story.

Rating:
Summary: My Review of Journey
Review: I think James Michener has a good story going here. I was impressed by some of the irony and allusion, especially Luton's stubbornness when it came to Americans, as well as taking advice from anyone after he'd already made up his mind. I think more detail and suspense could have been added, but that's strictly reader preference. The deaths of some of the characters left me feeling a bit lost as well. It was as if their death kind of snuck up on you and then wasn't talked about after about a page or so. However, the overall storyline pleased me very much. I think it personified cultural stubbornness as well as gold rushes in general. I nearly laughed out loud when reading about some of the inexperienced travelers that were trying to make their way through the Arctic (i.e. the man with the modified tractor). I was also very satisfied by the ending. It was unexpected, but complete and understandable. Also, I liked the fact that Luton stated from the beginning that he wasn't after gold and by the end he hadn't changed his mind at all. After all, the title of the book, Journey, certainly implies that the adventure and travel is the fun part of the book, not a quest for gold or a search for pride. Overall, I liked the book and thought it was a very entertaining read and believe it deserves four stars.

Rating:
Summary: Deeply unsatisfying
Review: It is with regret that I write this. I have enjoyed his historical sagas, formulaic though they be. But this book had him writing off his form. Slimmed down, it would have made a natural chapter in his "Alaska", though this is of course set in Canada proper.

The problem with this book is the sheer cardboard quality of the characters. Take the survivors of the trek: The British Lord and the Irishman Fogarty. We never seem to get into the latter's mind. He is always the tolerant, self effacing, humble [emphasis] man. Deferential to his superiors. He knows his place. To put this into some perspective for American readers, suppose Fogarty was Negro and the rest of the initial group was 4 white Americans. Some would then call his character shameless and clumsy racial stereotyping. Now replace Negro with Irish.

Now take the Lord. Upperclass prig to a fault. Though he is shown as fearless and hardworking and, by his standards, fair. Of course, he regards everyone except people of his social strata as, more or less, inferior. Very cardboard. Hard to find nuances or complexity in his persona.

Granted, for both these characters, there must have been actual people in that era with just those attributes. But it really made tedious reading, leavened only by Michener's good descriptions of the surroundings.

If this book had been much reduced and put into a chapter in one of Michener's sagas, then at least the reader could look forward to another chapter. Alas, not here.

Rating:
Summary: Great story, though an unengaging protagonist
Review: Let's call a cat a cat. It is a weak Michener. If it is the first you read, it will probably your last. Michener, in the afterword, tells us that The Journey was originally in his book Alaska but was cut by the editor. He then took that section and made a book.

The premises are good. A party of adventurers, including a snob British Lord, a poet, a retired Colonel and a cunning Irishman go on a journey to the Yukon River during the gold rush. This is too little to make a book.

There is some good characters interraction, some good moments but they are drowned in the long repetitive parts of the journey, to the point where you keep thinking something will happen and...

If you want a good Michener, look at my review of the Covenant or Poland, forget The Journey

Rating:
Summary: ...Where the readers are drowned in the Mackenzie River
Review: Let's call a cat a cat. It is a weak Michener. If it is the first you read, it will probably your last. Michener, in the afterword, tells us that The Journey was originally in his book Alaska but was cut by the editor. He then took that section and made a book.

The premises are good. A party of adventurers, including a snob British Lord, a poet, a retired Colonel and a cunning Irishman go on a journey to the Yukon River during the gold rush. This is too little to make a book.

There is some good characters interraction, some good moments but they are drowned in the long repetitive parts of the journey, to the point where you keep thinking something will happen and...

If you want a good Michener, look at my review of the Covenant or Poland, forget The Journey

Rating:
Summary: Major Disappointment!
Review: Michener usually does excellent research and gives a great taste of an area/time. 'Journey' was a complete disaster in this area - there's a decent description of the train (the TRAIN?), nothing describing Montreal, almost nothing Edmonton or any of the stops en route, and zero description of the Klondike or Dawson. There's no 'story' of the prospectors or other travellers (save a few paragraphs on Irina). The Edmonton description prepared me for bleak descriptions of a 90% death rate, or a trail littered with frozen bodies - but nothing.

OK - so Michener didn't do a book I was expecting on history or a travelogue or a technical description of anything. It was a character study of the 5 men. Well, the character development was truly shallow and incomplete. None of the characters seemed believable - they were cardboard stereotypes. The "hero" led his very well-financed group of hardy men into a deadly course that every single expert advised against. He contemplating KILLING Irina because he thought her presence would make the over-winter camping harder? WOW! It's hard to imagine that the others would offer virtually no arguements when their lives are litterally in the balance. How can anyone believe they would suffer 8 months in a tiny len-to cabin when there's a fort 50 miles away, 1 more day on the boat or 3 days walking after the freeze?

I enjoy adventure stories. I like tales of hardship. The book maintained my interest (I was expecting something interesting once they reached Dawson - Alas!). So it gets 2 stars. But had I not read MUCH better books by Michener I would never glance at a 2nd one if I had to decide based on "Journey."

Rating:
Summary: Invigorating adventure story
Review: Michener was drawn to stories of the Klondike gold rush whilst researching material for his voluminous Alaska, and thought this story, set dominantly in Canada, too good not to publish.

It is a fictional story of a few gold seekers of the Klondike gold rush, and seeks to capture the romance, the exhilaration, the recklessness, and the overall madness of the time. It is an invigorating adventure story, however if I had just one quibble, the characters for me were a little one dimensional, and the story told in a less complex manner than it probably deserved.

Nevertheless a thoroughly enjoyable expose of the spirit of adventure, capturing much that is part of the northern spirit of romantic escapism and self discovery.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent story of 1897 gold rush in Canada
Review: Story tells of the challenges, disasters and the height of human endurance during two wild Canadien winters. If you enjoy adventure with a historical background, this is an excellent short novel. Definately recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Journey of English Aristocrats through two Canadian Winters
Review: The novel is the story of the adventure of a group of English aristocrats and an Irish servant travelling to find gold across Canada. It describes two harsh winters spent out in the wild and makes for a riveting read.

The descriptions are vivid, characters are well-developed and word pictures compelling. Michener also writes a section at the end about how he came up with the idea for this book, as well as the research and process underlying the writing of this novel. This gives a good insight into how a book is developed and a glimples at the thinking process of a remarkable writer. This also makes for a good read. The book however does not compare favourably to other Michener efforts.


Rating:
Summary: A gripping novel of the Alaskan Gold Rush of the 1800's
Review: This book documents an expedition to Alaska to find gold and dreams of riches. It also demonstrates, as only Michener can, the hostile feelings of the British towards the United States. A trek through Canada towards Alaska turns up a wide variety of adventures. Enjoy!! A good read!