Spring Break
Book Review: James Michener’s Alaska
Cathy Meng, OP
Issue date: 9/24/01 Section: A&E
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Alaska presents history in an easily digestible form, although its towering characters do sometimes tempt the reader to reflect on his own humble place in history. How do we compare to the noble ones, the nimble, the oppressed, the brave and the lucky? Where would we ever appear in a history book? Where will we appear in our own history book?
The story of this great state is especially poignant when you consider how Alaska has fared in recent times. Less than three hundred years after its discovery, Alaska has lost most of its native inhabitants. Its wildlife, too, is struggling: sea otter, seal and whale are just a few of the once plentiful species that are just surviving under protection. Its wilderness is constantly under the threat of existing and potential oil drillers. Yet in some ways Alaska remains what it always has been: a dramatic and captivating land, abundant in natural beauty and peopled with men and women leading lives on the frontier of human existence.
The story of this great state is especially poignant when you consider how Alaska has fared in recent times. Less than three hundred years after its discovery, Alaska has lost most of its native inhabitants. Its wildlife, too, is struggling: sea otter, seal and whale are just a few of the once plentiful species that are just surviving under protection. Its wilderness is constantly under the threat of existing and potential oil drillers. Yet in some ways Alaska remains what it always has been: a dramatic and captivating land, abundant in natural beauty and peopled with men and women leading lives on the frontier of human existence.
