Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Da Capo Press; Reprint edition (January 6, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0786716924
ISBN-13: 978-0786716920
Product Dimensions: 1 x 5.5 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #188,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #13 in Books > History > Americas > Canada > First Nations #21 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Canadian #24 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Regional Canada
Readers can count this book as one more captivating true tale of Canada's far north, told by its best-read authority. The young Farley Mowat, returning disillusioned from the War in 1947 and thinking to become a biologist, joined with a taxonomist on a collecting "scientific" expedition into the Barren Lands of Northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The headstrong 26 year old was improbably paired up with a disciplined naturalist of the old school, who killed and skinned every animal he could shoot, poison or trap. After a while, Farley, having seen enough killing in the war, became disillusioned with this approach to appreciating the wonders of nature, and deserted his post in favor of exploring the largely uninhabited territory in the company of an Indian half-breed, Charles Schweder. His real desire was to contact the "People of the Deer," the Imhalmiut. These people came to be idealized in Farley's mind as a people "uncontaminated with the murderous aberrations of civilized man."Mowat gives a clear picture of the hardships encountered by the few inhabitants of this harsh landscape. By the time of the expedition, the Imhalmiut had dwindled to only a few scattered bands, having been nearly wiped out in a succession of epidemics. Farley tells of the well-intended but sporadic and largely ineffectual aid given to them by the Canadian government and its minions, and how Schweder had been traumatized by his experience in a partially successful rescue attempt he had made the year previous. His rescue of a six year old replacement for his child bride, dead of starvation, presents the reader (and Mowat) with a thought- provoking moral dilemma. So much for the myth of the noble savage...
River of Dreams: the Story of the Hudson River River of Love in an Age of Pollution: The Yamuna River of Northern India A Treasury of Mississippi River Folklore Stories, Ballads, Traditions and Folkways of the Mid-American River Country Fishes of the Middle Savannah River Basin: With Emphasis on the Savannah River Site Streams to the River, River to the Sea AMC River Guide New Hampshire/Vermont (AMC River Guide Series) AMC River Guide Maine (AMC River Guide Series) Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer--America's Deadliest Serial Murderer Every Young Man, God's Man: Confident, Courageous, and Completely His (The Every Man Series) The Mountain Man 5 Journey of the Mountain Man (Smoke Jensen the Mountain Man) Four by L'Amour: No Man's Man, Get Out of Town, McQueen of the Tumbling K, Booty for a Bad Man (Louis L'Amour) Every Man's Battle: Every Man's Guide to Winning the War on Sexual Temptation One Victory at a Time (The Every Man Series) No Man's River Stan Lee's How to Draw Comics: From the Legendary Creator of Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Iron Man Stan Lee's How to Write Comics: From the Legendary Co-Creator of Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Iron Man Dog Man: From the Creator of Captain Underpants (Dog Man #1) Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide (Amazing Spider-Man (DK Publishing)) Dog Man Unleashed (Dog Man #2): From the Creator of Captain Underpants The Amazing Spider-Man (Marvel: Spider-Man) (Little Golden Book) The Invincible Iron Man (Marvel: Iron Man) (Little Golden Book)