The Sea Runners

Story builds with unexpected turns and events. Well written. Takes reader on an exciting journey. Short with insight & introspect Reminds of The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway.

I have only read one Doig work which did not completely enthrall me. This is yet another lovely piece of prose.

I have lived in Washington and Southeast Alaska for 25 years. Over these years I have been to or seen most of the places Doig writes about, from Sitka to Dall Island (crabbing with a friend), to Vancouver Island and Prince Rupert, as well as the Pacific coast of Washington. The mere thought of getting into a canoe and crossing Dixon Entrance in the winter sounds like suicide. The images of the mountains, trees and water are so true I could feel them. The story about the men is also very true and brings back to me experiences with men over my life, in circumstances good and bad. We are weak, fragile things and usually hold onto the normal and cozy for comfort, but these men took on the unknown and elements with a courage few can muster; though whether they would have done this if they had known what they faced is questionable. Doig does an admirable job of capturing the beauty, the menace and the feeling of SE Alaska, as well as the courage and weaknesses of men.

Wonderful story. Fear was the constant. I could hear the voices, see the scenery, smell the smells. I loved it.

Ivan Doig's story of four indentured servants attempting escape 1200 miles from Alaska to Oregon apparently has some basis in truth (for such an attempt did take place), although he adds his vivid imagination and powerful capacity for describing the natural world to the basic story. In fact, Doig's ability to describe the fierceness of nature is the best feature of this book. Doig's literary style, though, is a bit Hemingway-esque to me (I like 'real' Hemingway but not Hemingway-esque). His characters speak in stoic monosyllabic bursts, although the narrative voice seems in contrast torrid and mannered. These stoic characters sporadically explode with highly emotional self-revelation: a guy who barely puts two words together for the whole trip suddenly burst into tears revealing his sad reason for a gambling addiction. I wish Doig had let us "in on" his characters a little earlier in the game, but perhaps that would be inconsistent with the style of the story. For my money, Doig has a superb handle on nature and adventure and a less good handle on character, but fans of adventure in general, and the Pacific coast in particular, will still enjoy reading this.

This is a stellar example of how beautiful prose writing can be. Story telling is an art, a skill, and this is as good as it gets.