Journey

James A. Michener “Journey: A Novel” Random House, 1988, 372 pp.

Here is a novel by one of my favorite authors; albeit from sometime in the past--Michener has now passed on.  In any event, this novel is different from his other massive works as it deals with one plot and sticks with it.  This 372 page novel is actually a part removed from his great work “Alaska” which I read many years ago and highly recommend.  The editor thought that this portion of the book, totally concerning Canada, was not needed in the book about Alaska.  Michener kept the cut-out documents and years later published it as a separate novel.

Journey is about the 1897 gold fever that swept the world.  Michener follows four English aristocrats and their Irish servant as they traverse the cruel Canadian landscape to reach the Klondike gold fields in Dawson while obsessively avoiding any traversing of American territory.  The book exhibits the meticulous research Michener was famous for.