Alaska

 In preparation for an upcoming trip to Alaska, I read James Michener's book, Alaska. I thought I read it before a long time before, like 35 years ago. I wasn't sure I had read it before until I got to chapter ten which is the story about salmon. When I read the part about Nerka, the sockeye salmon whose life is described in detail from hatching to death, I KNEW I had read this before. So in my first reading I guess I identified with the salmon. In my second reading the animals were still important but I got a lot more out reading about characters such as the Danish explorer, Vitus Bering (after whom they named the Bering Sea) or Cidaq, a native who is sold and abused by Russians. I never realized how shabbily the people who lived in Alaska were treated by the politicians in Washington, D.C. and, just as bad, the business interests in Seattle who wanted to reap the benefits of the Alaskan natural resources but keep all the cash in Seattle. I loved rereading this book. Michener is a fine writer but he writes BIG  and thorough books. This one had 5, 424 pages and it took me 15 hours of reading to finish it.