Customer Reviews

True North: Exploring the Great Wilderness by Bush Plane

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a story of travel in the Canadian Arctic, in Nunavut, in the Northwest Territories, in Yukon and Alaska. It is an exciting and informative tale. Erickson is an experienced pilot who has taken many journeys into the far north, where there are few roads, but every lake is an airport for a small seaplane. Every stream and inlet is a fisherman's paradise, and catching a trout or char for lunch is a matter of minutes.

Erickson is passionate about flying, and the technology that makes it possible. He introduces us to the sciences of flight, of navigation, of nature's flora and fauna. A truly engaged person, Erickson has much respect for the Inuit. He tells us about their history and present life. The eastern half of northern Canada has become the Nunavut Territory with an Inuit (not Eskimo) legislature and administration, and a constitution similar to other Canadian territories. At 772,000 square miles Nunavut is larger than Alaska or Quebec.

We learn a lot about the region. Aside from his own experience, Erickson is very familiar with the history of the land and peoples. He recounts events in the history of the Hudson Bay Company, which was founded in 1670 and is jokingly known as "Here Before Christ." Yet more than any other institution it explored, opened, settled and exploited the region.

A discussion about navigation leads Erickson into describing the growth of ancient astronomy and how it was revived by Copernicus and Galileo. An examination of horsetails, ancient plants, leads him into a consideration of Darwin and what he learned on a different journey aboard the Beagle. Flying along a fault scarp brings to mind the story of Alfred Wegener and the beginning of plate tectonics research. Every stop suggests new ideas.

This is an enjoyable travel story. It avoids the many qualities of heroic bragging. Rather the author emphasizes the insistent need for care, precision, and experience. The northern woods do not suffer fools gladly. Plane wrecks, graves, and lost limbs testify how easy it is to come to harm. But there is a strong quality of everyman in this book, a feeling that I could do this journey given the time, money, and strong enough desire.

I bought this book because I love reading about Alaska and the far north. The premise of this book is that Erickson, a retired dentist, travels around Northern Canada and Alaska in his plane and tells the stories of the places he's visited.

He does a nice job of describing the plane, the experience of flying, the many little lakes and towns he visits, the weather, and the wildlife he sees. I really enjoyed this part of his book. I also liked the crisp color photos he included in the center of the book. I even enjoyed the totally unrelated stories of history, other adventurers, early scientists, and his explanation of how the compass works and how the longitude and latitude lines on a map are measurements of time.

What I didn't enjoy was his constant harping against organized religion and the evils of mankind. If he doesn't believe in God, that's fine for him, but he insults some portion of his readers with his arrogance and disrespect on the subject. What does that have to do with bush planes and wilderness?

I also didn't enjoy his lectures about how we need to stop populating the earth and stop using natural resources. He somehow missed the irony of his consumption of oil and gasoline, not to mention the noxious emissions from his plane's exhaust, while flying around on a totally optional trip. He burns wood for his campfires, too. He mentions having kids and grandkids, so he's evidently added to our population problem.

Overall this was an interesting book and I'm glad I read it. But it won't be one of my "keepers" mainly because he reminds me of the blowhard at the office party who wants to impress everyone with his superior intellect and lifestyle.

Despite what the cover and title may lead you to believe, this book is not about flying. There are some well written flying sequences, but the author spends much more time lecturing us on the evils of Western society, Christianity, and all the evils wrought by the advancement of civlization in general. It is not worth the price.

As a retired mechanical engineer and private pilot I thoroughly enjoyed George Erickson's book "True North: exploring the Great Wilderness by Bush Plane".

He combines description of the vast and wonderous beauty of the Canadian Wilderness with the adventure of flying alone in a small float plane with the occasional sojourns into the realm of science, such as an explanation as to how as airplane flies. But you won't need an engineering degree or a pilots license to enjoy the book because it's all skillfully presented in layman terms. A good read!

I loved this book! The author not only takes the reader along on a spectacular trip through some of the remotest regions of the continent, he also conveys to the reader his deep respect for science, nature, and humanity. This is a beautiful book and I recommend it highly.

I've read a lot of Alaska bush pilot memoirs and this was my least favorite. I'm a float pilot myself and I had trouble following his progress. And there are lots of ramblings about the environment, etc. My favorite is still Don Sheldon's Wager with the Wind.

This is a wonderful collection of stories about how various parts of Canada, and Alaska were settled. More accurately, how the many companies (from mining, to fur trading, to religion) attempted to move into the Northern regions, either failing or surviving on the bold courage of those sturdy individuals who manned the "forward outposts".

What this book is, is a great collection of little histories of the different regions and micro-communities that dot the "outback" of the Great White North. The reader has the feeling of sitting in a cozy bar next to a fireplace and listening to someone tell stories about "the early days". George Erickson has a gift for writing about these histories, and his camping and fishing stories, in an interesting and captivating way. He obviously has a passion for the history of Canada and Alaska.

But pilots be advised; this is not a deep, personal book about flying. While Mr. Erickson uses a Super Cub on floats to access the many lakes and rivers, he never moves to an emotional level of writing about flying. It lacks the flying emotions of, say, a Steven Coonts or Mariana Gosnell.

But that also means the non-aviator can enjoy the book without getting lost in a world only known to flyers. At times, he begins to develop the image and feel of flying, but it is not the center of the book. One example is his explanation of landing in Juneau, Alaska. He begins to write a description of the "huge blue-green wall" of the Mendenhall Glacier while on final approach. But within one sentence, he is on the water, landing, and within a two short paragraphs, we are done flying and back to more "ground stories". It's all part of it, I understand, but us pilots would enjoy much more of Mr. Erickson's gift of story telling in descriptions of the feel and emotion of the flight over wild Canada.

The book contains a number of little thumbnail sketches of each leg (a-la cocktail napkin quality), and some truely stunning color photoes. But the book could use an overview map in the appendix to give the reader a much better appreciation of the enormous distances the author covers. I made my own to follow George, and was amazed with the extent of his odyssey!!

Mr. Erickson gives a fascinating history of the north, and an enjoyable read of fly-in camping his way across Canada and Alaska.

The book is a fun read, and will make you want to load up your floatplane and strike out into the Canadian wilderness...or just go get another cup of hot cocoa and read another chapter.

Thanks Mr. Erickson, for the fun history lesson.

Erickson has put me in the the great northern expanse with his writing. Each passage creates a picture of the lakes, mountains, shorelines, fish, and the relationship of man to the eternal. As a man of deep interest in the science of things, George helps me relate not only to his physical travels on and above the wilderness, feeling the touch of each blade of grass, yet looking down on the overall picture that the earth's fabric. I feel the great spirit of the earth and yet see how the elements are ordered through survival and time. He is truly in the same category as Florence and Francis Jacques, Jack London, and Henry David Thoreau. Noel Allard

As one who has flown the Sub-Arctic North myself I found the book to be not only "aviation" but also a history and cultural lesson. Not many authors have the ability to broaden their primary interest and weave interesting sub-texts without losing their way.

Have you ever been surprised when visiting a friend's house they pull out the slide show and force you along as they relive their holiday? Brutal, isn't it?

As a pilot, I was looking forward to a bush plane book. However, I was duped by True North. As good a writer as Erickson is, he could not make me care about his vacation trip. Like an overbearing professor, he tosses in disjointed lectures which are meant to impress me as much as educate me. Rarely the subject matter related to his trip. Often they were horribly ill-fitted lessons of Galileo or Vasco. Who cares?

Furthermore, I was led to dislike Erickson. As a pilot, it seems, he is marginal. However, this tree hugging, earth worshipping, religion hater is a gifted writer. The book, however, is NOT a bush plane book.

If you are curious about his bias and his vacation, you might like True North. If you are looking for a plane or flying book, spare yourself the inevitable misery.