The Alaskan
James Oliver CURWOOD (1878 - 1927)
(IDB Productions, July 5, 2016)
In The Alaskan, James Oliver Curwood mixes elements typical of Western stories with parts retelling Alaskan history and long descriptive passages about the natural environment. Subtitled A Novel of the North, the book has all the elements that make an adventure story great: eventfulness, romance and mystery are all there to guarantee entertainment.The story starts on a boat headed for Alaska. Onboard are Mary Standish, the heroin, Alan Holt, the hero and John Graham, the evil character. Later on, other colorful characters join in to make the novel a true epic of Alaska, in which the pure-hearted hero saves the new state from being ruled by corrupt barons. The story is not only eventful – it is also full of unexpected twists and romance and it makes the most of the tradition of Western stories, this time used in creating a story about the wild North, replacing dust and heat with mountain landscapes and freezing temperatures, but keeping the figure of the complex hero. The descriptions of the Alaskan tundra add even more value to the book – readers will find themselves not only completely absorbed in the amazing plot, but also wanting to visit harsh, but stunningly beautiful Alaska.The Alaskan, just like Curwood’s other books, enjoyed huge popularity at the beginning of the 1920’s across the US. The success of his first stories allowed Curwood to travel extensively, especially to the northwestern part of Canada and to Alaska, so the nature descriptions in the novel are inspired by the author’s own experiences. His novels were very often compared to the wonderful writings of Jack London, and several of them were adapted to film as well – almost twenty stories by Curwood, including The Alaskan have been made into movies and continue to enjoy great popularity among the fans of adventure novels and motion pictures as well.