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Title: Flawed but interesting fiction on Russian America
Review: I can't help but think this book would have been far better as a non-fiction piece. The characters are not really that absorbing, and I feel that the narrator has much more to say about the experience of kayaking or canoeing the Northwest Coast from Sitka to Oregon than the fiction format allows him to. The description of the sea and land is really amazing and makes it absolutely worth reading. However, I have a bit of sympathy for the reviewer who said it was boring because the plot is not as gripping as a summary would suggest (4 men escape from Novo-Arkhangelsk, now Sitka, in order to eventually return to Sweden). It is a man against nature story, but I suppose I found the nature part much more interesting than the men.A non-fiction reflection retracing this journey interwoven with the author's own thoughts probably would have been much more gripping.Still, it is worth reading nonetheless.
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