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Title: Great Heart: The History of a Labrador Adventure (Kodansha Globe)
ISBN: 1568361688
Author:
James West Davidson
John Rugge
Publicate Date: 1996-12-15
Publish: 1996-12-15
List Price: $17.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $6.79
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $4.95
Amazon Merchant Price: $11.56
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| Customer Review: |
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1: The finest adventure tale ever written
I am an adventure traveler and canoeist, and an avid reader of adventure writing. There are a number of books that purport to tell the story of the ill-prepared Labrador Adventure, but it was told best, last and forever in the book, "Great Heart: The History of a Labrador Adventure." It is written by experienced canoeists and guides James West Davidson and John Rugge. These talented authors create atmosphere, characterization and drama that is unforgettable. I have returned to the book many times. Every canoeist, from novice to expert, should also own their other book, The Complete Wilderness Paddler. The authors use the story of a wild and wooly trip down the Class IV-V Moisie River in Canada as a way to teach everything from how to plan a trip to how to survive the torture of black flies. It is hilarious, brilliant, insightful, genius! You can read it over and over and learn new things about canoe camping. Even if you'd never set a paddle in a river, you'll love the graceful writing of Davidson and Rugge.
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2: S.K. Lapius
This is a great read. There is little written about this turn of the century, "last frontier" of North America where even today natives will tell you that you can't get there from here. The grueling hardship and trajedy are well portrayed - as are the portraits of each individual. It truly takes the 3 books written about this seminal journey and adds information from the diaries and other writings of the various figures involved; and, this is artfully done by shifting voices. The book flows well and holds suspense to a surprising degree even to those who know the eventual outcome.
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3: Good adventure story
This book tells the story of two expeditions across Labrador. The first took place in 1903 by three men, on which one of them, Leonidas Hubbard, died. Three years later, his wife, Mina, made the same journey successfully. These accounts are well written and make good use of the original journals.
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4: Annoying novelistic style
As you can see from other reviews, most people seem to really like this book. I, however, got a few pages in and found I had no use for it, even though I generally go for just this sort of story. The authors of "Great Heart" use a novelistic narrative style, filling in from their imagination all manner of little details that they obviously could have no way of knowing. I'm apparently enough of a purist that I want my narratives based on reliable source material, not imagination. When an author begins to fictionalize, how can one ever know where the boundary between fact and fiction lies? This doesn't seem to have bothered most of the reviewers, but you might want to stay away from the book if you're similarly picky.
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5: Great book
Excellent read - hard to put it down.
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