Four Quarters of Light: An Alaskan Journey

by Brian Keenan (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2004

  $4.38

  Brian Keenan's fascination with Alaska began when he was a small boy choosing his first library book in a Belfast school. The book was Jack London's wondrous CALL OF THE WILD. And Alaska's mesmeric wilderness has permeated Keenan's life ever since. A short visit to Fairbanks several years ago was enough to seal his connection with the place and he resolved to return. Last year he did so with a head full of questions about its inspiring landscape and a heart informed with his own love of the desolate and barren places of the world. In the course of a journey that takes him through four geographical quarters from snowmelt in May to snowfall in September, he discovers a land as fantastical as a fairy tale but whose vastness has a very pecullar type of allure...From dog-mushing on a frozen lake beneath the whirling colours of the aurora borealls to camping in a two-dollar tent in the tundra of the Arctic Circle, from skinning hides with an ageing shaman and his wife to boating in the stormy Bering Sea, along frozen inlets to a remote Eskimo fishing camp, Brian Keenan seeks out the ultimate wilderness experience and connects with a spectrum of wildlife, including his own 'spirit bear', all of them roamers in 'The Big Lonely', En route, Brian Keenan encounters hard-core survivalists who know what struggle and endurance mean from their daily battle for existence. And finally, he discovers that true wilderness is as much a state of mind as it is a place and that ultimately, to make Alaska home, one must surrender to the land.

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.26

  Brian Keenan's fascination with Alaska began as a small boy while reading Jack London's wondrous Call of the Wild. With a head full of questions about its inspiring landscape and a heart informed by his love of desolate and barren places, Brian Keenan sets out for Alaska to discover its four geographical quarters from snowmelt in May to snowfall in September, and en route, finds a land as fantastical as a fairytale but whose vastness has a very peculiar type of allure... From dog-mushing on a frozen lake beneath the whirling colours of the aurora borealis to camping in a two dollar tent in the tundra of the arctic circle, Brian Keenan seeks out the ultimate wilderness experience and along the way, encounters hard-core survivalists who know what struggle and endurance mean from their daily battle with nature to exist.He discovers that true wilderness is as much a state of mind as it is a place.And ultimately to make Alaska home, one must surrender to the land.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2004

  $3.26

  Brian Keenan's fascination with Alaska began as a small boy choosing his first library book in a Belfast school. The book was Jack London's wondrous Call of the Wild. And it has permeated Keenan's life ever since.A short visit to Fairbanks several years ago was enough to seal his connection with the place and he resolved to return. Last year he did so with a head full of questions about its inspiring landscape and a heart informed with his own love of the desolate and barren places of the world. In the course of a journey that takes him through four geographical quarters from snowmelt in May to snowfall in September, he discovers a land as fantastical as a fairytale but whose vastness has a very peculiar type of allure...