'The Yukon embodies a distant, cold, and painful elsewhere. Idealized, it tantalizes with its wonders and riches. Strange, its borders are imprecise; a wilderness implacable. Intangible, the territory is a land of dreams'.
In this book, Damien Tremblay attempts to get to the heart of The Yukon's remoteness. 80% of the region is wilderness and mountains effectively seal it off from the surrounding areas.
The region opened up with the Gold Rush (1896 - 1900) and this short book explores the relationship people have had with the area since then - the native Tinglit peoples; shamans with their intimate connection with the earth; prospectors hoping to find the elusive mother lode of gold; trophy hunters, killing the region's big game; tourists lured by remoteness and adventure; present day residents, many of whom were drawn to the area's remoteness and artists of all types inspired by the area's beauty and wildness.
Through exploring the Yukon, Tremblay also explores the idea of remoteness and its importance to the human psyche, particularly in today's increasingly ubran world.
Yukon Dreams is beautifully written and includes amazing black and white photos of the area. A wonderful meditation on the most remote part of Canada and on wilderness as a concept.
Thanks to Story Cartel for my free download of this book.
Yukon Dreams by Damien Tremblay
5 comments:
That sounds like my kind of book.
I will order it. I love the setting. In particular after enjoying Charles Frazier with "Cold Mountain" and "Thirteen Moons".
Never been there, The Yukon - read so much about it and heard so much about it since Seattle was the "jumping off" place for the gold rush .. Sounds like a great read and I'll try to find it.
But yes wilderness and the wilderness experience ... it does something good to people usually.
Not so many get - or take the time - to have it now and then ...
The Yukon is one of the few areas of Canada we haven't been to, but its remoteness has always attracted me Juliet.
I am always attracted to this sort of book but have never made it to that part of the world. Even parts of southern Canada can feel pretty remote.
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