Synopses & Reviews
"
The Sea Runners . . . goes beyond being 'about' survival and becomes, mile by terrible mile, the experience itself."--
The New York Times Book Review In this timeless survival story, four indentured servants escape their Russian Alaska work camp in a stolen canoe, only to face a harrowing journey down the Pacific Northwest coast. Battling unrelenting high seas and fierce weather from New Archangel, Alaska, to Astoria, Oregon, the men struggle to avoid hostile Tlingit Indians, to fend off starvation and exhaustion, and to endure their own doubt and distrust. Based on an actual incident in 1853, The Sea Runners is a spare and awe-inspiring tale of the human quest for freedom.
"Ivan Doigs The Sea Runners has all the grace, charm, and spaciousness of his book This House of Sky, but combined with the drama of a great escape. The sea, wind, space, are palpable in this exquisitely worked book. And not the least of its charms is the liveliness with which it explores a forgotten corner of North American history."Thomas Keneally, author of Schindlers List
Ivan Doig is the author of ten previous books, including the novels Prairie Nocturne and Dancing at the Rascal Fair. A former ranch hand, newspaperman, and magazine editor, Doig holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Washington. He lives in Seattle.
Review
PRAISE FOR
THE SEA RUNNERS"Brilliant and original . . . A remarkable evocation of the human spirit in contest with inhuman forces."--The Boston Globe
"The Sea Runners . . . goes beyond being 'about' survival and becomes, mile by terrible mile, the experience itself."--The New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
In this timeless survival story, four indentured servants escape their Russian Alaska work camp in a stolen canoe, only to face a harrowing journey down the Pacific Northwest coast. Battling unrelenting high seas and fierce weather from New Archangel, Alaska, to Astoria, Oregon, the men struggle to avoid hostile Tlingit Indians, to fend off starvation and exhaustion, and to endure their own doubt and distrust. Based on an actual incident in 1853, The Sea Runners is a spare and awe-inspiring tale of the human quest for freedom.
Synopsis
Based on an actual incident in 1853, award-winning author Ivan Doig's The Sea Runners is a spare and awe-inspiring tale of the human quest for freedom.
Goes beyond being 'about' survival and becomes, mile by terrible mile, the experience itself. -- New York Times Book Review
In this timeless survival story, four indentured servants escape their Russian Alaska work camp in a stolen canoe, only to face a harrowing journey down the Pacific Northwest coast. Battling unrelenting high seas and fierce weather from New Archangel, Alaska, to Astoria, Oregon, the men struggle to avoid hostile Tlingit Indians, to fend off starvation and exhaustion, and to endure their own doubt and distrust.
The sea, wind, space, are palpable in this exquisitely worked book. And not the least of its charms is the liveliness with which it explores a forgotten corner of North American history. -- Thomas Keneally, Booker Prize-winning author of Schindler's List
Synopsis
In 1853, in the farthest outpost of the Czar's empire, many of the laborers were indentured servants seven-year men no better off than slaves. In New Archangel, now Sitka, four of them, all Scandinavians, stole a canoe and pointed it south toward Astoria, in Oregon, twelve hundred miles away.
This adventurous story pits its characters against the sea and ultimately against each other. The four sea runners glib, gangly Melander, silent Karlsson, the thief Braff, and sour, doubting Wennberg must weather the worst the ill-named Pacific can throw at them. And must, day upon day, guided as much by instinct as by map, simply paddle, stroke upon stroke, toward the mouth of the Columbia River.
About the Author
Ivan Doig was born in Montana in 1939 and grew up along the Rocky Mountain Front, the dramatic landscape that has inspired much of his writing. A recipient of a lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award from the Western Literature Association, he is the author of eight previous novels, most recently The Whistling Season, and three works of nonfiction, including This House of Sky. He lives in Seattle.