I enjoyed my first book review here. Now, I am enjoying the book Lost In The Barrens by Farley Mowat, published by McClelland & Stewart.
Jamie was a young person who left Toronto “to take up a new life in the subarctic forests of northern Canada.” He met his uncle, Angus, who was confident that Jamie would love his new rugged life, and he was proved correct, as Jamie became fascinated by the country from the very first few weeks of travelling in it. I like how their meeting is described, especially what Aungus said to the young man:
“I’m thinking you’ll be in love with [the north] before the month is out.”
In the story, Jamie found the simple cabin that they lived in at McNair Lake to be charming and cozy with “a pot-bellied Quebec heater.”
Incidentally, anyone know what is a Quebec heater?
Alphonse was chief of the Cree nation and close friend of Angus. Similarly, Alphonse’s son, Awasin immediately clicked with Jamie, becoming almost a brother to him. In a while, Angus and Alphonse decided taking a long trip south by canoe, while Jamie remained with Alphonse’s family at the Cree camp at Thanout Lake. The round trip was to take six or eight weeks and Jamie was glad to seek rugged adventures with his friend. Angus was pleasantly surprised that Jamie did not yearn for city life; he saw Jamie becoming a “woodsman” in a very respectable way. Angus emphasized to Jamie that Awasin knew more about forest life and was to have the upper hand in decision making, which Awasin immediately took to his own advantage by trying to assign his friend mundane chores. But Jamie would not take it without a friendly skirmish.
The two boys in the story had a nice start, I’m looking forward to reading more about them. It’s going to be very interesting to read about their friendship and the way their different backgrounds play out.
