Disappointment River: Finding and Losing the Northwest Passage

Name: Disappointment River: Finding and Losing the Northwest Passage
SKU: 45922
Availability: InStock

4.3 | 254 ratings

Price: 17.72

Last update: 06-10-2024

Top reviews from the United States

HPaul

Fascinating story and history

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2019

This book combines history of the French and Scot voyageurs - the 18th century trappers in central and northern Canada - with Alexander MacKenzie's confused voyage down the Deh Cho river (now the MacKenzie) in 1789. He had undertaken the impossible task of finding a "northwest passage" to the Pacific, in order to shorten the trade route to the Orient. As we know, there is no such river route, and MacKenzie was shocked to find himself facing the Arctic Ocean, not the Pacific, at the end of his voyage. He had failed, from the commercial perspective. (He was fooled by his proximity to the magnetic north pole.) Where MacKenzie traveled in a large party with hunters to provide food, the author sets out on the 1125 mile trip in a single two-man canoe. The hazards, challenges, and blunders along the way make for fascinating reading, and the author's engaging style will keep you turning the pages. One of the things I appreciated the most was simply learning about the state of life in the Northwest Territories. All around a terrific book.

Superior.Shores

Brilliant Adventure

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2020

This came so close to being a 5-Star review. I commend an author who not only writes about another person’s adventure and then goes out an lives it. In my opinion there can be no better way to bring the reader along for the adventure.
I purchased this book, not knowing a thing about Mackenzie or the River that bears his name. Now Mackenzie occupies a space in my brain as Castner took me along on the journey through his writing and Google Earth.
Well done from beginning to end.

R. Browning

Engrossing and Well-Written

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2021

I found this book utterly interesting and the writing far, far better than I expected. I knew nothing of the author before starting it but found the way he wove his recent (2016) trip on the McKenzie River into the historic attempt to find the Northwest Passage fascinating. I knew little about the fur trade in the far Canadian north in the late 18th century and that part was certainly interesting enough, but what made the book was the way he shifted back and forth to his own canoe trip the length of the river and how some things have changed little in the 21st century and other things an enormous amount. If you find the books by Mark Adams on his trips to Peru and Alaska interesting, you will like this one, too. It does lack some maps for areas not covered or identified on the map on the front-and-end covers. but that was mainly true only for the early parts.

Randy

Surprisingly thought provoking

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2020

I bought this book mainly out of my interest in the accounts of the great explorers, going where no man had documented and published having been before, and a dearth of options regarding Mackenzie. But I wound up being equally, at least, intrigued by the accounts of the lives and increasing modern challenges faced by the current inhabitants. Descendents as they are of the resourceful guides and hunters of pre-contact times, with their culture slowly eroding ever since by exposure to everything from metal tools to alcohol to oil money to satellite TV.

Chris

Excellent

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2021

Of the few books out of thousands I have read that I would describe as "couldn't put it down", this is the first nonfiction book I would describe that way. Excellent combination of travelogue and history. Reminiscent of Michner's style, alternating chapters of the author's contemporary journey with the 18th century journey of Arthur McKenzie. If you excerpted the book into to separate books, both would stand alone.
99% of the time I give a book it's stars on my Kindle and start another, a book has to be extraordinarily good or bad for me to write a review, this is one of the good ones.
Coincidentally,the author hails from Grand Island, NY, I grew up right across the river in North Tonawanda.

Ron L

Missed opportunities

Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2019

I assumed the book had to do with geography and the failed search for the northwest passage. That turns out to be side issue. We don’t get much in the way of geography; we get a pieced-together history of MacKenzie’s life and his travel to the end of the river named for him, which at least makes for interesting history. MacKenzie’s failure turns out to be instructive, and maps could have made the issue crystal clear to those no familiar with the issue.
Regarding what could have been an interesting book on geography, there are two maps, one more general and one more specific; they are printed on the inside covers (duplicated) front and rear. They show perhaps 10% of the locations mentioned in the ~350 pages of text. And have no scales.
John McPhee got away with that 30 years ago when he published his New Yorker articles in book form; at the time, it was déclassé to include illustrations amidst the text. And then his writing was sufficient to release him from guilt; when he was hooking shad on the upper Delaware, the writing told you where he was. Castner has not nearly McPhee’s skills as a writer, nor his reasons to exclude illustrations.
Interspersed, and seemingly the primary subject, we get “bud-book” of personal friendships and travails on a long and arduous journey. Where we might have gotten some of those missing maps, we get photos of those who each traveled part-way with him.
I don’t know Castner and really have no desire to know him. If you are interested in Brian Castner, you will be pleased with this book. If you are hoping for a book on the river and the man for whom it is named, not so much.

Marlene

What an adventure!

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2019

I have great respect for people who accomplish adventures like climbing mountains, trekking many miles in foreign places (sometimes with children in tow), etc. This book captured my attention on every single page. I enjoyed how the adventure went back in history, which gave me the opportunity to learn about the incredible hardships that were involved way back when without the technical equipment used now in navigation. And then the time switched to the present adventure in an amazing canoe also with its demanding and breathtaking risks and hardships. I recommend this book even if you may not be a fan of adventure books because this book offers insight into so much more.

Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2020

The adventure of this account is very amazing; yet the overall story is, I guess, "missing" that which would really "grab" me to keep on reading, although I did finish the book.

Best Sellers in

La Passione: How Italy Seduced the World

4.6 139

15.75

My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home

4.3 214

13.12

Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart: An Adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail

4.5 4411

21.83

A Year in Provence

4.5 6952

7.21

Look for Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself

4.4 1884

7.99

The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey

4.3 4612

19.68

What Really Happens in Vegas: True Stories of the People Who Make Vegas, Vegas

4.3 727

17.05

The Salt Path: A Memoir

4.4 38927

15.75