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Enduring Dreams
An Exploration of Arctic Landscape
by John Moss
House of Anansi Press, Concord, Ontario 1994.
174 pp. $16.95.
Review by MICHAEL PEAKE --
Che-Mun Editor
Canoelit Home Page
The press release accompanying this unusual book trumpeted it as the first of a new genre of literature. Pretty lofty stuff and indeed, Enduring Dreams, may live up to that billing. The question is whether it's a genre we welcome and wish to continue in.
This is an intellectual exercise and for this average-minded reader a strange combination of diffuse literary phrasing and the names of northern explorers and figures that catch the eye of a wilderness canoeist. Moss talks about all the historic names, from Douglas to Franklin, from Flaherty to Stefansson. He uses many devices to get his message across. The trouble is, I don't understand what the message is.
Moss is a veteran marathon runner and extreme sport enthusiast. The book weaves through his experiences in Arctic landscapes and suddenly we're shifted to the searing pain of a particularly difficult triathalon. Throw in a couple of long free verse poems and you pretty well have the substance of Enduring Dreams.
Yet because it is salted with all the names we've read about and routes we've follow it is hard to put down. It's settings encompass the Coppermine, Hanbury-Thelon and Hood rivers, and many far-flung and fascinating locations.
To be fair this is a serious minded literary effort and one that requires slow, contemplative reading. With his poetic talents and unique style, Moss tries his best to relate the feeling of the north and the use of all our senses required to look at that landscape.
John Moss is an English professor at the University of Ottawa. He is at no loss for producing interesting words that will send many of we unwashed masses scurrying for our dictionaries. The following illustrates - "Anthropology: the bastard offspring of colonialism. It's almost too easy to write. A solipsistic palimpsest - the old text described with the line of its heirs, the new anticipating its own past."
Moss spans a wide variety of historical experiences. He looks at how we have interpreted things and then Moss makes a statement about it. He seems to be treading a very careful line between being politically correct and historically open. For the right type of reader this will be a wonderful read, evoking deep and profound thoughts on our past and future north. For others it will remain as confounding as the final fate of Capt. Franklin.
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