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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 23
David Thompson's Narrative of His Explorations in Western America Part 1 & 2 - David Thompson, Joseph Burr Tyrell
So clearly I didn't go with the "Clear up the shelf/Tidy the Apartment" motif and I dived straight into Thompson's Narrative.
Or, to be more precise, dived into the introduction, and then the itinerary, and now, some 100 or so pages in I'm into the narrative.
Now I love this, it's a keeper, for in it much will be found that will benefit our intrepid prospector, an abundance of clues to be followed up upon, and already, recognizing all the historical routes he travelled and pioneered, the distances he covered, the tribes he met, his own reflections on such (he was 14 when he arrived in Hudson's Bay apprenticed to the Company, "sold" for want of better world from his orphanage in Westminster, and his descriptions of the wildlife, the abundant forts, factory's, houses and camps the fur traders stayed in, along the Red Deer, all environs Alberta and BC as far as the Arrow Lakes and Revelstoke, well, all these places now lost to the woods and can be reasonably pinpointed on a map (and gone to with a metal detector), there will be treasures to be found for sure. I need to make sure I have wheels and next summer free...
And recognizing, of course, the creeks and rivers that he passed over that later proved the site of major gold rushes, a shame he wasn't more of a geologist or taught to dip the pan, but - I'm early into it, there will be clues.
First person history, by North America's greatest geographer and far, far earlier than Lewis and Clark (and far better travelled).
My edition, a limited and numbered one from a limited run of 500, so probably hard to find your own, but you can read it all here online: https://archive.org/details/davidthompsonsna12thom/page/n9/mode/2up
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 29
This was a curious read - and, without giving away too much...
A 16th Century French Peasant takes leave of his wife, family and estate. When he returns 8 years later at first he is welcomed with open arms, his wife especially. But soon there comes to grow on her the suspicion that he is not the same person that left her, and the kindness and maturity she notes cause her - against the will of the Family and Estate - to repudiate him, and through the courts she seeks her retribution...
Now, based upon a true story and to go further would spoil the plot, but the author Janet Lewis introduces more than a few ideas regarding identity and truth...
A slim book, well researched and worth the read.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 32
A parting gift from Toronto, a book that supposedly ties together Old 1847 Toronto to it's current iteration, as well as themes of history and grief. A lot of work to do the research, as told in the time it took the author to write.
So, a little out of my usual reading rut, good to see what passes for contemporary literature, but I think I'll be getting back into my rut...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 94
Funny that I'd never read this.
The book that inspired "Bladerunner" - the plot - and characters - borrowed from the book, but otherwise completely different entities.
Good. Philip K. Dick is a surprisingly competent Sci-Fi author. Somewhere in my childhood I thought I read something by him that put me off him for life, but that may not have been true.
Anyways, some thoughts and inspirations; not like seeing the film - again, different entities - but that's fair, that way there's no false comparisons.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 192
Written in 1966, a madcap description of his week or so in Paris and France.
Definitely not his best, although I was pleased to see references to "Lolita" and Celine.
At this point in his life he's drunk all the time, sun-up to sundown, he's only a few years left and it shows. But a trifling read so I won't hold that against him.