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Passage to Juneau: A Sea and Its Meanings

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Passage to Juneau: A Sea and Its Meanings [Paperback]

Jonathan Raban (Author)

3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Vintage (Nov 7 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0679776141
ISBN-13: 978-0679776147
Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 2.4 x 20.3 cm
Shipping Weight: 395 g

Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #148,667 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #24 in Books > Travel > United States > States > Alaska

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Product Description

From Amazon

British-born Jonathan Raban sets out on a passage from Seattle to Juneau in a small boat that is more a waterborne writing den, and as usual with the brilliant Raban, this journey becomes a vehicle for history and heart-stopping descriptions that will make readers want to hail him as one of the finest talents who's picked up a pen in the 20th century. The voyage through the Inside Passage from Washington's Puget Sound to Alaska churns up memories and stirs up hidden emotions and Raban dwells on many, including the death of his father and his own role of Daddy to his young daughter, Julia, left behind in Seattle. More than just a personal travelogue, however, Passage to Juneau deftly weaves in the stories of others before him--from Indians whom white men formerly greeted with baubles set afloat on logs, to Captain Vancouver, who risked mutiny on his ship when he banned visits with prostitutes, some of whom offered their services for bits of scrap metal. Pressed into every page are intimate descriptions of life at sea--the fog-shrouded coasts, the crackly radio that keeps him linked to the mainland, the salty marine air, and the fellow sailors who are likewise drawn by a life of tossing on water. While Raban successfully steers his boat to the desired port, readers ultimately discover that this insightful, talented sage is in fact emotionally in deep water and may not fully be captain of his own life. --Melissa Rossi --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Raban's purring English accent, playful imitations and knowing intonations perfectly nuance this pared-down version of his acclaimed tale of sailing alone from Seattle to Juneau. His journey through a sea punctuated by the "skittish humor of whirlpools" and colored by "fifty shades of grey" is nicely paralleled with the same journey taken by others before him, including Captain Vancouver's own dour explorations in the 1790s. Throughout, Raban is an inventive reader, creating many voices for the characters that people his tale; his nasal whine for the sickly, uptight Vancouver is hilarious. This playfulness gently contrasts to his more thoughtful, meditative passages, which encompass Raban's awe of the landscape and considerations of his own life and the small communities that cling to the rocky edges of the Inside Passage from Washington to Alaska. Vintage trade paperback released in October. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

43 Reviews

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (43 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Passage to Juneau -- A Sea and Its Meanings, Dec 20 2001

"adblume" (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passage to Juneau: A Sea and Its Meanings (Hardcover)

Having once sailed the same waters that Raban describes in "Passage to Juneau -- A Sea and Its Meanings," I read with fascination this writer's reponses to the tests and subtle meanings of life on the waters of the Pacific Northwest. He offers a sympathetic portrait of the unlovable and socially bereft George Vancouver, a shrewd insight into the people of the region, and a wonderful sense of the hydraulic mysteries of tide patterns, weather and narrow channels in a place that never hears thunder.

Raban looks deeply into the play of light and shadow on water and draws forth the hidden metaphysical realms of the native peoples. And it is in these descriptions of the scattering of the light that he presages his own emotional changes -- a seeing but not-seeing of storms on the horizon. His work is as dazzling as sunlight scattered on waves and as deceptively deep as the dark channels that are home to Sisiutl and Sedna.

As a memoir and travel book "Passage to Juneau" is an intimate look into a quiet corner of a subtly changing part of our world, and a thoughtful meditation on the other passages we make as humans. My one criticism is that with all of the author's references to charts, navigational aids, portolanos, and coastal pilots, the book is devoid of reference maps. Perhaps if the book goes into a second printing the publisher will rectify this obvious shortcoming.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Passages, Oct 6 2003

gotta run now (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passage to Juneau: A Sea and Its Meanings (Paperback)

I initially picked up this book hoping for a sentimental journey in the area where I grew up. The inside passage holds a special mystique among Pacific Northwesterners and is generally accepted as the most scenic, challenging, and historic way of getting from Seattle to Alaska. But this book is much more than a travelogue. We get to join Raban on a much more personal journey.
Raban is obviously an experienced seaman, who sets out to explore the inside passage. As we accompany him, it becomes apparent this will be much more than a mere trip to Alaska. He intertwines history, beautiful scenery, and his own personal reflections into a fascinating trip of self discovery. Raban is a gifted writer who can draw you into the journey and the closer you get to Juneau, the more involved you've become. His descriptive prose takes you out of your lounge room and onto the boat with him. If you're looking for action-adventure, this is not it. But for a beautifully written book that parallels the stories of the sea with real life, this is a great read. Highly recommended.

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1.0 out of 5 stars blah blah blah, Sep 11 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Passage to Juneau: A Sea and Its Meanings (Hardcover)

pedantic and self-serving, Raban blathers on and on in a way impressively formulaic and dull.

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Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Book as Revenge
This is a great book for about the first third of its passage. I get the impression that like a musician with a few good tunes but not an entire CD worth of them, the idea of a... Read more

Published on Sep 4 2003 by bardo monitor

3.0 out of 5 stars The Literary Locker of Davey Jones
Here's a writer 'sailing' on his 'boat', with way too time to think himself onto the reefs of nihilism- yet he does so with a good flair for trolling you along behind in his wake,... Read more

Published on Jun 20 2003 by J Doyle

5.0 out of 5 stars fact or fiction
I've just finished reading 'Passage to Janeau' and was left wanting more but unsettled by the possibility that the part of the book that purports to be the personal story of the... Read more

Published on May 17 2003 by Robert Viney

4.0 out of 5 stars An Inside Passage in many ways
For me, reading Passage to Juneau was a little like cruising in a sailboat. When I step onboard the boat and leave land behind there is an adjustment period where my brain shifts... Read more

Published on Nov 5 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars "I meant to go fishing for reflections...
and come back with a glittering haul."

So plans Jonathan Raban, when he begins fitting out his small boat, well-stocked with both supplies and literary works, for a trip up... Read more

Published on Nov 24 2001 by K. Fromal

1.0 out of 5 stars Dull
Let me start by stating that I just wrote a review of Raban's book "Old Glory" and said that it was probably the best travel book I've ever read. Read more

Published on July 23 2001 by james gatley

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding..............
Jonathan Raban has written his best book since "Old Glory". He brings the mystery and history of the water passage between Seattle and Juneau to life as he recounts his... Read more

Published on May 29 2001 by nto62

5.0 out of 5 stars A haunting, lyrical journey of thought and place
I picked this book up in an airport while traveling on business. A journey within a journey. A melancholy and mesmerizing exploration of a man, a beautiful place and those who... Read more

Published on Mar 3 2001 by C. Garcia

5.0 out of 5 stars An Epiphany
Just after reading the conclusion of this lyrical and haunting book, I watched the Eric Rohmer film "Le Rayon Vert" (The Green Ray. Read more

Published on Feb 25 2001 by Debbie

5.0 out of 5 stars The Inside Passage I Know
Having sailed my small power-boats on three major voyages of the Inside Passage; Skagway and return in 1980, Butedale and return about 1985, and Glacier Bay and return in 1994 I... Read more

Published on Jan 27 2001 by Francis L. Post