Customer Reviews

Deep Water Passage

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

 

 

I picked up this book expecting it to be a book about not only a woman finding herself and understanding the place where she was in her life better but also a book about kayaking around Lake Superior (a trip I'm about to embark on next spring). I was not disappointed by the Spiritual nature of the book (even if it was a bit too New Agey for me) but I was disappointed by the lack of good kayaking stories (other than the obligatory toughness of the trip type stories). I was also surprised by how "unexpectedly harsh" the author found Lake Superior and the lack of real knowledge of the lake she possessed (especially since she lived on the shores of the lake in Duluth, MN). Anyone preparing to make this trip should have been better prepared for the fickleness of Lake Superior and anyone who actually lives on the lake should have known this wasn't going to be your summer camp paddling trip. Like many other reviewers, I did find her whinning a bit much at times. BUT overall I found this book enjoyable, touching at many points and made me anxious to start my trip at Sault Ste. Marie in June. (Picky-Nicky note here: This town is called "The Soo" by us native Michiganders and not "The Sioux" as the author spells it in the book..it is a local shortening of Sault Ste. Marie pronounced "Soo Saint Marie", not named after the Indian tribe)

My book club selected this, and I will admit it should generate lively discussion, if only because some of us will hate it, and some will like it. Personally, the new-agey spiritual narrative nauseated me. This lady whips out her personal altar at the drop of a hat; she is "stunned" by personal revelation to such an extent I wonder that emergency rooms around the lake weren't on high alert for her presence; she finds signs in things most normal people wouldn't even notice. While she writes about a spiritual journey,and personal transformation, ultimately, this is a story about a frustrated housewife who is figuring out how to get on with the rest of her life and needs a slew of new-age speak to get there.

Ann's book was inspiring to me - her vivid descriptions of Lake Superior country and the inner landscapes she traversed helped me journey within myself as I read. It was an intimate and poignant story that I enjoyed very much.

Ann Linnea is a woman of great courage as evidenced by her ability to persevere on what has to be described as a monumental vision quest. Her book is a courageous act also. She allows us into her thoughts and emotions, gives us an honest look into what was going on "inside". I felt it was a privilege to be able to go on this journey with her.

We need more women role models who are willing to risk and "tell it like it is" especially for younger women. I celebrate her willingness to share it with the rest of us.

I loved this book. I have never been "trustful" of nature and thus never enjoyed the power and the beauty that it holds. Reading Ann Linnea's book opened that world to me like no other. It is written so beautifully that I could feel her cold, her exhiliration and her fear. Her inner journey is as significant as the physical one and is presented in a respectful way both to her and to her readers. I will never look at lakes and seas the same way again. I hope she writes a sequel.

Sooner or later, we all face the prospect of losing a loved one. Often the death of a friend leads one to reflect on one's own mortality. Sometimes undertaking an arduous physical challenge helps alleviate the emotional pain following loss. Often the loss of someone dear leads to enormous changes in one's life.

Ann Linnea lost a good friend to breast cancer. In a state of grief buried so deep she was not fully aware of it until she had completed a good part of her journey, she set out on an extraordinary trip kayaking around Lake Superior. She and her travel companion were subjected to incredible physical stress, and they experienced sublime beauty. By day, they paddled against the surf, in the rain and broiling sun, and through the treacherous debris of the coastline. Sometimes they paddled at night, where she saw "dark lichen-covered boulders..illuminated by a full moon."

Like Pirsig in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" Linnea alternately describes her evolving mental and emotional state and the intricacies of kayaking a long distance. "I wore heavy-soled hiking boots, teal wind pants, yellow waterproof parka"... she says. And a moment later, "The only other time in my life that I could remember feeling connected like this to the ancient spirit of a place was in 1988 on my second three-month camping trip to the desert southwest with my children."

By the end of her book, Linnea has successfully circumnavigated Lake Superior, found the perfect place to scatter the ashes of her dead friend, and made some life-affirming decisions about her own existence.

300 pages of whining. "I was tired,wet and cold". You were paddling around Lake Superior, what did you expect!

From the first page to the last I was Ann Linnea, counting the waves and testing my own humanity. When she celebrated, I did too. When she was cold and lost, I felt her desolation. This book is both lyrical and down to earth. Every woman who has ever felt lost or confused about which option is best should read this book. Every woman who has ever triumphed over her own self set limitations should read this book. And when she is done, she should set it aside and reread it whenever she sets out against the "high seas" of life.

I am from the U.P. of MI. and grew up spending summers on Lake Superior. I am about the same age with two older daughters. I injoyed the book very much and felt like I took the journey thro her and with her.

I enjoyed this book of sheer muscle and determination. However, I felt the author to be a tad bit selfish in her quest for "finding herself". She adopted two children who needed a stable homelife, but sadly, ended up the children of divorced parents. When I asked my husband if I could kayak for two months to "find myself" he thought I was being selfish; when I asked him if I wanted to go kyaking for two months with him, but he didn't want to go, he said "go for it, but by yourself" Go figure.