Stickeen by John Muir

Stickeen by John Muir

Rating: 1 out of 5

ISBN (edition I've read): N/A (e-book)

Read between: 26-08-2012 (One day read)

Review:

This is very infamous book. On GoodReads, there are about 340 ratings and 40 reviews.

I came across this book when I was searching for some adventures novels online. Specifically I was searching for adventures that have taken place a long back and considered classics. That is how I came across John Muir and found a whole load of John Muir collection.

I think that it is not legit to read e-books for free, but what could I do? I believed that they were offered for free since that first publication of this book dated to early 1900s (around 1913 or something). I just believe I haven't hurt anyone's feeling by reading this for free.

Plot (from some website):

The great explorer and environmentalist, John Muir, 

first met the little dog Stickeen while exploring in Alaska. 

This is the true story of their challenging and memorable 

adventure climbing the glaciers of the north country.

My take on the book:

It hardly took for me to complete this book in 30-minutes! The book was the shortest novel, I've ever read yet. There were very few pages and to top that, there were even fewer words.

Actually, from the title of the book and the description, I was expecting a adventure by the author and a dog... It turns out to be just that.. but less adventurous and more disappointing.

John Muir, the author, is a scientific explorer (that's what I could make out from the story). One day, he walks out of the camp, to explore the nearby glacier, leaving behind his crew. A dog, named Stickeen, owned by one of the crew members, goes with him, even when he refuses it to. The mere exploration of the glacier turns out into a struggle to get back to the camp, against the violent winds. The way return is a field of crevasses and the last 20-pages of the book deal with the disaster and the way they got back to the camp.

I, who is writing an adventurous story of a dog and a boy was very expectant with the story. I was looking forward for some emotional drama between the author and dog, but against my all hopes the dog, after whom the book was named, had very little part in the whole of the story.

The terminology and the vocabulary used in the story were very high-leveled. Not every person can understand it. I often had to refer Google dictionary for understanding many words.

And then, when you slow start to imagine the story, the story stops. You are rudely woken up from the dream, in which you are expecting a roller coaster ride of adventures of a man and a dog.

Complicated language. Hard-to-understand narration. Short prose. All of them make this read a total no.

Recommendations:

I don't think there will be anyone who are willing to read this book. Yeah, unless and until one wants to know why I had a bad time with this book or there is a soul out there as experimental as I.