A Place Beyond: Finding Home in Arctic Alaska

"A Place Beyond" by Nick Jans is an inspiring collection of essays that reads a bit like a memoir, a bit like a story book, a bit like a history book, and a bit like a travelogue. Jans combines them all into one winsome treat. In this book, the author shares with us an inside look at life among the Inupiaq Eskimos in northern Alaska. Jans, who lived in Ambler, just south of the Brooks Range, for fifteen years, captures his eccentric and humorous northern lifestyle in easy-flowing prose. His ability to capture the beauty and complexity of nature in words reminds of award-winning author Bill Bryson.

Jans shines when he waxes about his Alaskan friends and their adventures together. My heart warmed at each mention of Clarence Wood, a wise show more Eskimo native, whose few words and relaxed attitude made him my instant favorite. And I was moved to tears when Mr. Jans described the spring funeral of a lonely neighbor; Ambler’s inhabitants, through this writer’s eyes, are people with bottomless hearts.

This Alaskan expert, however, is at his best when he’s penning descriptions of the land itself and its indigenous creatures. Through the author’s writing, I could almost feel the Kobuk River’s mighty power and majesty during its spring ice breakup. And Jans’s stories about his rare and magical brush with a wolf pack left me breathless.

This book is a great read for anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of life in the Arctic, but it’s also wonderfully entertaining and informative for those who love to peek into other cultures and lifestyles. show less

I am a member of a local book club, and late last year I recommended that we all read a collection of essays as our monthly selection. At the time it seemed impossible to find a collection of essays worth reading.

If I had know about A Place Beyond: Finding Home in Arctic Alaska at the time, I would have recommended it. This collection of essays reflects on Arctic Alaska in a way that makes the reader wish they were there collecting these full life experiences for themselves instead of reading about them vicariously.

The wonderful thing about this collection is it covers a broad spectrum of thought and both literal and figurative territory. For example, in one essay the author talks about a hunting trip, and within a few pages of copy we show more read about a superstition, the actual butchering of the meat, the necessity of hunting, and also the conflicting feelings the author has about hunting.

Every essay is multidimensional.

None of the selections in this volume are overly sentimental, merely reflective. They neither glorify a life in the Arctic or get lost discussing the often brutal elements. Sunshine and darkness are covered in seemingly even measure.

The author clearly loves his Arctic life, but we are not given a list of the reasons why, veiled in the form of essays. We are shown the Arctic through the eyes of someone who has experienced it, good and bad, and remains happy with the whole. show less

A Place Beyond is a slim gem of a book of essays about the Alaskan Arctic. The concisely and lyrically written essays describe Nick Jans’ impressions and experiences of life in the land he has come to call “home”. Jans’ writing is sometimes humorous and often profound and captures the essence and nuances of the land, the wildlife, and the people. Treat yourself to this book.

If home is where the heart is, then Nick Jans will always have a home in arctic Alaska.

Fleeing a “future that looked all too certain,” Jans drove 5,000 miles to Alaska. He ended up teaching in a village school in the arctic, living in a cabin with no indoor plumbing and dealing with battalions of mosquitoes, winter darkness that could drive a person mad and temperatures that can easily kill.

In these 28 essays in A Place Beyond: Finding Home in Arctic Alaska, Jans talks about the little things and the big—the things that have made arctic Alaska a home for him. The people, who are basically decent but certainly not perfect (as is evidenced by some of the things that Clarence does, such as shooting a mother bear simply because he show more could). The area is beautiful but can easily turn deadly. The wildlife is magnificent, but it, too, can easily turn deadly.

Jans does a good job of drawing the reader into this world. He also does well at not idealizing the place and the people; he lived there and worked there. It is what it is, and, for him, it is home. show less

28 short essays that tell the tale of Alaska in a style that leaves you full, yet wanting more. No over-blown language or dwelling on the harshness of the environment - instead the essays open your eyes and make you rethink everything you once knew about our 49th state.

I thoroughly enjoyed Nick Jans’ book of Essays “A Place Beyond. Finding Home in Artic Alaska.” In each short essay, Mr. Jans brings to life some small facet of life in an Eskimo village. Various essays focus on wildlife, the village community, travel in the Artic, and the Alaskan seasons, each providing an interesting look at its particular aspect of Alaskan life. In particular, the essay describing the mosquitos that emerge during the brief summer season was particularly vivid, enough so that if I ever travel to Alaska in summer, I will be sure to pack large quantities of bug repellent. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in life in Artic Alaska.

Jans writes with simple eloquence about places and things that perhaps only those who have lived in Alaska can truly appreciate, but still resound with admiration that anyone can attune themselves to.