Drifting home
by Pierre Berton
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Description
This Canadian classic, by one of the country's beloved authors, is a personal journey through time and space to the heart of family and the soul of the Canadian experience. Drifting Home is an account of a journey by Pierre Berton and his family as they raft down the Yukon River from Lake Bennett, British Columbia, to Dawson in the Yukon Territory. It is a meditation on family and childhood and the small moments from which memories are drawn. It is also a tribute by a son to his father. show more During the Klondike summer of 1898, Francis George Berton paddled the waters of this historic river. Berton was one of the pioneering adventurers who sought his fortune in the goldfields of the north. When the gold rush ended and the crowds left, he stayed on in Dawson City, Yukon, as government mining recorder, married and started a family. It was there, in Canada's most famous ghost town, that Pierre Berton spent his vividly remembered childhood. Through a unique blending of nostalgia, his deep love of the land and his unrivalled knowledge of the history and the area, Pierre Berton has created this magical tale. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Drifting Home tells the story of Pierre Berton and his family's two week trip down the Yukon River from Fort Bennet in Northern BC to Dawson in the Yukon. It is more than a story of a family holiday as there are three generations worth of stories to tell along the way. Not only does he describe the people, wildlife and river on this trip but writes about his youth growing up in the region and how it has changed as well as about his father who came to the Yukon during the goldrush in 1898 and his experiences. Pierre's father is a very interesting figure and I almost wished the book was only about him.
The book is well written and easy to read. A great way to get an idea about the region and its history and people.
The book is well written and easy to read. A great way to get an idea about the region and its history and people.
This is one of the lighter and shorter entries from Pierre Berton. The book follows directly or indirectly three generations of Bertons. Taking his family rafting down the Yukon river in the early 1970's, Berton talks about the present, reminices about his own trip down the same river as a boy with his father, and intertwines a biography of his father into the story as well. The narrative starts slowly, but as Berton warms up, he weaves the three stories together with magical results. It is a well written personal history
travel, memoir. family story
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Author Information
102+ Works 7,365 Members
Pierre Berton was born in 1920 and raised in the Yukon. He worked in Klondike mining camps during his university years, spending four years in the army, rising from private to captain/instructor at the Royal Military College in Kingston. After the military, Berton went to Vancouver where he began his career at a newspaper. At 21, he was the show more youngest city editor on any Canadian daily. He moved to Toronto in 1947, and at the age of 31 was named managing editor of Maclean's. In 1957 he became a key member of the CBC's public affairs flagship program, Close-Up, and a permanent panelist on Front Page Challenge. He joined The Toronto Star as an associate editor and columnist in 1958, leaving 4 years later in '62 to commence The Pierre Berton Show, which ran until 1973. Since then he has appeared as host and writer on My Country, The Great Debate, Heritage Theatre, and The Secret of My Success. He has received numerous honourary degrees and served as the Chancellor of Yukon College. Berton is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, and has received a Stephen Leacock Medal for Humor in 1959, a Govenor's General Award for The Mysterious North in 1956, Klondike in 1958 and The Last Spike in 1972. Berton has also won a Nellie Award for best public broadcaster in radio in 1978, the Canadian Authors Association Literary Award for non fiction in, 1981 and the Canadian Booksellers Award in 1982. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1973
- People/Characters
- Pierre Berton; Francis George Berton; Laura Beatrice Berton; Janet Berton; Patsie Berton; Peggy Anne Berton (show all 12); Peter Berton; Penny Berton; Paul Berton; Perri Berton; Skip Burns; Berton Woodward
- Important places
- Yukon River; Dawson City, Yukon, Canada; Canada
- First words
- We begin at the beginning, at Lake Bennett where the Yukon river rises and where, on a perfect June day in 1898, seven thousand hand-made boats of every conceivable structure and design set off under sail, paddle and sweep fo... (show all)r the Klondike goldfields on an adventure which my family and I hope to capture.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Our own odyssey is over, but the river's has only begun.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 122
- Popularity
- 265,979
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.66)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 4
