Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...
 Transformed By The Journey January 30, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Our Story Circle Reading Circle (in Austin TX) read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is the story of a 43-year old woman who kayaked around Lake Superior in search of the rest of her life. It was a summer-long journey--65 days of incredible challenge, of angry storms, high seas, and painful physical trials. But more than that, it is a journey into the soul of a woman who is willing to risk all that she already knows about herself (as a wife, a mother, a friend) in order to learn what she does not know about her own inner resources. "When we deliberately leave the safety of the shore of our lives," Linnea writes, "we surrender to a mystery beyond our intent." It is within the circle of those mysteries, beyond any willed intention on our parts, that transformation takes place. As readers of this memoir of courage and physical challenge, members of our Circle felt that we too had surrendered to the mystery of the journey, and were transformed by it.
by Susan Wittig Albert
for Story Circle Book Reviews
[...]
reviewing books by, for, and about women
 Depressing August 4, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I admire this woman for the undertaking, kayaking around Lake Superior. But the descriptions of downpours, thick fog and cold water 24/7 was as depressing as her thoughts of her lost friend. Beautifully written, this book is not for the joyful-at-heart as it touches on a subject we all must face with time: the passing of a loved one and mid-life doubts.
The book worked because as the journey moved on around the lake, Ann described the boulders, the lichen, the flora and the immediate surroundings, all which were backdrops to her thoughts.
There was a distinctive difference in the wilderness between the Canadian and American sides of Lake Superior that she detailed along the way. Fewer but more interesting people were found on the Canadian side and some of the shore descriptions were so detailed I could smell the water and trees.
But there were times I fast-forwarded to get away from the depressing parts (when she talked about old times with her dead friend) and read more of the adventure of the trip, as she and her partner amassed miles, met up with friends or strangers along the shore, built a campsite for the night, etc. That she was able to finish the entire circumference is in itself amazing, not because she did it (she is afterall an endurance athlete) but because of the strong demons she had to fight inside.
I recommend this for people who love the seas, lakes, kayaking and pushing oneself to ones physical limits.
This book took me out on the water with the author! September 18, 2004
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I couldn't put this book down! I was there with every storm, every breathless moment of this incredible journey! I was exhausted when I finished this page-turner strictly from the adventure standpoint, but the emotional journey which parallels the physical is equally compelling and I found the author's honesty to be refreshing and comforting. This is a beautiful book to read and re-read when your own life's journey makes you wonder if you're on the right path and it makes a wonderful gift as well!
big thoughts on a big lake September 4, 2004
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Linnea's book is one of only a handful of kayaking books really worth dipping into. Her prose and purpose are conveyed perfectly to the reader. Both kayakers and students of water will enjoy this work. Only Chris Duff's book comes close to matching it for creating lingering memories. Both works figure strongly in my book which reviews outdoor water recreation - Deep Immersion: The Experience of Water. Linnea writes with passion and enjoys getting wet and immersing herself in Lake Superior's coasts. As Thoreau wrote " That part of you that is wettest is fullest of life" (quoted from Profitably Soaked: Thoreau's Engagement With Water; Green Frigate Books, 2003).
 Spirtual: Yes; Kayaking: Maybe September 1, 2003
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
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)
|
