James Raffan

On Sun 11 Jun 1978, 27 boys, ages 11-13 and 4 teachers/volunteers set off from Temiskaming PQ for a seven week canoe trip to James Bay and somehow managed to upset all four canoes they were in despite the absence of any adverse weather. Each canoe had one adult as steersman and 7-8 boys and by the end of the day 12 boys and an adult were dead. Teachers Peter Cain/Neil Thompson and volunteers Richard Bird/Mark Denny were the adults on the trip. An appalling lack of safety precautions endangered students and staff for the students followed orders from staff who should have known better. The school believed in learning by doing and if God be for us then who could be against us. SJSO could have read “Canoeing with the Cree” by John Sevareid and Walter Port who after graduating from high school, paddled from Minneapolis to Fort York in 1930 or any info from the YMCA and Pioneer Camps in Manitoba which would have advised about the danger of large canoes on lakes. Safety concerns went unnoticed for how could a boy become a man if not through the fire of adversity? “The fire and the cross whipped the boys into devout Christian men.” Such utter foolishness. It makes for a good read with the takeaway being religious fanaticism plus a private school education cannot keep students safe nor build “character”.… (más)

A la manière d’un documentaire animalier, James Raffan nous raconte la vie de Nanuq, une ourse polaire dans le grand Nord Canadien.

Au travers d’un cycle de vie (de la rencontre avec un ours jusqu’à l’émancipation de la portée) Nanuq témoigne de la beauté et de l’impitoyable rudesse des zones polaire. La vie nourri la vie, les plus faibles ou les malchanceux permettent aux plus forts de survivre… Tant que l’homme ne passe pas par là !

C’est rude et beau (et tellement fragile !), un voyage glacial avec la chaleur d’une ourse pour réchauffer ses deux petits… (más)

If you've ever been on a serious canoe trip, this book will resurrect memories of rapids, campfires, and friendships. If you're more of an armchair explorer, Raffan's prose will give you a taste of why people choose to leave civilized comforts behind and head outside.

Summer North of Sixty is Raffan's account of a 700 kilometre canoe trip across the Arctic Circle in Northwest Territories. The sparse beauty (and occasional terror) of the land is painted in vivid detail.

One of the best surprises of this book was the personal story. Raffan's honestly portrayed the stresses the trip created between him and his girlfriend. I'm not sure what possessed Raffan to take a new paddler on a six week canoe trip, but I suppose there's no better way to get to know someone than under stress!

I've read and enjoyed Raffan's other books—Fire in the Bones, Deep Waters, Bark, Skin and Cedar, as well as some of the works he's edited. Summer North of Sixty is by far his best.… (más)

I don't like this book, but I'm not sure why not. The writing is not a factor, at least not directly. Language-wise, it's well written. I think my distaste comes from the author's worldview or "hidden curriculum" so-to-speak. The story (even though it is a real-life event, I still think of it as story) is horrible. Right off the bat you know that the canoeing trip ends with 13 deaths. So the mood is already dark. It stays dark. The ridiculously difficult snow-shoe treks are described to set the stage for hard-core over the top excursions. Corporal punishment and bullying are described. Manipulation is implied. To me, I sense the author is not Christian (probably atheist), and while he plainly lays out the Christian tenets of the school and its leaders, there is an underlying tone suggesting hypocrisy, ridiculing their beliefs. The author may try to be objective in describing the events, but blame and incredulity that events could be allowed to happen creep in. Is he blaming the parents, the pedagogy, their faith, fate? Probably all of the above, to some extent. These critiques still don't explain the bad taste this book leaves with me. Maybe it's a challenging read because I know that this kind of tragedy could happen to me. Not that I'm as reckless with adventures as they are, but because accidents and events can happen that quickly get beyond our control. Lessons can be learned from this story, for sure. But I feel a little bit like I was watching a snuff film while reading it. It just didn't sit well with me. Not many books make me so uncomfortable.… (más)