Correcting the Landscape: A Novel
3.5/5
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About this ebook
The editor of a small weekly newspaper in Fairbanks, Alaska, Gus Traynor is an independent spirit whose idealism has survived numerous tests. When big business interests threaten the breathtaking wilderness he cherishes, he joins forces with his best friend—an often self-serving developer—to take on the forces of progress. Soon, in his determination to preserve the dignity and heritage of his community, Gus is learning more than he has ever imagined about the region's colorful mix of opportunists, dreamers, and artists. But his mission is complicated by the discovery of a young woman's body floating in the river . . . and by the blossoming of an unexpected love.
Marjorie Kowalski Cole
Marjorie Kowalski Cole's poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous journals, including Chattahoochee Review and Alaska Quarterly Review. Her essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, American Poetry Review, and Poets & Writers. She lives in Ester, Alaska, with her husband, Pat Lambert.
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Reviews for Correcting the Landscape
19 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I thought this book was better than many of the one- and two-star reviews note. It is about a man's struggle to find himself, really, and to find his own heart. All of the other things that were used to market this book--the touches of native culture and lifeways, the environmental issues, and even the death of the woman--all feed back into this primary concern.
I feel this utilization of these various threads to enhance and expand the character and to both position him for a change and to push him to accept the change are the mark of a good writer. The prose in this book is slightly more than servicable...it doesn't exactly sing but it does have its own voice, and that voice is enjoyable enough. I read this quickly and enjoyed it. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The backstory: Correcting the Landscape won the Bellwether Prize in 2004.The basics: In Fairbanks, Alaska, Gus runs a newspaper struggling financially, both for the familiar reasons and because of the local advertisers, who increasingly take issue with the paper's political views and are pulling their financial support.My thoughts: I majored in journalism in college, and I have a fascination with stories about journalists. I'm also fascinated by life in Alaska, so when I discovered this novel on my quest to read all of the Bellwether Prize winners, I was looking forward to it. Correcting the Landscape is a realistic, and depressing, look at the small town newspaper industry, but it's emphasis is really on telling the story of Gus, whose personal turmoil drifts into work, just as his professional turmoil is deeply personal. As a character, I admit I never felt connected to Gus, but Kowalski Cole's writing was so beautiful, I didn't care.The themes of social justice in this novel are haunting. While it's a story of one man in one Alaska town, there is a universality in its arguments about the importance of news in our society:"These three kids of his, their arrival over the years had kept pace with an increasing conservatism on his and Mary’s part. World too painful to present to his children, so you just pretend it’s different? Pretend these painful, ugly things don’t exist?"Through the writing, grim events, and Alaska setting (the author was Alaskan), there's a chill to this novel, but there's also a lingering hope, for both Gus as an individual and for the newspaper itself.Favorite passage: "A sense of community made me look up from my pages in anticipation of future struggles."The verdict: Correcting the Landscape is a fascinating glimpse into Alaska and the newspaper industry. I enjoyed the larger themes more than the internal struggles of Gus, but the strength of this novel is in Kowalski Cole's prose.