![]() ![]() The publisher’s reasons for eliminating the Canadian story were sound, Michener writes. Journey originally was part of Michener’s sprawling novel, Alaska, but was cut to trim the book from 1,209 to 918 pages. Which brings us to his latest work, Journey.Īt 243 pages, Journey is ponderous and clunky but far shorter than the usual Michener tome. A Michener book is considered a sure bet for bestsellerdom, no matter how ponderous. Obviously, this does not bother his millions of readers. In a sense, Michener’s novels are not novels at all, but history and science made entertaining. Most of the time, the plot is subordinate to the mounds of minutiae Michener and his researchers have uncovered. ![]() I suppose it’s fair to say Michener has the reputation of throwing everything into his novels but the kitchen sink. ![]() Along the way, Michener would have discussed the nutritional values of plankton, the effects of tides upon the mating habits of whales, and the kind of wood used to make Captain Ahab’s leg. ![]() Not only would we have learned about the whaling industry, we also would have seen how little Moby grew from a tiny cell into a great white mammal. Michener had written Moby Dick, it would have been 100 pages longer. ![]()
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