True North

By: Jim Harrison

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

The scion of a family of wealthy timber barons, David Burkett has grown up with a father who is a malevolent force more than a father and a mother made vague and numb by alcohol and pills. He and his sister Cynthia, a firecracker who scandalizes the family at 14 by taking up with the son of their Finnish-Native American gardener, are mostly left to make their own way.

As David comes to adulthood, enlightened and enlivened at various points by an unforgettable triumvirate of intoxicating women, he realizes he must come to terms with his forefathers' rapacious destruction of the wood of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, as well as the working people who made their wealth possible. With over 30 years of searching for the truth of what his family has done and trying to make amends, David looks close at the root of his father's evil, and threatens, like Icarus, to destroy himself.

©2004 Jim Harrison (P)2004 Blackstone Audiobooks

A deep look at human nature and frailty

A gritty story that seems to contain elements from all three stories in Harrison's Legends Of The Fall collection. Harrison exposes the flaws every individual struggles with in their own character, some more than others.

Great Book. loved the Michigan presence.

Great narrator and loved the book. From Michigan very familiar with his references of the UP,, Sugar Island etc.

Deep thoughts

I just found this author and need more. So much to think about here. Not just a story, but a saga of love and hate, of money and poverty, of class and race and exploitation. I want to meet the main character and the author, the sister, the ex wife. I need to pet the dog. I will listen again.

Good book

Good book. The narrator mispronounces some of the place name, but unless you are familiar with the UP, this should not be a problem, even saying that he has a very pleasant voice, and is great to listen too.

Michigan's Hemingway? National treasure!

Harrison is a captivating, master storyteller. Set with love in Michigan's north woods and waters.

Too much erotica

Too much erotica and the story is slow. I listened to it to sleep as the narrator’s voice is soothing. So, I didn’t hear all of the book. I was not compelled to back up and listen to all of it. What I did hear was very slow or full of explicit sex. Don’t need it.

If your a fan

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

No. I think you have to be a Harrison fan to enjoy this one. Those not versed in Harrison might find the editorializing intrusive

What was one of the most memorable moments of True North?

Explanation of Jesse's motivations

Have you listened to any of Christopher Lane’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

If you could rename True North, what would you call it?

Fifty Shades of Rape

Good book!

I enjoyed this book! it is different than any other book I have read and the first I have read of this author. I will be looking to read other books he has written. there was a lot of depth to the characters and I enjoyed that depth.

More than expected.

Dirtier and more funny than expected but I really enjoyed it in spite of thinking it was more of an outdoor novel

Epic

The epic story of a reckless, lost boy groping his way toward peace and reconciliation with his family's past. Loved it. Beautiful and messy storytelling that refuses to trade in cliché. Harrison clearly loves the Upper Peninsula and it's one of the main characters in this novel. At this point, I want to read/listen to everything he wrote.