Canada, a Visual Journey

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

This hefty, impressive book, destined for coffee tables or that special
gift, is a visual celebration of Canada’s natural splendors. The text
is brief but well written, the color photography stunning.

Canada, a Visual Journey is organized from West to East, with separate
chapters on British Columbia to Quebec; one on the Maritimes; and one on
Newfoundland and Labrador. There is a final section on the Yukon,
Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.

A three-page historical introduction begins with Alexander
Mackenzie’s fur-trading expedition in search of the fabled Northwest
Passage. At the age of 31, and with the indispensable aid of Native
guides, he became the first European to travel through the Rockies to
the Pacific. Brief as it is, this fine introduction challenges the
imagination of young and old alike, and will enable armchair travelers
and Canadians everywhere to cross the vast country and to catch and hold
it in the mind.

Most photographs are full-page, with many double-page spreads. Brief
texts are well placed, with many pages unmarred by any text. The effect
is next-best to being there. My favorites include scenes of the Sunken
Garden at Butchart Gardens north of Victoria; of water breaking on
pinkish sand at Long Beach Pacific Rim National Park; and of
weather-worn totems and fallen house timbers near Ninstints, a
once-thriving Haida village in the Queen Charlottes that was decimated
by smallpox and is now maintained by the Haida First Nation. A volume to
enjoy.