Martin Allerdale Grainger (1874–1941)

I liked this depiction of early working life in British Columbia. The bookseller I bought the 1908 first edition from quoted the opening lines from memory. My favourite character was a minor one, a man named Al residing at the Hanson Island Hotel, with a damaged eye that the narrator provided care for. I thought the narrator was somewhat self-effacing and there wasn't much of a plot, in keeping with a semi-autobiographical novel. The long recounting of Carter's career seemed mystifying until he later became Martin's boss. I enjoyed the accounts of hand-logging by the sea, the patched-up character of the donkey engines and the steamboats. The long (60 miles) voyages by leaky rowboat beggared belief but were undoubtedly based in fact. I think this novel deserves a second reading as there were many general observations on life that I found interesting.… (mer)

Grainger was writing fiction but includes himself by name in the narrative. He did work as a lumberman and his experiences provided him with the details about life cutting timber in the British Columbia forests in the early years of the 20th Century. Try to imagine cutting down the monster Douglas Fir towering 200 feet into the sky and 15 feet in circumference with axes and a crosscut saw in rain & snow. Once it was down, you had to move it to the water by hand where you tied it with others into a boom for the tow down the coast to the mill in Vancouver. Truly the life lived by a hardy man.… (mer)