Well it goes a little like this-> I happen to be in Burlington VT right now and I just re-read Farley’s “the far farers–Before the Norse” Great book incidently!
And I started asking around in Burlington, especially some grad students at UVM, and I found out that there is a case brought up by someone in Quebec, stating that “Mowat only spent 9 weeks in the upper Yukon, and most of his text is based soley on inference…” Basically their premise being they have documented evidence that Mowat fabricated the majority of the text.
I do not know the validity of this, but I was wondering if one of you literary geni out there have any further info?
*incidently ‘Never Cry Wolf’ is one of my personal favorite naturalist lit as well as a great movie!
Saturday Night magazine did a story on this a little while back. This link provides a second-hand account of the Saturday Night story. And here is Mowat’s response.
University Affairs (the title of which always seemed to have more interesting potential than the content actually is :D) implies that those “in the know” are aware of some long-standing controversy:
Haven’t had time to read these in detail, so take them as a reasonable first step. I found them by doing a “farley mowat fraud” search in Google if you want to explore further.
Wanna talk about cultural appropriation in the works of W.P. Kinsella next?
I like both Mowat and Kinsella. I also enjoy Thompson Highway. I’ve been to Kapuskasing, [sub]and my lips weren’t even dry[/sub], do you think he has?
Point being that they’re all great authors, IMO. I do not read their works with the intent to become informed, but entertained. I specifically avoided Mowat’s story on the Vikings :shudder: as I didn’t want to stuff my head with tripe.
I’ve read and liked both Mowat and (especially) Kinsella, too. The issue with Mowat (as I superficially understand it) is whether they’re fiction or not; the issue with Kinsella (as I superficially understand it) is whether it is fair for white guys like Kinsella to take over the voice of natives, as he does in the stories in Dance Me Outside
[hijack]
Ginger, maybe you can offer a perspective on this since you live in Alberta where the stories take place - but didn’t you feel little queasy about Dance Me Outside? I know I did. I forget where I’m stealing this line from, but I wasn’t sure whether I was reading an study of prejudice toward natives or an example of it.
That said, Shoeless Joe and The Iowa Baseball Confederacy are masterpieces!
I read Owls in the Family as a child, and, years later, The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be. I can’t imagine myself if I hadn’t read these two books. There are a small handful of books, probably 20 or so, that have changed something about me, and these are two of them. Whatever else Mowat has written, and whatever his flaws as a researcher, he will always have points with me because of these two books.
I just re-read this in preview, and I have to admit, I sound hopelessly geeky. Ah, well…
My father has met Farley Mowat a number of times, and I was privileged to meet Angus Mowat (Farley’s father) when I was a child. Angus autographed a copy of his Carrying Place for me, which I still own.
Perhaps because of this somewhat tenuous connection, Farley Mowat’s books were an important part of my growing-up years: I’ve read The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be and The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float each a number of times, as well as his WWII books (my favourites here are The Regiment and And No Birds Sang). And of course, his books on the North.
I know of some kind of controversy surrounding Mowat’s books on the North. My Dad knows the story, but he has never been too specific on exactly what happened. The best I can recollect from Dad’s secondhand account is that Mowat was one of a few people doing research up there, and he made use somehow of somebody else’s research. (In addition to having met Mowat before and after his time in the North, Dad knew at least one of the researchers, who related his side of the story to my Dad.)
But Mowat was definitely up there with the researchers, so perhaps he did have the firsthand experience that he wrote about.
I will agree though that his books do seem to cross the line between fiction and non-fiction at times. Regardless, I find him to be a compelling and entertaining writer, and no matter whether his books are true or not, I do enjoy reading them.
Sorry I cannot be more exact on the controversy, but at least I can confirm that there is one. If I can remember the next time I’m speaking with my Dad, I’ll ask for more details.
