Alaska: People come here out of curiosity, or for exploration, escapism, validation. Set on an island off the Kenai Peninsula, this is bleak story, every character unsympathetic, which makes it hard to justify why I liked the book. If you've been to the interior of Alaska, or seen the movie "Into the Wild", you can begin to understand the harshness, remoteness, and desolation of the unforgiving land. How it draws people there, what it does to them, and why only a very few survive.
The 4 main characters are weirdly interesting, all self-absorbed in their own personal neuroses. In the lower 48 this would be inconsequential, but in Alaska, any psychological weakness can prove fatal.
In the end, I wanted more interaction, deeper fleshing out of the characters, & a few plot issues resolved. Caribou Island is beautifully written - haunting and disturbing, but left me wanting more out of of the book.
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