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● Order book |
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Alaska Scrapbook |
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| Though the world of
The Cloud Atlas ranges from the Sea of Japan to the Chesapeake Bay
and dozens of places in between, most of the action takes place in and
around three places in Alaska: Bethel, Kodiak and Anchorage. Photos and
notes from each location appear below. |
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Bethel |
I was first drawn to Bethel when
I noticed a lonely point plotted on a map of Alaskan balloon bomb landings.
Eventually, much of the present-day action of the novel came to be set here.
Bethel--its name means gate of heaven--is a real place, located in mainland
Alaska's far southwest on the Kuskokwim River, the Yukon's less famous but
equally mighty cousin. For much of the year, Bethel is only accessible by air,
although ships bring supplies every summer. It's nicknamed the Paris of the
Tundra, although the photos may leave you wondering why. (It's because Bethel
is the hub for a large network of Yup'ik Eskimo villages.) As for the, um,
lack of tidiness visible in some of the shots--this is the Alaskan bush;
nothing gets thrown away, as you never know when you may need something, and
a replacement is often very, very far away.
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Kodiak | Kodiak hosted a number of
important WWII installations, and today is home to the largest US Coast
Guard base. It's also home to the largest population of the world's
largest bear, the Kodiak Bear. An important scene in the novel takes place
just north of Kodiak on a smaller island, named Shuyak.
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Anchorage & vicinity | The narrator of The Cloud Atlas spends much of his WWII years in Anchorage. The city has changed a great deal since then, but several of the landmarks referred to in the book remain. |
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Banner photo: detail from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce hurricane photo. |
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