\n(BTW, we are\u00a0 considering changing the listing of the FW house and adding, “Excellent theological library included.” For what it’s worth.)
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Niagara Falls is far more than honeymoons and barrels. It’s been an object of fascination ever since human beings came upon it – beginning with Native Americans, continuing to the British and French, American entrepeneurs, businessmen, civic leaders and of course the rest of us mere tourists.\nI’ve been to the Falls two or three times, I think, although never, to my regret, in the winter. It really is a fascinating place, and once you immerse yourself even a little bit in the history, it’s easy to see how someone could become a Niagaraphile.
\nGinger Strand, novelist and amateur historian, has written an interesting, if not comprehensive book about Niagara Falls – there are others, certainly that cover the history of the place in more detail, but Strand has a particular purpose: to disabuse the reader of the notion that what they see when they see Niagara Falls is best defined as “natural beauty.”
\nFor over the years, Niagara has been fiddled with. Rocks have been blown up and removed for effect, land has been built up for better viewing, and, of course, the force of the Falls is controlled by human hands – the Falls are “turned up” for tourist season.
\nMost of this is pretty interesting – especially the stories of the early entrepeneurs who saw the potential as the notion of tourism took hold in the early 19th century. (Helping us realize that the present-day breathless inundation of tackiness on the Canadian side is nothing new. It’s been there since the beginning – the only difference being the present relative scarcity of the tourist traps on the US side at the moment – not for want of trying, however.) The material about the use of Niagara as a power source, as well as the rise and fall of industry in the area was good, as was the exploration of Niagara’s role in the Underground Railroad.
\nI do think she overreaches at times, though, stretching the symbolism of a pre-Civil War high wire act over the Falls more that it can bear, for example.\u00a0 Her repetition of the supposedly scandalous news that elements of the Falls, as well as the whole contemporary Niagara Falls experience does not, in fact present us nature in its pure state ended up being tiresome repetitions of the obvious. And there was just a bit too much of her own authorial presence in the book – it is one of those books in which the writer’s experience of research and exploration is presented to us as a matter of equal interest as the subject matter itself, and here..well, it’s usually just not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"