Burning Water | Burning Water

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Author: George Bowering
First Published: 1980
Type of Work: Novel
Type of Plot: Magical realism
Time of Work: Early 1790’s and late 1960’s
Setting: Vancouver, British Columbia; Guatemala; the Pacific Coast of North America; South America; and Hawaii
Genres: Long fiction, Magical Realism
Subjects: History, 1960’s, North America or North Americans, Traveling or travelers, Voyages, Native Americans or American Indians, Eighteenth century, Canada or Canadians, Imagination, Ships, Adventure, South America or South Americans, Guatemala or Guatemalans, Cannibalism, Exploration or explorers, Naturalists
Locales: South America, Hawaii, Guatemala, North America, Vancouver, Canada

George Vancouver, the commander of the British warship Discovery. A short, thickset man resembling a bulldog in appearance and temperament, Vancouver is willful, impatient, and unyielding. He is a strict and capable captain and an almost fanatically precise surveyor who does not believe in the existence of a Northwest Passage. A homosexual, he feels great affection for Admiral Quadra as both a father figure and a lover. Toward the end of the Discovery’s voyage, he suffers severely from tuberculosis and from the emotional trauma of Quadra’s...

Burning Water | Burning Water

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Characters Discussed

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