Customer Reviews

Dogsong

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

"Dogsong" is a great book. It's about an eskimo boy named Russell who gets tired of the normal way of life and wants a change. He goes to a wise old man named Oogruk, who tells him about the way it used to be, the way the men used to make their living, and how they made their own songs of life. Russell becomes interested and wants to make his own song with the aid of some sled dogs. Oogruk teaches him how to hunt, how to find himself, and how to make his own song. Soon, Russell is out in the cold arctic terrain fighting against snowstorms, encountering a giant polar bear, and even rescuing a pregnant eskimo girl, while he hunts for food and makes his own song.

Once you start reading "Dogsong," it's hard to put it down. You'll want to keep reading it to see what happens next to Russell and how he will react to the situation. When you read this book, you'll see why it's a Newberry Honor Award Winner, it's an all around great book for anybody to read. I highly recommend it to anybody that likes adventure books or books about the arctic.

As an Eskimo boy journeys to find himself, he must survive the harsh conditions of the frozen tundra. When Russel realizes he is unhappy with his way of life, he goes to an old Eskimo named Oogruk for help. Oogruk teaches him how the old Eskimos once lived and then, giving him his five dogs and a sled, tells him that in order to become a man, he must leave the village and travel north. He takes the dogs and does just that, only stopping to make camp at night and during storms, until he realizes he needs to find food. Luckily, the dogs pick up the scent of a herd of caribou and, with their help, he is able to kill four using the bow and arrows Oogruk gave him. They keep traveling and one day come across snowmobile tracks which lead them to a snowmobile that had run out of gas. Beside it, there are footprints that lead them to a pregnant woman lying in the snow. Russel makes a shelter and revives her back to health. She tells him her name is Nancy and decides to join them on their journey. Soon they run out of food and, when they are on the brink of starvation, Russel is fortunate enough to take down a polar bear with a lance. Soon after, though, he finds that Nancy is sick and they start off towards the nearest village for help. Dogsong is a captivating story filled with adventure.
This story is filled with suspense. When Russel is caught out on the ice during a storm, he and his dogs are just able to find shelter under a ledge of ice before the full force of the storm hits. Later, he uses a floating chunk of ice as a bridge to get from one ice mass to another, knowing that falling in the water would bring instant death. As a huge polar bear charges at Russel, the dogs distract it making it spear itself on the lance Russel sticks in the ground.
The characters in this story are very interesting. Russel is an Eskimo boy who becomes unhappy with his way of life and journeys through the frozen tundra alone just to live as the old Eskimos once did. Oogruk is an old Eskimo who still lives the old way. He teaches Russel how to live the old way and gives him his sled and dogs. Nancy is a woman who runs away from her village to die in the tundra, because she accidentally becomes pregnant. Luckily, Russell finds her alone in the snow and saves her.
It is interesting to see how Russel's relationship with the dogs changes throughout the story. When he first meets them, they growl at him when he is just trying to put their harnesses on and he must hit them to get them to obey him. After a few runs with them, they begin to get to know him and obey his commands, but still aren't completely loyal. They disobey him as he tries to lead them home after a storm. During their journey, Russel and the dogs form a strong bond. The dogs go where he wants them to even when he doesn't speak.
Dogsong is a great story filled with adventure. It is a captivating story that any reader will enjoy. It is a story well worth reading.

Gary Paulsen has wrote so many great, interesting books and this book, "Dogsong", just adds to the collection. This is a story of a boy named Russel Suskitt that is an eskimo who wants to find his inner-self and get away from his normal, boring way of life. Russel goes and speaks to a elder man, but very clever, named Oogruk. He tells Russel about the way life was when men made their living and how they made personal songs of life. Oogruk teaches him how to hunt, how to find his inner-self, and to make his own song of life. So Russel decides to make his own song of life by going on an adventure that would risk his life. Russel gathers some dogs and gets a dogsled together and starts out for the biggest adventure of his life. Along the way he has to sled through mountains, icy terrains, and even rivers. He also met up with a polar bear. In addition, during his trip he also helped rescue an eskimo woman that was pregnant. Oogruk's teaching came to use when Russel had to hunt for his food out in the wild. Russel had a great time on this adventure being away from the village and finding his inner-self. He also built a friendship with the dogs that was very important for this young man out in the great wild. This adventure helped Russel find his inner-self and make his own song of life.

This book is very exciting filled with adventure, hunting, and tips for being in the wilderness. I enjoyed this book alot and gave it four out of five stars. If you are someone who does not like adventure and reading about the great outdoors then this book is not for you. I do really recommend it to anyone that likes adventure and reading about the wilderness.

Russel Susskit is an Eskimo boy and something is bothering him. He longs for the old ways and hates how the village is turning towards new ideas. Russell takes his dogs on a journey to find his own song. On the way he discovers many things that will change his life forever. Dogsong is a moving book that teaches you about courage and determination. Paulsen did a great job writing a novel about survival. I would recommend this book to all who are interested in outdoor books.

Dogsong is a Newberry Award winning novel about an Inuit boy who needs to discover his "song" or who he is. Russell lives in a small winter village and learns the old ways from Oogruk, a blind elder. Oogruk teaches Russell to hunt and to guide the dogs to travel. When it is Oogruk's time to stay on the ice, it is also Russell's time to take his journey and discover his song.

Along the way, a dream is interwoven with Russell's life. Life includes a hunt as does the dream, and both versions include death. In the dream, it is the death of the hunter's family and his dogs; in the dream it is the premature baby of an Inuit girl.

Although the story is beautiful and inspiring, I don't recommend it for a child who has a hard time hearing of the death of other children, no matter that most of the deaths were during the Stone Age. I read this out loud to my daughter and that night she awakened crying during the night. I had been unable to skim over the deaths of the children, but softened the blow for her by skimming over the dog deaths. This might be more appropriate for young teens than for pre-teens.

Dogsong

There were some good and bad points in this book. I was a little disappointed reading this book after I had already read Brian's Winter and Hatchet which were both written by Gary Paulsen. I didn't really like the plot because it didn't really make any sense to me. All I understand from the plot is a 14 year old Eskimo boy is trying to survive a year in the wilderness so he can find his own song. The only thing that really happened was when Russel fought the bear. Everything else in the book was just hunting and eating to survive.
I think the author did a poor job because I couldn't keep my concentration on the book. The beginning started off very boring, confusing, and slow. I was hooked on the book sometimes like when he started the search for his own "song". I liked some of the suspense but there really wasn't much of it. I expected a lot more action and suspense so I was a little disappointed for that reason. There wasn't really a climax and the plot was extremely boring, if there even was one.
The author did have very good imagery though. He described everything so well, like the setting and the appearance of the characters. He also used very well word choice but what I didn't like was when he used Eskimo words that I didn't understand. The book showed well what it would be like to be an Eskimo, surviving a year in the wilderness, in the tundra of the north.
If you are into adventure books, then you might like this book. I like adventure books, and I wasn't impressed. I've read better books by this author.

I think this was one of Gary Paulsen's best books. Although I love all of Paulsen's work, I especially enjoyed this one because of its great detail and obvious research. This is a great tale of a boy who does not understand the modern world and longs for the times when everyone had a song of their own. I will never, ever stop reading Mr. Paulsen's great tales of adventure and suspense. I just hope that more people can enjoy his writings.

This is a realistic story set in the far north, both in an Eskimo village, and in the wild tundra. The story is about an Eskimo boy who has a vague sense of discontent. His father recommends that he go visit with an old Eskimo man, who is steeped in the "old" ways. Russel, the boy, ends up living with the old Eskimo man, learning the old ways, and dropping out of school. No one seems to mind because he is still learning valuable things. Eventually, the old man goes out on the ice to die, but first tells Russel to head to the Far North for about one year, to "find himself." He is alone most of that time, but toward the end, meets up with an Eskimo girl, who he saves. The book implies that in the future, she will be his wife. This is a coming-of-age story dealing with a boy's feelings about becoming competent as a man, and having confidence in his own abilities.

This author is well-aquainted with both modern and traditional Eskimo life, and really shows the reader both how it is now, and how it used to be. I am a teacher, and I recommend this book for anyone interested in Eskimo life, realistic stories of boy-against nature, or hunting and fishing activities. The boy's thoughts and feelings would make the book mostly of interest to age 12, to adult. Parts of this book reminded me of the book I read in 8th grade, back in the late 60's, entitled, "Nanook of the North," (now apparently out of print) except that Nanook was an adult, and this story is about a teenaged boy.

I liked the book. When I was in 5th grade we had to read the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. I enjoyed that book very much and to this day I still can recall the adventure that occured. I was really drawn into this book because of the author. I figured that I liked the book Hatchet so much that I figured I would also enjoy this one. I had to read this book for a teaching literature for today's young adults class. I would recommend this book for 5th grade and up. It has some material that seems more suitable for that age group (nothing too harsh, just realities of life such as death of an infant). Overall, it was an enjoyable book packed with adventure in the wild Alaskan tundra. It was a peek into another culture, ethnic group, and for me a different way of life. The book was a mental journey into unchartered territory.

The book is about a boy named Russel and he gets tired of living in the 90's so he goes on a journey. He takes a dog team north and on his journey he finds a pregnant Eskimo girl then kills a polar bear for food to survive. His point for this journey is to make a song and live the old way.

I like the bok because it inspires people to do what you think is right for you and mostly others. I rank it four stars because its really a good book for young kids who like adventure.