Customer Reviews

Wilderness

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a superlative book that organizes narratives of the separate treks of John Coulter and Hugh Glass into a contrapuntal meditation on man and the will to survive. It is ostensibly built on stories of the American West and the conflicts with the Amerinds. However, this book does not fit neatly into the category of "Western." It's something more than that, and different.

I was reminded more than a little of Lansing's book, _Endurance_, as well as Slavomir Rawicz's _The Long Walk_: more (or less) "true" books based on real life events. There is drama and tension and hope in such books, and that is a feature of _Wilderness_, too.

However, _Wilderness_ is a work of fiction. It is very well written -- sometimes superlatively so. The final chapter, where the story lines comes together, is brilliantly handled, and the arrangement and pacing of the two story lines is masterful.

This book needs to be back in print. Highly recommended.

The poetic prose is very beautifully written by two experts in American western frontiers. No complicated plots but lonely struggles of two guys' survival experiences