Bois sauvage

Sad to DNF this one. I was enjoying it at first, but the writing style revealed itself to not be for me. Lots of descriptive language, lots of similes. I do appreciate some strong descriptive writing in a book, but this felt weighed down with near constant poetic comments.

“his eyes moving back and forth like he is reading something written in the air between the trees”

“The wind moves a little in the tops of the trees, and then dies away, like a person leaving a room.”

“He flings a bit of fur away that was dangling wetly like a red earring from the animal’s hide.”

Etc, etc. So if you like that kind of description, you’d at least appreciate the style of this book!

Difficult reading, and I mean that along many dimensions. The story itself is painful, a train wreck from first to last page: feral children, poor decision-making skills, compounded by terrible luck, tied together by a fierce protective love... all they have is each other. There is suffering and cruelty, also compassion and tenderness, and it isn’t always obvious which is which.

Difficult—and I dislike myself for saying this—stylistically too. The writing has a choppiness to it that didn’t work for me, similar to the way Cormac McCarthy’s writing grates on me. The fault is entirely mine but it saddens me: I had been hoping to enjoy this book much more, but am not the kind of person who can.

Difficult, finally, because the story is so real; because I feel so powerless against this kind of suffering.

The author sure knows how to build a climax.