In an Eden-like future, a girl and her father live close to the land in the shadow of a lone mountain. They own a few remnants of civilization: some books, a pane of glass, a set of flint and steel, a comb. The father teaches his daughter how to fish and hunt and the secrets of the seasons and the stars. He is preparing her for an adulthood in harmony with nature, for they are the last of humankind. But when the girl finds herself alone in an unknown landscape, it is a bear that will lead her back home through a vast wilderness that offers the greatest lessons of all, if she can learn to listen. A cautionary tale of human fragility, of love and loss, The Bear is a stunning tribute to the beauty of nature’s dominion.
I was having trouble with this at first. But now I think it's beautiful. I love that it's not one of those stories of how cruel nature is and how much you have to defend yourself against it. It's a story of how this girl's surroundings really, really want to see her alive and well, and help as much as they can to get her through a hard winter.
I was having trouble with this at first. But now I think it's beautiful. I love that it's not one of those stories of how cruel nature is and how much you have to defend yourself against it. It's a story of how this girl's surroundings really, really want to see her alive and well, and help as much as they can to get her through a hard winter.
Feels like it’s missing something, though I’m not sure what. It’s not a bad book at all, and Krivak’s prose is both elegant and succinct when it needs to be. I think I was just expecting something a bit more drilled down as opposed to a cursory fable.
"The last two were a girl and her father..." Full stop. This is my favorite opening line that I've read in a while. It just starts with "The last two." That makes you stop and think, the last two of...what has happened? It's just so overwhelmingly understated, like you're coming into this after a whole world of pain and suffering has happened, and this is the final chapter.
Now for the full line.
"The last two were a girl and her father who lived on the old eastern range on the side of a mountain they called the mountain that stands alone."
This sums up the style and focus of this book. It's not focused on the apocalypse, or even the post-apocalyptic period of men fighting each other. It's focused only on a girl and her father, presumably the very last humans alive on earth.
The wording "girl and her …
"The last two were a girl and her father..." Full stop. This is my favorite opening line that I've read in a while. It just starts with "The last two." That makes you stop and think, the last two of...what has happened? It's just so overwhelmingly understated, like you're coming into this after a whole world of pain and suffering has happened, and this is the final chapter.
Now for the full line.
"The last two were a girl and her father who lived on the old eastern range on the side of a mountain they called the mountain that stands alone."
This sums up the style and focus of this book. It's not focused on the apocalypse, or even the post-apocalyptic period of men fighting each other. It's focused only on a girl and her father, presumably the very last humans alive on earth.
The wording "girl and her father" is intentional, as this is really more of the girl's story than her father’s, although he's a very important character.
It is a coming-of-age story, but not really like any that I've ever read, for one, because this story involves a large degree of physical isolation and loneliness, because the world is completely empty of a single other human being once her father dies. This is one of, if not the loneliest book I have read. It got me in touch with my feelings quick.
The first half of the book is essentially a different story than the second. There’s no discontinuity between the two halves or anything; chronologically yes it's one story. But the entire nature of the story completely changes halfway through when her father dies. And then the rest of the book is basically a survival story with a very important magical realism element, whereas the first half of the book is not either of those things.
The style of the book is very straightforward; no fancy sentences and few long words. It's a style that is hard to pull off correctly, but in my opinion this book nailed it on the head. Loved the style. It reads like a fairy tale or myth.
This book is so beautiful. It is a requiem for the end of humanity, for nature and its relationship with man and how nature will be here a long time after mankind leaves the scene. It's a very nature-centric book. It's a book of simply describing things beautifully. There are no morals. Things simply are. It is simply a story. It's a very quiet, almost solemn story. I felt more connected with my humanity and the earth, and I'm very glad this has been in my life.
It's a short read and probably different from anything else you've read. It's an easy read, in some ways quite simple, and yet somehow still has a literary, deep feel to it. It imparts a quietness to the soul that is valuable. I recommend it.
