The Bear Andrew Krivak
Stacey • September 30, 2019
The Bear Andrew Krivak
I got a little bored by this story in places. A father and daughter live alone somewhere in the wilderness, the implication being that they are the last few survivors after some apocalyptic event which is neither described or explained.
The Bear narrates the story of a father and daughter, the last surviving humans on earth in a world where nature has reclaimed her primacy for all of creation.
The Bear reminded me in a few ways of The Road, which is one of my favourite books so I was hoping to get something more from it. It's about a father and his child surviving post-apocalypse; both characters are nameless and I struggled putting faces to them in my mind too; and dialogue pointlessly lacks quotation marks, which while not a dealbreaker for me, it was a little frustrating. It didn’t bring the hopelessness I was hoping for. Last people in the whole world and I didn’t feel the desperation. The lacklustre is missing, pretty much nothing happens and it's unclear where the story is heading. There is no suspense and I’m not sure where the author was going with his tale.
The first half of the book follows The Man and The Girl as he shows her how to survive, and tells her stories about her deceased mother, and tales of the bear who saved the village. More could have been done to expand the story and really pull at those heart strings. I thought it may even have felt more native American, as the title kind of lead me there, but nope!
The second half takes a bit of a detour, as The Man and The Girl embark on a quest to the ocean. This was probably the only saving grace of the book for me. The prose are stunning and I can see some real genius in the writing the story just fell flat. When tragedy strikes, the young girl is left alone far from home, and so begins the fight for survival. The Father, having such patience and love for his daughter, manages to teach her a lot but its not enough. Queue the bear .It appears into her world as she sinks into a profound loneliness. The bear, he talks to her, helps feed her, provides guidance, and tells her many stories. It takes time for her to trust the Bear and they start the journey of getting the girl home together.
This book could be put with The Dog Stars, and The Overstory.
I wonder if it would be better categorized and edited for a more fable type story. I can see what the author was trying to accomplish, I really can but there is nothing of excitement here.
I give it 2.5 stars out of 5. It actually made me want to see what else the author has done, I know, sounds backwards but I really see the talent here.
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Sincerely,
The Lioness
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