Hmmmm...

I finished up Brian's Hunt and thought it a great read. It was short and to the point. The climax was fun and kept me on edge. I really liked that Paulsen continued the "Brian" series, this one being an older, more experienced subject. After reading the previous "Brian" books it was good to see Brian grow up and return to what he knows and loves, being in the wilderness. To see the book start out as a personal voyage for himself and turn into a dramatic story of revenge was a twist I didn't see coming. I appreciate this story from the perspective of a fellow nature lover because the views Brian takes when he looks at nature is so similar to my own and I imagine many other experienced outdoors people. Paulsen does such a good job of discerning what parts of the thought process go into being successful in the wilderness and translating them onto the page. "Brian readies his bow although he knows he will lose a paddle stroke..." The thoughts going through Brian's head are so similar to the thoughts and strategies I have personally used or heard from fellow hunters, which definitely made for a more engaging read for me. I think this book will only become more valuable with age because of its integration of nature in opposition to the city. I say this because the global trend for years has been to move into cities and modernizing everything yada yada yada. This book brings you to a place that has the feeling of the turn of the century, floating across a remote lake in a canoe, capturing food with nothing more sophisticated than archery equipment. More recently there has been something people are referring to as the "Green Movement" which seems to be just another avenue for companies to advertise to contentious consumers rather than solving the problems at hand. If people could read a book like this and understand what it is we could be losing/destroying, maybe they would understand the solution isn't packaged with a glossy wrapper "GREEN". For my money, the best way to get going with change is to develop an empathy within our culture for the world that gave us birth and to spread the idea that we can do it. I think this book could be a great stepping stone for adolescents to get interested in the great outdoors.