Hatchet, By Gary Paulson

Mmmmm. I think I need to buy this book for writing purposes. Much of my own book is about surviving in the wild—although, of course, my characters have each other (which includes a knowledgeable, though foreign, adult). andmagicBUT ANYWAYS~

Weed or Keep:

Keep! This was an engaging and easy read, with lessons pertinent to people young and old. I can’t stop thinking about the quote from Brian’s teacher: “You are your most valuable asset. … You are the best thing you have.” This was the theme of the story, of course (survival, silly), yet it was so wonderfully woven throughout every chapter that I have to commend it.

Highlights to myself:

No, this did not have the specific scene that has haunted my memory since middle school. There was fire being used throughout the whole book, not just the end. Also, no baby.

However, the main highlights are also great writing notes, so let’s dive in!

On Writing (some spoilers):

Oh my gosh—how useful this is for worldbuilding.

First, while Brian is stranded in an unfamiliar Canadian forest, he has to deal with shock. He slowly comes to term with what happened and his new situation. It was neat to watch his very human and 13 year old responses to thing as he quickly grew into someone new. Someone left a review elsewhere that they were annoyed with how repetitive somethings were.

Example:

He turned again and sun came across the water, late sun, cut into his eyes and made him turn away.

It was over then. The crash.

The crash is over and I am alive, he thought. Then his eyes closed and he lowered his head for minutes that seemed longer. When he opened them again it was evening and some of the sharp pain had abated—there were many dull aches—and the crash came back to him fully.

Hatchet, Page 31

Notice where the repetition occurs. Notice what effect it has. It slows the text down and focuses us on a certain point. This is understanding for Brian. This is important to Brian. This shows us how hard it is for Brian to catch up with his new reality. Writing with this style is useful in providing atmosphere and character.

However, of course, no style is a one size fits all. Repetition can also be annoying and exhausting to read. In this case, I think Gary Paulsen’s voice for Hatchet succeeds and benefits from these moments.

Another thing: I can’t stop being in love with how Brian made up names for things. It tickled my linguistic enthusiast and worldbuilder inside.

Main highlights for these include:

Foolbirds (later revealed to be ruffed grouse/ fool hens), because he thought they were so foolish and easy to catch (though harder than he expected at first)

Gut Cherries (later revealed to be choke cherries), because they had a large pit and also made him sick when he ate too many.

Told in close limited third person POV, we had to figure everything out alongside this 13 year old who was unfamiliar with the area. Disclaimer: I am not a teenager, but I felt like this was believably how a 13 year old would act and process this situation. It felt grounded.

Complaints: Okay, I kinda understand why the divorce subplot was present—can we call it a subplot?—but I think it was not handled in a way that helped the story. Of course, we need Brian to have a reason to be travelling alone like this in the first place, but “the Secret” was way more distracting than it needed to be—especially since it didn’t really ever get resolved? Like, it just went on existing and I didn’t feel any real growth in Brian on that front, even though it was made out to be a pressing matter for the story and his character in the beginning.

That being said, I do value the fact that the parent’s didn’t get back together (big things don’t always cause other big things to change), but the way it was handled was like a Chekov’s smoking gun that sort of petered out and deflated. I’m actually mildly infuriated that the last sentence is only about “the Secret.” This book was not about Brian learning to handle or accept that situation.

Now, if we got a sort of Spirited Away treatment (Chihiro starts out ticked off about leaving her friends and starting a new school, goes through a wild adventure in the Spirit World, and comes out with an “I think I can handle it” attitude, that would have tied the survival / parent’s divorce topics together so much better. But there seemed to be no change for Brian in how he wanted to handle “the Secret” by the end of the book. Therefore, it was an unnecessary distraction that took away from a great story about maturity and survival.

That aside, I loved this book. This was honestly, probably a reread, since I probably DID also read it in middle school and forgot most of it due to not paying attention at that time. 😀

That’s it! Have a good and brush your teeth, you dirty survivalist. ❤ Also, drink some water. It’ll help you feel better. ^_^