- The Good: An epic story of survival through the Rocky Mountain wilderness
- The Bad: Unsatisfying revenge; simple characters
- The Literary: Based on a true story, more historical than fiction
In the summer of 1823, frontiersman Hugh Glass and the trappers of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company make their way through the western wilderness. Out scouting, the experienced Glass is mauled by a bear. His injuries are so severe that the trappers don’t expect him to survive the day. But he keeps breathing, and two men are ordered to stay behind and bury his body when he eventually dies. Anxious and fearing an Indian attack, the two men abandon Glass, taking his rifle, hatchet, and flint stone, and leave him for dead.
Furious but helpless, Glass watches the men flee in fear and vows revenge. With grit and determination, Glass crawls, stumbles, and floats his way across three-thousand unmapped miles across the harsh American frontier to seek revenge on the men who betrayed him.
Who doesn’t love a tale of obsession and vengeance? What about survival against all odds?
I wanted to read this book after watching the 2015 Alejandro G. Iñárritu film of the same name so as to get the real story. The novel is based on the real-life story of Glass, with some liberties. Both fictionalizations are great in their own way, but in short, the film is a better tale of revenge, and the novel is a better tale of survival.
The novel captures the time and place exceptionally well. It’s almost a meditation on the wild. You feel the freezing waters of a river, how to move through a forest following trails or tracks, or the emotion of walking in the shadow of a mountain. Nature is not peaceful, but immersive, noisy, and dangerous. Entire scenes center around setting a trap to catch food, butchering an animal for meat, sewing up a wound, making a crutch, finding a safe place to sleep, building a boat, or carefully avoiding confrontation with the natives. This is a visceral read, but often slow. The historical fiction aspect is enhanced by including backstories of several characters, which feature pirates, gambling heists, and lost loves—which sounds exciting, but it’s all in the past, so only adds depth to our characters. Worst of all, the conclusion isn’t satisfying.
This is a story that’ll make you appreciate modern comforts. Recommended for fans of historical westerns and survival stories.