An imaginative journey inside the mind of a wolf
|
This is an impressive first book from Joseph Smith. Although I read it in a day, this was not just due to its short length but also the narrative pace which kept drawing me back to the book whenever I put it down.
The book is an imaginative journey inside the mind of a wolf as he travels through wintry forests and mountain ranges. I usually dislike anthropomorphic books but this one seemed to fit my mood as winter draws in and from the first page I felt, OK, we'll never know how a wolf thinks but this is about as close as another species (human in this case!) will get to experiencing it.
I remember hearing someone ask a scientist in a radio interview, "how intelligent are cats?". The reply was, "well, they're very clever at being cats". Joseph Smith's wolf is very good at being a wolf, and the writer has thought himself into what it might be like to be driven by hunger to hunt and kill another wild beast despite the constant dangers of a hostile territory. A vast palette of smells is described in all its fullness and the wolf has an interesting take on the visual world which we share from a different perspective. Smith describes the wolf's pride in its own powers and also the fear of other predators particularly those which carry guns. This makes for opportunities for suspenseful reading.
I think this book would make an imaginative gift and I would think almost anyone could soon be drawn into this fast moving and beautifully-written tale.
The book is beautifully illustrated by John Spencer, an illustrator I have been unable to find with Google, but worthy of a mention.
|
|
|
What a first novel!
|
This is a remarkable book, existing on many layers. On the surface it tells the story, from the animal's point of view, of a wolf's struggle to survive in a harsh environment, but like all the best fiction it allows one to suspend disbelief, and goes on to explore so many aspects of personality that it leaves one with the feeling that one should read it again because one must have missed something.
Tautly written with some wonderfully evocative descriptions it easily avoids the mawkish sentimentality of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull or Watership Down, though just occasionally the language becomes a little convoluted. Highly recommended. It's the authors first book, and is going to be a tough act to follow with his second.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada