A review by stitchykitch
Barkskins by Annie Proulx
4.0
If I could, I would give this book two separate ratings: 5 stars for a masterful piece of writing, and 4 stars for my reading experience.
There is no disputing the fact that Annie Proulx is a brilliant author. Barkskins is woven together in a beautiful, seamless way. The novel follows two families through the age of colonization up through present-day. Proulx manages to switch from story-line to story-line without jarring the reader. While the families are important to the story, the forest really plays the leading role.
My experience reading this book earned 4 stars. I took this book home back in June when it first came out, and savored every word of the first two stories. I didn’t finish at that point, and was excited when my book group chose to read it for December and January. This time, I committed to 100 pages a night to make sure that I would be able to finish. I reread the beginning stories so I could experience the novel as a whole, and once again, loved the descriptive prose. For the fast half of the book, I actually scribbled major events into a notebook, and then loosened up a little for the latter half.
Overall, it made me think a lot about early colonists and their desire to conquer the forest. It was reading Barkskins that led me to really think about how colonists justified taking land from the Native American people. There were many times reading that I was in shock at the colonists violence toward the Mi’qmak people. I am really glad that I will get a chance to discuss this book with other readers, because I think there are a lot of conversations that are waiting to happen.
There is no disputing the fact that Annie Proulx is a brilliant author. Barkskins is woven together in a beautiful, seamless way. The novel follows two families through the age of colonization up through present-day. Proulx manages to switch from story-line to story-line without jarring the reader. While the families are important to the story, the forest really plays the leading role.
My experience reading this book earned 4 stars. I took this book home back in June when it first came out, and savored every word of the first two stories. I didn’t finish at that point, and was excited when my book group chose to read it for December and January. This time, I committed to 100 pages a night to make sure that I would be able to finish. I reread the beginning stories so I could experience the novel as a whole, and once again, loved the descriptive prose. For the fast half of the book, I actually scribbled major events into a notebook, and then loosened up a little for the latter half.
Overall, it made me think a lot about early colonists and their desire to conquer the forest. It was reading Barkskins that led me to really think about how colonists justified taking land from the Native American people. There were many times reading that I was in shock at the colonists violence toward the Mi’qmak people. I am really glad that I will get a chance to discuss this book with other readers, because I think there are a lot of conversations that are waiting to happen.