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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A brilliant book. More people need to know about it. I can't fault it.
adventurous
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This beautiful book was a mix between Watership Down, Animal Farm, and elements of Gothic writing sprinkled in. The descriptions in the book are breathtaking, but also haunting, which I think perfectly describes the natural world and the creatures that inhabit it. A true classic in my eyes.
This was my first experience of "xenofiction".
A Black Fox Running was honestly challenging for me at a few points - especially
The book gets philosophical about a lot of things; there's loss and grief and existentialism and a fox religion of sorts (and and..).
It was clearly written by someone who loved nature and knew the specific setting very well. Nature is beautiful and also brutal - this story definitely shows both facets. I liked the evocative descriptions and meandering points of view, but I think that might not be popular nowadays.
It does give me a strong "written by an englishman" vibe; maybe it's partly the use of Proper Nature Terms that reminds me of English naturalists. I didn't think there needed to be quiiite so many descriptions of excretion, but I concede being matter-of-fact about it is one of several things that help keep the animals' "otherness" in mind.
The two humans in the story who you could say had a ~happy ending~ were a "wild child" (based off the author) and an ex-soldier from the US, both of whom seek to observe/admire/respect nature without any interest in dominating or taking possession of it. That's definitely something I feel a lot of people could stand to learn
Overall, the book left me feeling kinda sad, even though it was not a bad ending at all!
I wonder how I'll feel about it in time
A Black Fox Running was honestly challenging for me at a few points - especially
Spoiler
the concept of dying to a fox hunt being a "good death", compared to death by trapper or disease.The book gets philosophical about a lot of things; there's loss and grief and existentialism and a fox religion of sorts (and and..).
It was clearly written by someone who loved nature and knew the specific setting very well. Nature is beautiful and also brutal - this story definitely shows both facets. I liked the evocative descriptions and meandering points of view, but I think that might not be popular nowadays.
It does give me a strong "written by an englishman" vibe; maybe it's partly the use of Proper Nature Terms that reminds me of English naturalists. I didn't think there needed to be quiiite so many descriptions of excretion, but I concede being matter-of-fact about it is one of several things that help keep the animals' "otherness" in mind.
The two humans in the story who you could say had a ~happy ending~ were a "wild child" (based off the author) and an ex-soldier from the US, both of whom seek to observe/admire/respect nature without any interest in dominating or taking possession of it. That's definitely something I feel a lot of people could stand to learn
Overall, the book left me feeling kinda sad, even though it was not a bad ending at all!
I wonder how I'll feel about it in time
This is a book that is both beautiful and cruel. The story of Wulfgar and the other animals is a simple story of live, death and survival but there is so much more woven into the story. Scoble and Jacko both carry their demons which drives their cruelty. Death is treated like just another part of life, and while love ones are mourned, their deaths are accepted.
Having been to Dartmoor several times, the beautiful, lyrical descriptions of nature in this book instantly took me back there. It was as if I could see, hear and smell it myself. The world of the foxes feels strange, a bit otherworldy but very down-to-earth at the same time. I loved how the different animal species interacted and communicated. The trapper and his hound really were the bad guys, but I also felt for them. Enjoyed this immensely, although I would have liked to know the animals' names for places. Towns, tors and roads were named according to the map throughout the book. I understand why, but it felt a bit out of place when the story was told from the foxes' perspective.
I’m surprised to see so much praise for this book. It’s not very well written – extremely repetitive and boring, with various grammatical mistakes. The author is obviously very passionate about Dartmoor, where the story is set, but he gets carried away with pages and pages of descriptions of various places that go on and on and ON, while you keep waiting for something to actually happen.
The main character, Wulfgar the fox, is just not very nice. He’s selfish and prideful, and seems to care more about Stargrief, another male fox – who would be seen as a rival in real life – than he does about his mate and cubs. This is just one of several factual errors. The villains are a cruel, wildlife-hating old man and his mindlessly vicious lurcher, both of whom want nothing more than to kill wild animals and are thoroughly unpleasant. And the author really did not need to mention faeces so often.
The edition I read has a foreword that states the author named the fox deity, Tod, after the German word for death. Personally I think it’s obvious the author meant “tod” as in the old English word for fox – he clearly likes using old-fashioned terms for animals, since we also get “brock” for badger and “fitch” for stoat (although fitch actually means a polecat). Perhaps the foreword should have been written by someone with a bit more knowledge of foxes (though I could say the same about the whole book!).
The main character, Wulfgar the fox, is just not very nice. He’s selfish and prideful, and seems to care more about Stargrief, another male fox – who would be seen as a rival in real life – than he does about his mate and cubs. This is just one of several factual errors. The villains are a cruel, wildlife-hating old man and his mindlessly vicious lurcher, both of whom want nothing more than to kill wild animals and are thoroughly unpleasant. And the author really did not need to mention faeces so often.
The edition I read has a foreword that states the author named the fox deity, Tod, after the German word for death. Personally I think it’s obvious the author meant “tod” as in the old English word for fox – he clearly likes using old-fashioned terms for animals, since we also get “brock” for badger and “fitch” for stoat (although fitch actually means a polecat). Perhaps the foreword should have been written by someone with a bit more knowledge of foxes (though I could say the same about the whole book!).
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes