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callum_mclaughlin 's review for:
Julie of the Wolves
by Jean Craighead George
I really wanted to like this but sadly it left me feeling disappointed and frankly a little bit annoyed. Firstly, the way Miyax's would-be husband is presented is incredibly problematic and harmful for disabled children. The infamous scene where he attempts to 'rape' her is inexplicable and comes out of nowhere. It feels like the author needed to give Miyax a reason to run away, but had to justify Daniel's behaviour by making him 'dumb', as he's described in the book.
I did actually enjoy the theme of Miyax/Julie feeling torn between the tradition of her ancestors and the conveniences of the modern world, and - if you can suspend your disbelief a fair bit - the sections about her attempts to assimilate with a wolf pack in order to survive on the tundra make for a perfectly fine read. George also painted the landscape and unforgiving setting well.
The ending is where the book completely lost me, however. There are far too many conveniences and bizarre twists crammed into the last few pages. It was just too much to expect the reader to believe that Miyax's father was still alive after all and yet never really thought to make any decent attempts to get word to/find her; that he didn't recognise her when she arrived at his new home; that their reunion would be so lukewarm; that despite being previously presented as a gentle soul and a big believer in the old Eskimo ways, even teaching Miyax everything she had needed to know in order to survive her ordeal, he had abandoned the Eskimo life entirely, even going as far as to own a plane which he used to hunt wolves for sport?! No. Just no. Nor that she would thus declare him 'dead to her' and opt to live a life alone in the wilderness, but upon the random death of her feathered friend as soon as she leaves the village, decide to return to her father anyway... And all of this in the space of less than 10 pages. To me this final section felt incredibly messy and confused the central theme of the story, which had previously seemed to be about Miyax learning to love and honour her heritage but now seemed to be saying that that was impossible and she should abandon it. As such, it made the book a contradiction of itself.
I feel bad ranting about this, because I know it's something of a modern classic and a beloved tale from a lot of people's childhoods. I'm sure if I'd read it as a child, the sections with the wolves would have delighted me and the problematic sections would have washed over me, but coming to it for the first time as an adult, I just couldn't see past its flaws unfortunately.
I did actually enjoy the theme of Miyax/Julie feeling torn between the tradition of her ancestors and the conveniences of the modern world, and - if you can suspend your disbelief a fair bit - the sections about her attempts to assimilate with a wolf pack in order to survive on the tundra make for a perfectly fine read. George also painted the landscape and unforgiving setting well.
The ending is where the book completely lost me, however. There are far too many conveniences and bizarre twists crammed into the last few pages.
I feel bad ranting about this, because I know it's something of a modern classic and a beloved tale from a lot of people's childhoods. I'm sure if I'd read it as a child, the sections with the wolves would have delighted me and the problematic sections would have washed over me, but coming to it for the first time as an adult, I just couldn't see past its flaws unfortunately.