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vulpeslotor 's review for:
A Black Fox Running
by Brian Carter
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