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A review by bklassen
The Haymeadow by Gary Paulsen
4.0
I swear to God I read this book when I was younger because I've seen the book in my childhood house and I read a lot of books by Gary Paulsen when I went through a bit of a "survival middle grade novel". But, since I've been craving survival fiction and haven't been able to find an adult survival novel yet, I figured I'd revisit some classics from my past.
I always seem to regret rereading middle grade fiction because I had such great feelings about it when I was younger, but now that I'm older, it's harder to put away my critical eye and I see why it is for a younger audience. The same thing happened while rereading some Cornelia Funke - I still enjoyed it, but I guess I noticed more of the cracks or aspects that are intended for children.
This is a classic coming of age story. Oh wait, no it’s not, because it’s about a 14-year-old boy that is left to tend sheep in a Montana valley surrounded by mountains. By himself. In the wild. Damn, when I was 14, I think I was listening to Radio Disney, riding my bike around, and discovering halter tops. But honestly, most of my elementary days blend together into one vague memory.
John is 14 years old and idolizes his grandpa, a strong silent type of claimed thousands of acres of land with just a rifle, two horses, and himself. You know, despite the fact that Native Americans and other settlers probably owned that land. Anyway, John want something to change because he’s now 14 and he is ready for the next stage of his life. Unfortunately, this change comes at the request to watch 6,000 sheep in the Montana mountains by himself. Well, he has 4 dogs, 2 horses, and a wagon full of food and a cast iron stove, but no other humans.
I’ve never been truly in the wild (State and National Parks don’t really count in this situation), so I can’t speak to this, but once in the mountains, The Haymeadow is the movie Gravity in Montana. Crisis after crisis keep popping up – coyotes, flash flood, bear attack, hurt dog, etc. etc. etc. Not that it isn’t possible or probable, or that it made the book unenjoyable, but damn, it was relentless. Gary Paulsen has had numerous experiences with the wild (hence the slew of survival books), so I would trust him over my idea of roughing it in nature, but it did make me wonder if this was just for the narrative device of proving that kids can be very capable and intelligent if you let them figure it out for themselves. It also serves as the realization for John that he is growing up and becoming a man, and will be quite a capable man despite his doubts before. Also that stories about grandparents can be misleading.
As for the writing, it’s very capable if a little stilted, in that it’s not overly poetic and certainly doesn’t mince words. Mostly this is due to the subject and the intended audience, but I think you get it. You probably won’t learn any new words or be blown away by nuance, but The Haymeadow doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t. It does make me wonder if it’s worth it to read other books by him as they’re going to be very similar, I imagine…
I always seem to regret rereading middle grade fiction because I had such great feelings about it when I was younger, but now that I'm older, it's harder to put away my critical eye and I see why it is for a younger audience. The same thing happened while rereading some Cornelia Funke - I still enjoyed it, but I guess I noticed more of the cracks or aspects that are intended for children.
This is a classic coming of age story. Oh wait, no it’s not, because it’s about a 14-year-old boy that is left to tend sheep in a Montana valley surrounded by mountains. By himself. In the wild. Damn, when I was 14, I think I was listening to Radio Disney, riding my bike around, and discovering halter tops. But honestly, most of my elementary days blend together into one vague memory.
John is 14 years old and idolizes his grandpa, a strong silent type of claimed thousands of acres of land with just a rifle, two horses, and himself. You know, despite the fact that Native Americans and other settlers probably owned that land. Anyway, John want something to change because he’s now 14 and he is ready for the next stage of his life. Unfortunately, this change comes at the request to watch 6,000 sheep in the Montana mountains by himself. Well, he has 4 dogs, 2 horses, and a wagon full of food and a cast iron stove, but no other humans.
I’ve never been truly in the wild (State and National Parks don’t really count in this situation), so I can’t speak to this, but once in the mountains, The Haymeadow is the movie Gravity in Montana. Crisis after crisis keep popping up – coyotes, flash flood, bear attack, hurt dog, etc. etc. etc. Not that it isn’t possible or probable, or that it made the book unenjoyable, but damn, it was relentless. Gary Paulsen has had numerous experiences with the wild (hence the slew of survival books), so I would trust him over my idea of roughing it in nature, but it did make me wonder if this was just for the narrative device of proving that kids can be very capable and intelligent if you let them figure it out for themselves. It also serves as the realization for John that he is growing up and becoming a man, and will be quite a capable man despite his doubts before. Also that stories about grandparents can be misleading.
As for the writing, it’s very capable if a little stilted, in that it’s not overly poetic and certainly doesn’t mince words. Mostly this is due to the subject and the intended audience, but I think you get it. You probably won’t learn any new words or be blown away by nuance, but The Haymeadow doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t. It does make me wonder if it’s worth it to read other books by him as they’re going to be very similar, I imagine…