| Title | : | The Bear (Medallion Editions for Young Readers) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1557041318 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781557041319 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 208 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1915 |
The Bear (Medallion Editions for Young Readers) Reviews
-
A este libro llegué por Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, bueno, más bien por lo que dijo su hija Odile en una entrevista hace unos meses por el 40 aniversario de la muerte de su padre, en el que recordaba que él de jovencito era un ávido lector de las diferentes obras de Curwood y que fue una de las grandes influencias para ser lo que llegó a ser. Recordaba una anécdota donde el bueno de Félix y un amigo, a la edad de 13 años, habían escrito una carta al señor Curwood para que les permitiera acompañarles en sus expediciones por Alaska y Canadá como pinches de cocina o lo que fuera. Ya estaban fascinados por esas tierras indómitas, prácticamente inexploradas donde el lobo y el oso eran los grandes amos. La gracia es que Curwood ya estaba muerto cuando Félix aún no había nacido.
James Oliver Curwood fue un autor muy leído a principios de siglo - de hecho está considerado como el mejor pagado de los años 20 - que siguiendo la estela del su muy admirado y coetáneo Jack London, centró sus obras en diferentes aventuras en lugares remotos de la montañas canadienses y alaskeñas, sitios que él bien conocía ya que vivía en esos parajes durante largos períodos de tiempo.
Ya centrándonos en la novela, de la cual Jean Jacques Annaud hizo una famosa película, nos hayamos en mitad de la Columbia Británica (no como indica la traducción de Columbia inglesa) entre el río Babine y el gran Skeena con unos parajes preciosos, poco habitados aún hoy en día y que hace un siglo estaban casi inexplorados. Allí Langdon (alter-ego de Curwood) y su guía montañés Bruce están de caza, sobre todo de grizzlys, y dan con el más grande que ojo humano haya visto, el plantígrado dominante de la zona que en la novela llaman Thor. A partir de ahí, nos hayaremos ante una persecución sin descanso del gran oso hasta que llegamos al punto álgido de la novela, escena que ya conocía por la película y eso que no la he visto, pero que es un punto de inflexión para Langdon-Curwood y que nos muestra la sabiduría de la naturaleza. Por supuesto todo aderezado con una infinita descripción de paisajes grandiosos, un muestrario de los diferentes animales que allí viven y unas pequeños retazos de ecología de los osos. Y más, mucho más, como el pequeño Mushka un tierno huérfano de oso negro que es todo un amor.
En definitiva, una pequeña novela muy entretenida y con un bonito mensaje conservacionista. -
I absolutely loved this. I had never read anything by Curwood before but this won't be the last. Curwood died in 1927 and wrote quite a few books about nature and animals. From what I've learned, he was--in his day--thought of as being along the lines of a Jack London. This book certainly showed much of that. It's told from the standpoint of three creatures, a hunter named James Langdon, who is a surrogate for Curwood, a giant Grizzly named Thor, and a little orphaned black bear cub named Muskwa.
I won't give away the story, but the ending is a positive one and Langdon certainly learns a lot about himself. The story is not saccharine. Thor kills for food and to defend himself. The savagery of nature is not covered over but it isn't hidden either. But the magnificence of nature and of wild love comes through, and there is quite a bit of humor to go with the drama. I highly recommend it.
A movie was made from this book, although I haven't seen it. I will definitely be looking for it too. -
This is one of books I call "pearl of the past" (written in 1916). I think it is truly classic book with intriguing subject of relationship between man and wild animal. And, what a surprise, has a lot of humor! I reread it third time (first time was 20 years ago) — STILL GOOD!
In 1988 "The Bear" was released as a film directed by acclaimed French director Jean-Jacques Annaud ("Enemy of the Gates".)The movie is as good as book itself. I promise you will laugh and cry during the show. But at first read the book! -
Lo lei hace mucho tiempo en el colegio y recuerdo que me gusto mucho, una historia agridulce la del osezno
-
Władcą Skalnej Doliny jest Tyr, ogromny niedźwiedź grizzly. Kiedy po raz pierwszy spotyka ludzi, jego wielkość stanowi dla nich dużą pokusę. Takie trofeum to dopiero coś! Na szczęście dla misia polowanie nie udaje się, ale ludzie postanawiają ruszyć tropem giganta. Tyr wędrując napotyka Muskwę, małego czarnego niedźwiedzia sierotę. Mimo przeciwności zawiązuje się między nimi przyjaźń. Myśliwi jednak nie rezygnują, a jeden z nich - Langdon - będzie miał swoją szansę i stanie znów z grizzly oko w oko.
Bardzo ciekawa historia z odległymi gabarytowo misiami w roli głównej. Wszystko rozgrywa się w otoczeniu pięknej przyrody, aż chciałoby się tam wędrować razem z niedźwiedziami. No może niekoniecznie razem z ogromnym samcem grizzly, tutaj konieczne byłoby społeczne dystansowanie dla zachowania życia i zdrowia :)
8/10 -
I thought it was a lovely book giving you viewpoints of man, bear, cub, and the surrounding nature. A book written over a hundred years ago is still relevant today.
-
Again at times a very sad story, but it kept my attention and I wanted to read how this story would end. Great and easy story to read.
-
Many of you know this, but for those who don’t, I grew up in a super small town on the Arrow Lakes, in the West Kootenay region in British Columbia, Canada. Burton was founded in the late 1890’s after gold was discovered near Caribou Creek. Reuben Burton was the first postmaster, hence the name of the settlement. Around that same time, the Marshall family arrived. The Marshall family have had stakes in Burton since at least 1900, and my grandpa was born in 1928.
Fast forward exactly 40 years later and the Revelstoke Dam was created, which caused the original townsite of Burton to flood. Many of the houses were moved to the new townsite, my grandpa and grandma’s house being the first. My childhood home was just four houses up from them. Side note – when the water levels go down, you can still go walk around the old townsite. Many foundations still remain as well as the dirt packed-roadways. We used to go down every year and collect old artifacts that had been left behind; bottles, utensils, old toy cars etc.
So, what does this even have to do with this book? I grew up with a grandpa who I’ve described as my last cowboy. Poppa was connected to the wilderness. He had a trapline that I used to go out with him on. He hunted, grew his own food and was a logger for many years. He lived in a time very, very different from ours today. Party lines, one TV channel, two radio channels etc. And, to survive, hunting filled the freezers for the long, cold, harsh winters.
I tend to try not to discuss my own books in my reviews, but if you’ve read my novel ‘Mastodon’ you’ll have read the afterword, in which I discuss Grizzly Basin. When my Poppa was a young man, one of the most pristine areas of land to go hunting in was at Grizzly Basin. Back then, it was said, that it had the largest population density of Grizzly Bears outside of the Rocky Mountains proper. I used to listen to him describe this area of land and I’d soak it all in. They’d ride the horses into this area and come to a sheer shelf-face cliff. A few kilometers wide and a thousand feet down, from on top they’d look out over the land, seeing the two small lakes. And, of course, they’d see Grizzlies roaming the area as well as numerous Elk, Moose, and Deer.
I’ve never been to this place, but how I’ve longed to go. I’ve hiked in a few times, the closest time my dad and I having to turn back due to heavy fog.
Because of my own love of the mountains, one of my favorite movies as a child was ‘The Bear.’ Released in 1988, it was the film adaptation of ‘The Grizzly King.’ I don’t know how many times I’ve watched it, but it captivated me. Through my profession, I even had the chance opportunity to meet one of the animal handlers who worked on the movie and had him sign my DVD. He told me then, that I was the first person to ever ask him to sign a copy. How cool?! I’ll cherish that DVD forever. Sadly, I moved before I got a chance to take him up on his offer. At the time, he had the only trained Polar Bear in the world for movies and invited me to come meet the animal when the following spring rolled around. That would’ve been amazing.
Which finally brings us back to the book. I read this book probably thirty years ago. I remember my grandpa had it with all his western paperbacks and I thought it was good, but not as good as the movie.
But recently, something was calling to me, pushing me to read it, so I dove back in, all these years later, and what a sublime and moving experience this was.
James Oliver Curwood was born in 1878 and died in 1927. Interestingly, in Michigan, where he was from, he had a castle made that still stands to this day. In his early years, Curwood was a voracious hunter, but at some point, he had an experience with a Grizzly, that completely transformed him. He became a steadfast conservationist until his death, and that experience was one that he wrote down and became this novella, ‘The Grizzly King: A Romance of the Wild.’
What I liked: The book follows two different narratives. The first is of Thor, the biggest and mightiest Grizzly that ever roamed the Rocky Mountains. He goes about his days lumbering through his territory and finding food. Along the way, an orphaned Black Bear cub comes into his life. Muskwa, tags along, and instead of Thor turning away the cub away, he grows to tolerate it and even like it.
The second narrative is of Jim Langdon and his hunting companions. They’re making there way through this section of the Rocky Mountains, an area no man has travelled before, when they spot the behemoth that is Thor and begin to hunt him.
As I mentioned, Langdon is a fictional version of Curwood and along the way he comes face to face with Thor, who spares his life. This is the big massive moment of the story, but for me, it was almost an afterthought. I found the true beauty was in the way Curwood described the mountains, showcased the relationship between Thor and Muskwa and how he managed to capture that ‘puppy-ness’ that cubs display. I also found it completely fascinating reading the descriptions of the bears that appear and how Thor interacts with them. Having spent some time around bears in my life, it was so spot on and accurate that it filled with joy and also dread. If you’ve ever seen a Grizzly in the wild start to chuff and swing its head back and forth you’ll know what I mean. That moment before a great bear rushes in the most perfect and frightening thing you’ll ever see.
The environmental and conservationist story angle here still feels topical and comes off well. I can’t imagine some of Curwood’s friends back then would’ve been too happy with his change and shift in thinking, but as he says in the book, for far too long man has killed and killed and killed and given no thought about the day that comes when there’s nothing left to kill.
What I didn’t like: I can’t say if it was because this is a product of it’s time or if it was just the way Curwood wrote, but there are some very repetitive description moments, sometimes within the same paragraph. I chalked it up to this being released in 1915/1916 and with how much I loved this book, it ultimately didn’t bother me too much.
Why you should buy this: If you’re looking for a modern day equivalent (and some of you will say of course Steve says this! But I assure you it is true), Andrew Pyper’s ‘The Wildfire Season’ would be the closest novel I’ve ever read to capture not only the wilderness as being a character of great importance, but also the way the animal controls the wilderness.
Curwood really did craft a sublime and perfect story. One that shows the Grizzly reacting to his first encounter with man, as well as how it deduces things when it encounters him again. This was a moving piece of fiction, based on a real experience and it has reminded me so much of all the things I loved about my Poppa and how lucky I was to have him in my life.
‘The Grizzly King’ has taken a place in my all-time favorite books list and I’ll be sourcing out a hardcover here shortly to add to my shelves. -
He amado mucho muchísimo este relato de James Oliver Curwood. En él he encontrado una historia que es una maravilla y que no comprendo cómo no es más popular.
En "El oso", como su título indica, seguiremos la historia de Thor, un oso gris que habita las Montañas Rocosas canadienses y su primer encontronazo con el hombre blanco cazador. Acosado por los cazadores Thor se verá obligado a huir. En su huida toma bajo protección al pequeño Muskwa, un osezno huérfano que en Thor hallará al mentor y guía que tanto necesita. Así, la historia alterna capítulos de la vida de los osos y capítulos de los cazadores que los persiguen.
Es un relato que me ha conmovido enormemente pues las descripciones de los paisajes y de las costumbres de los osos son soberbias. Podía imaginar perfectamente al veterano Thor de paso confiado seguido del joven Muskwa de andar torpe e ingenuo. Es un libro fácil de leer que, además, reflexiona sobre la caza y su necesidad real.
Una novela diez que recomiendo absolutamente y con la que caeréis enamorados del par Thor-Muskwa. -
Knjiga koja u isto vreme predstavlja i memoare i roman. Kervurd je pisao o svom iskustvo iz lova na grizlije u Kanadskim planinama, ali u formi fikcije koristeći treće lice. Nisam očekivao da će mi knjiga ovako prijati. Očigledno je da volim da čitam o planinama i prirodi, a to sam zaključio kroz knjige Paola Konjetija.
Tor i Maskva su mi divni i sve njihove avanture pratio sam sa zadovojstvom. Ljude u ovoj knjizi nisam voleo, bar ne do pred sam kraj.
Najdivnije od svega mi je što sam prizvao daleke uspomene iz detinjstva i setio se da sam obožavao film o mečetu siročetu koje preživljava brojne opasnosti nakon što ostane samo u divljini. Ispostavilo se da je taj film sniman upravo po ovoj knjizi, a ja bih ga bez nje zauvek zaboravio.
Volim medvede. 🧡 -
It’s a simple story, yet there is much to glean from it. Told from the perspective of both the bears and the hunters, we come to see who is the braver, the most forgiving, the one with the most heart.
But both species have much to learn. Thor had never had any experience with humans, but he learns the danger in what he perceives as weak animals. As Langdon, one of the hunters, tracks down the grizzly, he will have an epiphany. He is a stand-in for Curwood, who had a similar experience as his character.
A saw The Bear many years ago. The book adds depth to the story, so is a great companion to the film. Both tell a still relevant tale. -
Au-delà d’un récit jeunesse, Grizzly est un superbe voyage dans les vastes vallées canadiennes. Une nature sauvage vue par les yeux d’un ours et pas n’importe lequel, un grizzly puissant, un mâle adulte prénommé Thor. Face à lui un ourson orphelin Muskwa qui cherche à marcher dans ses traces pour assurer sa survie. Ils vont ainsi voyager côte à côte, mangeant des racines, des baies ou encore péchant des truites dans les rivières. Dans ce cadre idyllique on voit arriver deux chasseurs, des trappeurs qui aimeraient beaucoup rapporter un grand grizzly pour trophée. J’ai lu cette aventure avec ravissement, la traduction de François Happe, y est pour beaucoup car le texte qui a été écrit en 1916 est riche en belles descriptions. J’avais peur aussi d’être parasitée par le film L’Ours de Jean-Jacques Annaud (1988) mais finalement, il y a tellement d’anecdotes en plus que je n’ai pas perdu au change. Un très beau récit où le chasseur fait allégeance et semble capable de se remettre en question. La narration se fait avec trois voix, celle du chasseur James Langdon que l’on peut imaginer très proche de l’auteur, celles du grand grizzly Thor et celle de Muskwa notre ourson craquant. Une vision écolo anti-chasse avant l’heure. L’auteur a écrit de nombreux récits animaliers mais celui-ci restera dans mon cœur tout d’abord pour son retournement positif mais aussi pour sa vision réaliste de la vie d’un ours sauvage. Certes Thor est amené à tuer mais c’est toujours pour se nourrir ou bien défendre son territoire ce qui n’est pas le cas des hommes. Un grand classique que je ne peux que recommander, qui magnifie la nature mais sait aussi nous montrer tout ce qu’elle peut comporter de sauvagerie. Bonne lecture.
http://latelierdelitote.canalblog.com... -
Una emotiva y maravillosa historia de fraternidad entre animales que os llevará a través de las Montañas Rocosas en un viaje de vida y muerte.
El hombre manifestará sus ansias de poder y destrucción y los animales mostrarán su necesidad de sobrevivir y luchar por encontrar un lugar en el mundo...
Ecología, amor por los animales y una dura reflexión sobre a posibilidad de redención en el hombre son algunos de los puntos que trata esta apasionante aventura.
Más información en el blog:
http://francisforcoppola.blogspot.com... -
A path of serendipity led me to this book. First I traveled to Owosso, MI, to see Curwood Castle after seeing it in a travel guide called, "Lost in Michigan." Curwood Castle was built in 1922-1923 after the well-known and wealthy Curwood toured Europe and decided he wanted his own castle. I took lots of pictures while there for a (tao-talk.net) blog feature. During my research I learned that The Grizzly King, Curwood's 13th novel, tells the story of when he was hunting Thor, the "Grizzly King" in Canada when an experience during the hunt transformed his life. I won't give away any spoilers. I chose this book of Curwood's for that very purpose and knew parts of it would be difficult to take but it was important for me in understanding the man to read the book.
The story takes place in remote mountainous turf in Canada. The main character is the rich hunter who hires a First Peoples tracker and an experienced hunter/frontiersman as his crew. They have a string of horses and a large pack of Airedale dogs. And hunting weapons. Lots of firearm hunting weapons. Their purpose is to kill. Curwood's knowledge of remote terrain and the habits of the animals who call it habitat is impressive. He knows the flora and the fauna and especially a tremendous amount about bears and their habits, unfortunately from a lot of experience hunting and killing them.
Also, this book was adapted to the big screen as, "The Bear," one of about 180 screen adaptations that have been done on Curwood's writing.
I would recommend this book as it really pulls you into a remote and breathtakingly beautiful location with so many beautiful prose passages, although much of it is in plainspoken language. The message you are left with is one not soon forgotten. -
Being a fan of the adaptation movie the bear I have been wanting to read this for a long time. You get more background, and the way he writes his prose it brings me to the absolute precipice of nature. The way it’s lovingly written makes me feel like the author wrote this outside taking in details, learning the behavioral mannerisms of bears, and gives a compelling story of man vs nature vs himself. The story is riveting and the level of detail warms the cockles of my country heart saying yes this man gets it. A classic for my bookshelf.
-
My favorite thing about this book is the autobiographical element. The author James Oliver Curwood was an avid hunter until a life-threatening encounter with a brown bear. Curwood expected the bear to kill him, but instead the bear chose to spare his life. A fictionalized version of this scene appears in this book.
After being spared by the bear, Curwood stopped hunting and instead became an outspoken conservationist and advocate for protecting wildlife.
The book itself was a little tedious to read, but enjoyable on the whole. -
So in this book we see the world through the eyes of two bears, and the internal journey of a man who starts as a hunter, and comes to mercy in the end. I wonder if this was a controversial topic back in the day - these debates about hunting. Apart from this, we get a lot of information about bears throughout the story, though there is not much story per se. To be honest, I didn't really enjoy it, but I don't regret reading it either.
-
Aaaaay pero que cuuuucoooo.
Me ha encantado este libro🤩
Iba sin muchas expectativas, la verdad y me he encontrado una historia súper tierna. También con sus cosas traumáticas, que por algo la mitad de las historia está narrada por cazadores. Pero en general la relación entre oso y osezno me ha parecido maravillosa. Ahora me han quedado ganas tanto de ver la película como de volver a ver mi adorada Hermano oso. -
I will never regain the hours that I have spent reading this book for it was not my favorite, but I did learn that most bears are lefthanded, and I didn't know there right paw are longer than there left. What I especially didn't like was that the dogs were savagely killed, and their owners wiping them did not scour high for me. I would recommend this to bear lovers.
-
A story about Thor, a huge, powerful grizzly, and his uncommon friendship with with Muskwa, an orphaned black bear cub. Curwood is a fantastic story teller and you will enjoy following these two bears in their adventures traveling through the Canadian wilderness.
-
Một cuốn sách cực cực kỳ hay cho những bạn yêu thích động vật, thực sự thì mình đã đọc nhiều sách về động vật lắm rồi. Nhưng cuốn sách này khá ấn tượng với mình vì đây là lần đầu mình đọc một cuốn về gấu :">
-
Éblouissant d'animalité, il s'agit d'un roman où l'horreur de l'Homme fait face à la grandeur du monde animalier. La Nature, dans ce récit quasi autobiographique, en ressort gagnante au prix d'une claque majestueuse. Celle du roi grizzly ❤️
-
Wonderful adventure of a black bear cub and the mighty grizzly who “adopts” him.
-
Életem első kiolvasott könyve :)
-
+
