| Title | : | The Hunter's Wife |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Unknown Binding |
| Number of Pages | : | 2 |
| Publication | : | Published May 1, 2001 |
The Hunter's Wife Reviews
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Wonderful !!
How could she tell him?
How could she ask him to understand such a thing? How could anyone understand? More clearly than ever she could see that there was a fine line between dreams and wakefulness, between living and dying, a line so tenuous it sometimes didn't exist. It was always clearest for her in winter. In winter, in that valley, life and death were not so different. -
Umm... I liked the story for the most part but the execution wasn't the best. This whole time I had a feeling that it was going for something so I waited till the end and then... nothing really happend. So basically it's a short love story about a hunter in his thirties and a 15 year old girl who can basically see the memories of anything she touches. She can also see what people are dreaming about while they're asleep. The hunter was kinda lackluster and dull for the most part and I found him pretty annoying. Overall: 2.5
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This story is beautifully written. It has a magical quality about it while the descriptions of stark winter time in North America are cemented in an almost brutal reality. The Hunter's wife is a magical tale that brings elements of the unknown into the lives of us all, guiding us to our own humanity. One of the best short stories I have read!
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This was absolutely beautiful. Doerr has a gift.
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A good short story. I like how very good his descriptions are. You can nearly feel the cold. Nearly feel his winters. And the transformation of his wife and his own. I enjoyed this short story. Although I feel it was a story written to showcase winter. Not otherworldly matters. 3 stars.
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Haunting. One of those stories that a leave a thousand loose ends that you're going to think about lying in bed alone at night.
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Seriously strange and surreal short story, but I love Doerr's descriptions and ability to pull you into whatever setting he writes about.
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Beautifully written however a bit anticlimactic I kept waiting for something else to happen something that tied everything all together in a more final way but because of the magic element I believe it was harder for the author to achieve I loved this authors book all the light we cannot see so good so that why I wanted to give this short story a try
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I had mixed feelings about this short story.
I really liked the descriptions and how detailed the setting was. You were practically shivering, too! I adored his Montana winter and the way he moves back and forth between the present and the past. I'm usually picky about how people do that, but Doerr was marvelous.
However, I didn't love the age difference and how indifferent the husband seemed at times to his wife's emotional needs, rather than just the physical. I also could have used more focus on the otherworldly, almost supernatural feel to the story.
I liked it and I wanted more, but there were plenty of things I didn't love about it. I did like the ending quite a bit though. So perhaps it ended where it needed to. There was just so much in there. No spoilers here though. You need to read it for yourself. -
Very magical and descriptive short story. Definitely not what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised. Left me wanting more. I could read a short novel about these characters and the story they have to tell.
The only thing I didn't particularly care for was the age difference between the hunter and his wife.. He meets her when she is just fifteen year old. He is thirty and clearly intends on having a sexual relationship with her at some point (at least he waits for her to be 18, yay for him I guess??). If you are able to just ignore that, this story is great.
You can read this story here:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/... which is where I read it at work since I forgot my kindle at home :( -
The Hunter hunts his prey from town to town for 3 years until she becomes his wife. During five years of marriage the Hunter desperately tries to under his mystical wife; 20 years later she still is an awe to him.
I actually feel as though I've just snapped out of a daydream.
"He wanted to tell her that although the wolves were gone, may always have been gone, they still came to him in dreams. That they could run there, fierce and unfettered, was surely enough."
A magical piece from Doerr! -
Something about the writing seemed to take me back in time. Je ne sais quoi.
I loved all the descriptions of the visions, and how a huge chunk of the story focuses on the local flora and fauna along with the characters.
The story was simple with no particular beginning or ending. Though everything in between was absolutely lovely. -
There isn't much plot, it's about a man meeting up with his wife after 20 years, with flashbacks to their courting and first few years of marriage. He's a very practical man, who doesn't believe in magic. She's half his age and a former musician's assistant, who discovers she has psychic powers. It's an interesting piece; mostly I liked the scenes of the Montana wilderness during the harsh winters--as a Californian, I prefer my harsh winters from the coziness of my armchair, hot chocolate next to me.
Link to story:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/... -
It's beautiful. I can't find another word to describe it.
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If you want to read something exceptional.
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both, the story and the storytelling were equally gripping!
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There was, she was learning, strength hidden at the center of weakness, ground at the bottom of the deepest pit.
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So basically he’s a nonce? That’s it.
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Wow! I read this short story with the Novel Pairings Podcast episode that will air on 1/12/21. This story is about the hunter, his wife, and the visions that she has after something dies. She has visions to assist the loved ones left behind. The writing is beautiful. Impressive.
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Lovely descriptions! To describe the physical world and the otherworld with such articulation and creative flow takes wonderful skill, which Doerr obviously has.
However, this story felt very “Lolita” and the worst part is that it wasn’t trying to....I think?
Spoiler: Man in his mid/late thirties spots a beautiful 16 year old girl in a dazzling magician’s assistant outfit and follows her around town asking for her information. He watches her shows every year when she’s back in town until finally when she’s 18 he takes her to his cabin, shows her a hibernating bear, and then asks him to live with him and later marry him—which she does. I tried to look past this, but couldn’t. I felt creeped out. It reminded me of how older male celebrities “groom” younger females, waiting for them to become of age. Some strong pedophilia tones that I wasn’t appreciating. Anyway, the whole time, he seemed controlling—like a dad or like a superior male/father-figure just as she thought she successfully left the magician she worked for. I hung in because I thought the ending would be more empowering and in her favor and slightly condemning of those who try to control young people, especially females. But instead, the aged hunter reaches out for Mary’s hand. Meppppppp... -
The Hunter’s Wife begins with the eponymous hunter arriving in Chicago and going to a stately mansion to attend a performance of some sort by the wife he hasn’t seen in twenty years. What she’s going to be doing is vague in the beginning, and the first hints of it start emerging only as part of a flashback, as the hunter recalls how and where he first met the fifteen-year old girl, a magician’s assistant, who was to go on to marry him. What she’s doing here, obviously the guest of honour at this mansion, has its roots deep in that winter in Montana, when she first came to him…
While the theme of this story, the explanation of what the hunter’s wife is doing, is chilling in a creepy way, what I really liked about this story was the very vivid picture Doerr succeeds in creating of the wilds. The bear, the coyotes, the heron. The cold, the snow, the getting cut off from all civilization. I could almost feel myself there, and that helped evoke a sort of belief in what the hunter’s wife was able to do. -
“So instead they stood together, the snow fluttering down from the clouds to melt into the water where their own reflected images trembled like two people trapped against the glass of a parallel world, and he reached, finally, to take her hand.”
beautiful, lovely short story. thank you prof for making us read this. -
A captivating story about a young woman and a much older man who is a hunter. He pursues her successfully and their courtship has similarities to actually pursuing an animal with the intention of killing. A different kind of love story. Enjoyable to read.
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Magical short story, glad I found it online. Makes you think about life and makes me remember that I despise the snow.
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I thought this story was beautifully written, and captivating throughout. From the very first paragraph I was mesmerised.
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Good short story. The descriptions were a standout. Also, utilizing the setting descriptions for characterization was a nice touch. Feels complete yet leaves you wanting more.
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I don’t think I’ve ever read such beautiful descriptions - the passages describing the natural environment of North America in particular are stunning. I can tell this author is a great writer but in this particular story I just couldn’t develop a relationship with the characters. Maybe it’s because it’s a short story rather than a full novel. The characters irritated me. The Hunter’s cynicism of the gifts of the wife he adores seems jarring. What basis does he have for his lack of belief? She had always seemed honest with him and yet he sees her as a con artist. Some may argue that working in a magic show is a con, but that’s different. People know they are being tricked and are happy to pay - either for the wonder of it or because, deep down, they think they can rumble the method. I found the wife’s etherealness a bit annoying but felt pity for her being cooped up in the middle of nowhere at such a young age after a life filled with people. Actually it’s her age that disturbs me most and is the main reason I can’t like either character. At their first meeting he is 30. She is 15. He stares at her through a window and looks at her with desire, follows her around until she agrees to have dinner with him. And she’s okay with that? The readers are meant to be okay with that? Okay, so he doesn’t have sex with her until she’s 18 but when she does, of course she’s in ecstasy... it feels very much a man writing for a male audience here and it makes me feel uncomfortable.
