Title: Hatchet

Author: Gary Paulsen

Release date: January 1st, 1987

When I wrote my novel ‘Mastodon,’ I reached out to a number of authors I greatly admired to see about collecting some blurbs. One of those authors was the fantastic Shaun Hamill, author of ‘A Cosmology of Monsters’ and ‘The Dissonance,’ and in his amazing blurb, he compared the book to Paulsen’s ‘Hatchet.’ At the time, he asked me if it influenced the novel – which it didn’t, or at least not out rightly – and a few others did as well, because I was 100% certain I’d never read the book.

It dawned on me after I was about 25% in that I’d most certainly read this, maybe back around 1990 or so, and I’d watched the film adaptation – ‘A Cry in the Wild.’

Saying all of that, it’d been so long since I’d read it, the only part I remembered was a scene where Brian, our main character, gets sprayed in the face by a skunk.

I was driven to read this (or re-read rather) for two reasons. The first was that I’m working on a novel based around some wilderness survival elements and I wanted to read some examples where authors do a lot with nothing. If you’ve ever spent time in the great outdoors, you’ll understand an hour can feel like three days. So, I wanted to work on my ability to keep a reader engaged while the story isn’t doing anything other than being.

And the second reason, was that it kept coming back to me that Shaun had compared my book to this one and I felt like I owed Shaun to read it!

What I liked: The novel follows thirteen-year-old Brian, trying to navigate his new way of life. His mother and father have divorced, so he’s going to fly to the far north in Canada to visit his dad. His mother gifts him a hatchet just before he hops in the small plane for the flight. It’s a simple, solid set up and one that gives us readers the bare bones of the ‘why’ for Brian’s flight.

Paulsen masterfully does what I was hoping to examine. He gives us a lot with a little and when the plane crashes and Brian must survive the wilds on his own, that’s where Paulsen’s gift is highlighted. Brian finds the will to carry on, to find food, make fire and forge a place for himself among the trees and the animals that come to investigate his presence.

The story itself is miniature, when compared to the transformation Brian goes through, and Gary’s use of nature within this is pristine. The ending was obvious from the beginning, but the journey to get from the beginning to the ending was spot on.

What I didn’t like: I’m not sure if it was because of the time period this was released, or editorial decisions, or what, but for the most part, the story felt very ‘easy.’ Easy in the sense that Brian just kind of had things happen and was able to keep going. It is very, very hard to survive for a week, let alone almost two months without any basic wilderness training, and Brian seemed to do so as though he’d been living off the grid every other weekend.

Why you should buy this: Beyond that one small annoyance, the story is wonderful, empowering and it was great to see Brian’s connection to nature occur and how it affected him for years to come.

If you’re looking for a book that shows how an entire system works together while also works apart, this is perfect. And if you’re looking for a coming-of-age novel that you could read to your kids and cheer when Brian accomplishment’s what he has to, in order to survive, look no further.

4/5