The Brian Saga, Book 1 of 5

Long ago, when I used to collect favorite titles from people I respected, my brother-in-law recommended this as his favorite novel of all time. That obviously intrigued me, and while I might not place it in my own top spot, I certainly understand why he would have said such a thing. This youth-novel about survival following a plane crash in the Canadian north woods scratched my every itch, especially in this midst of this strange global pandemic.

Because I had already read the great adventure story The Call of the Wild to my children, I thought that they might be ready for this one as well. But several chapters into Hatchet, I realized that it wasn’t yet fitting for seven- and eight-year-olds, especially as a nighttime story! So I quietly replaced this book with Laura Ingles Wilder during our nightly reads, and I kept the Gary Paulsen for myself. [Note: We read this book together several years later.]

The early parts in the story that weren’t quite age-appropriate include the heart-attack and death of Brian’s pilot as he flies him to his father’s home in Alaska and his mother’s secret infidelity. In fact, whenever “the secret” came up, I skimmed the paragraphs and gave my kids the gist…that his mom and dad had a fight because of something the mother had done. No mention of her necking sessions in the car with some other dude!

Since that is not what the story is about, though, I won’t dwell any more on it. Instead, this story is about young Brian who finds himself lost and injured without food or shelter beside a lake in Canada, off-course so many hundreds of miles that he hasn’t the least hope for rescue. He must battle mosquitoes and his own fears of the wild, not to mention try and find his own sources of food and fire.

It’s the fire that gives him his first real hope, in fact. With the use of his hatchet, he comes to discover that its steel head and the flint-rock around him could provide sparks that will set ablaze his existence in the wild. It will be a cure for the mosquitoes, a warmth at night, a means of cooking food, and a friend in his loneliness.

Brian’s other explorations and discoveries, which include the fashioning of crude weapons and the harvesting of meat, make for enjoyable chapters throughout. His rescue is as lucky as his crash was unlucky, but Brian eventually leaves a changed person, from city-boy into mountain-man, from lazy into industrious. Oh, for all our boys to go through such man-making experiences!

I’m an instant fan of Gary Paulsen, and whenever those thrift stores open up again, I’m going to search for more of his stories. I recall having read the title Brian’s Winter somewhere, so I can only hope that it’s the same kid experiencing new adventures elsewhere.

©2020 E.T.

Read More from Gary Paulsen:

• Dogsong (1985)
• Hatchet (1986) [view also my first review of this book]
• Woodsong (1990)
• The River (1991)
• Brian’s Winter (1996)
• Brian’s Return (1999)
• Brian’s Hunt (2003)
• Time Hackers (2005)
• Woods Runner (2009)