Vardis FisherKirja-arvosteluja

At least 1CAtlas Shrugged 1D is famous and often actually read. Not so Vardis Fisher 19s 1CDark Bridwell, 1D which has been cited by at least one reputable critic as an overlooked classic. Unfortunately, it is now out of print and cannot be easily found. The virtues of the novel can be enumerated, although mere enumeration never does justice to a work of art. First, the reader is confronted with a lyrical description of the wild river valley where the story is set. Significantly, Fisher begins with the setting even before the arrival of the people who will be the central characters of his tale. This is because the environment is really the main character. Those who have read this novel and who are inclined toward environmentalism find this quality of Fisher 19s book illuminating because many of the human characters seem to be at war with nature in ways that show them to be foolishly destructive of the very aspects of their own environment that not only sustain them economically but which they claim to appreciate aesthetically.

In the late 1890s, Charlie Bridwell marries a woman more than ten years his junior and persuades her to go with him to a farm he has purchased in the Snake River Valley of Idaho. To call it a valley is misleading: the narrow gorge where the farm exists leaves nothing more than a small ledge with enough soil for planting. There are no real neighbors; the Bridwells see only a few other people during their years on this farm, and when they do see a gathering of other people at one point, it is only because they have traveled a long way to meet them. The consequent loneliness of the Bridwell farm is palpable and can only be overcome fleetingly by Charlie 19s attempts to keep his young family amused.

Charlie is a muscular but lazy man who regards subsistence farming as an easy way to get by in this world. For him, the farm only needs to be productive enough to support four people. Although he does sell a few things to make ends meet, he is not ambitious and has little interest in growing things to sell as a business that might raise his family above their relative poverty. Charlie is what, today, we would call a control freak. His worst fear is that his wife and his two sons will realize that the sacrifices they have made by isolating themselves from the wider world 14all to support his laziness 14are no longer tolerable to them. To keep them from wising up, he by turns distracts, cajoles, and bullies them into submission. In a memorable scene in which he distracts them, he picks up and hurls logs down a mountain slope, making great, explosive splashes in the lake below. It should be enough to make an environmentalist cringe as Charlie 19s stunt does potentially irreparable damage to the environment for no other purpose than to amuse his family.

Charlie 19s wife, Lila, suffers quietly for decades as she does most of the hard work that sustains her husband 19s life style, and their sons grow up cowed by his bullying and learning to take their anger out on each other and anybody or anything that crosses their paths. A most memorable part of the book is that in which Jed, the meaner of the two brothers, almost literally goes to war with nature, girding himself in home-made armor to battle with insects, setting traps and chasing pesky varmints with his rifle, and even fighting against the rocks and trees around him.

With characteristic self-deprecation, the author casts his own alter ego, Vridar Hunter (get it? Vardis Fisher=Vridar Hunter?), in the minor role of the boy who lives on the only other farm within many miles of the Bridwell place, and his only function is to be the butt of the Bridwell brothers 19 bullying.

Charlie gets his comeuppances at last. His wife rebels and leaves him, and his sons go their separate ways, only returning near the end to get even with their abusive father. As his world comes crashing down, though, Charlie ultimately proves to be an irrepressible type who seems to rebound as he resolves to lead a solitary wilderness life. He doesn 19t need anybody else, he thinks, even though he has spent decades using up the energies of those closest to him.

If you are easily offended by ideas and language that reflect historical attitudes and thoughts, don’t read this.

If you can set aside that tendency, this book offers an interesting glimpse into that brief time when mountain men roamed the mostly unexplored West. The dichotomy of hatred between the mountain men and the Indians and the trading and intermarrying between them is a subtle theme, but important to understanding that period in our history. Both races strived for freedom and the ability to pursue their preferred live styles, even as the westward expansion of “civilization” closed in on them.

Vardis’ descriptions of the landscape Sam Minard roamed are some of the most beautifully written prose I’ve seen in some time. The imagery evoked by the passages are poetic word pictures to be savored.

On the darker side, Vardis deals with Kate Bowden’s descent into madness with sensitivity and great insight. Interactions between her and both mountain men and Indians demonstrates that, in most ways, the two groups had more in common than a love of freedom. Sad, at times hard to read, Kate’s fate is all but certain as she buries her dead.

This novel is only held back from five stars because of the occasional passages where the author spends an excessive time on the landscape as symphony or lists native birds in descriptions as if he were cataloging his birdwatching hike. In spite of these minor shortcomings, this novel is worth reading for the beauty of its prose.

Sam Minard is a Mountain Man, someone who lives the wild west and makes a living trapping animals for their furs and selling at trading posts. Much of his life is spent in solitude and in balance with the nature that surrounds home. Although his extraordinary size - he was a giant of a man standing 6 foot Four - easily sets him apart from the other trappers, he is well liked and respected throughout the land. Eventually he stumbles upon Kate Bowden, her husband and three children have been scalped and killed by a band of Indians, yet she managed to fight and kill three of them in her blind fury. Sam decides to help her by building a small cabin near the newly built graves and checks in on her as the seasons roll around. Meanwhile Sam decides to take a wife, but while he is away trapping in the winter months she is slaughtered by Crow Indians, finding her body he vows vengeance on the tribe and openly declares war against every Crow Indian. It is now a battle of the wills as to who lives and who dies.

This has to be one of the best books I have read for a long time. The descriptive writing is amazing, and Fisher really does have an incredible eye for detail. You can tell he knows and loves his subject matter and this shines through the book. He isn't afraid to graphically describe the violence and you can expect to find the harsh reality of life in the wilderness amongst the almost poetic description of nature and landscape. No punches are also pulled when describing the Native Americans, and I wonder how this book would be received today? Probably condemned under a tirade of PC nonsense I wouldn't doubt. There are times I can see why some people may describe the prose as a little wordy, but there is more than enough action to compensate. I really cannot recommend this book enough, if you enjoy tales of survival then this will be right up your street.

This story is part based on the true story of Liver Eating Johnson and also had a film loosely based on it call Jeremiah Johnson.

One of my most favorite books. Well written, very descriptive of the events that happen involving a "Mountain Man". Can't just start out as a mountain man-have to learn and observe a fellow mountain man.

Confessional: I could not wait for this series to be over and done with! I found Vridar a very selfish and troubled man throughout the earlier books. He pushes his wife to suicide at the end of We Are Betrayed and then spends more of No Villain Need Be trying to sort out his guilt. Another trait of Mr. Hunter's that I could quite reconcile is his lack of parenting. True, those were different times but when he moved to Baltimore all I could ask was, what about his sons? This does not get any better in No Villain Need Be. His common law wife at one point asks him if he is going to see his children and he replies that he is "not ready yet" to face them. In case, you are wondering - his parents have his two sons back in Idaho.
But, back to the plot. Vridar is now a so=called grown up. He keeps gin in the bathroom, has written more than half a dozen books and is teaching at a college. He has obtained his doctorate in philosophy and even has a common law wife, Athene (whom I've already mentioned). Athene is an admirable character. She seems the most honest, being above the game playing. She helps Vridar behave as a more mature adult.
A curiosity: Vridar teaches philosophy while his brother, Mertyl, teaches Psychology. Even more curious, Mertyl lives and teaches wherever Vridar happens to end up.

We started the story of Vridar (Vreed) Hunter as a young boy in In Tragic Life. In Passions Spin the Plot Vreed is college age and still obsessed with his childhood love, Neloa. By the time we catch up with him in We Are Betrayed Vreed has married Neloa and she has given him a child without fanfare. Much was made of his virginity and his preoccupation with sex in the previous installments, so it was a surprise fatherhood was treated so nonchalantly. New also to Vridar's character is his commitment to fight in the war. He develops a new sense of courage at the thought of fighting for his country in France. His desire to be a writer and scholar also takes hold. Fisher does a great job of maturing Vridar before our eyes. His attitude towards fraternities was the first admirable demonstration for me, but there is no doubt Vridar is a tortured and obsessed soul. The terrible games he played to test Neloa's love for him are despicable. In fact, it's Neloa and Vridar's relationship I found the most disturbing. I won't give away the ending, but I found myself not wanting to finish the series because of it.

Passions Spin the Plot continue the Vridar story. At the end of In Tragic Life Vridar was about to set off to college. Passions Spin the Plot picks up with Vridar at college in Salt Lake City. He finally makes a friend who becomes a partner in crime, so to speak. Vridar demonstrates he has a lot to learn especially about fashion and women in the "real" world so this new friend tries to guide him in the ways of dating. But, all in all Vridar is an odd duck. His childhood love for Neloa continues to be obsessive and yet his high morals cause him angst when he hears she sees other men. He hates her. He loves her. He hates her. He loves her. He comes across as high and mighty, very self-righteous but he himself is not all that pure during these college days.

Vridar Hunter is a young boy growing up in rural Idaho. In Traqic Life details young Vridar's coming of age into his teenage years. Poverty, education, family & schoolboy crushes are the focus at this time. Confessional: I thought Vridar was a little whiny in the beginning. He was constantly in terror or frightened over something. He was afraid of nearly everything - the dark, his father's hands, nature, night, himself. Vridar had paralyzing fear, blinding fear and was haunted or desperately afraid. All the time. But, in reality that fear was founded. The "tragic" in In Tragic Life is truly justified. If Vridar wasn't watching animals die in horrific ways he was being verbally abused by his family. If that wasn't enough, when he finally went to school he was bullied on a consistent and continual basis. Parts of In Tragic Life were very painful to read, especially the cruelty, particularly towards animals.½

Very interesting style for my first contact with this author

The title refers to Vardis' view that the person of Jesus and the events in his life were actually a compilation of accidents, misunderstandings, universal compassion expressed to specific people, and idealistic expectations leading to foolish confrontations. While I recognize that, without any doubt, the man Jesus did live and did teach a doctrine of self-sacrifice and forgiveness, nevertheless I find it intriguing to think that there may have been others - potential Jesuses - who walked the land, talk peace, forgiveness, selfless service, and devotion to God as our spiritual parent. Any followings they had either migrated to a more popular leader, or disappeared when Jerusalem was destroyed. In this book, Fisher brings an old couple, a woman with a baby, and others to accompany this alternative Jesus. They are the ones who continue his story, joining their tale with similar stories of others, to make a single pastiche Gospel of a Composite Jesus. Such a notion requires rejecting enormous amounts of evidence. The rivals were less likely to have bee incorporated into the story of Jesus than they were to have been forgotten.

For many years I have been looking for a book that I read long ago about mountain men but somewhere along the way I had decided that perhaps it was one of A.B. Guthries‘. I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading Mountain Man by Vardis Fisher and found the book I have long been searching for. I probably first read this book in the early 1970’s before going to see the movie “Jeremiah Johnson” which was partly based on this book.

Originally published in 1965, and, in turn, loosely based on real life people John Johnson known as the “Crow Killer” and a pioneer women named Jane Morgan. Fisher’s story is truly a classic in Western American Literature. Written simply and without overdoing the sentiment, he gives us the story of fur trapper Sam Minard, who deeply loves his Indian wife and when she is murdered by some Crow Indians, goes on a trail of vengeance. We also learn the story of Kate, who watched her family brutally slain by Blackfoot Indians and went crazy with grief but was able to survive by both the Indian’s superstition and the many mountain men, particularly Sam Minard, who watched over her, protected her and supplied her.

Of course there are minor flaws in this book. His opinions, especially of the native Indians is both somewhat dated, stereotypical and prejudicial, but his love of nature and his descriptive writing shine through. He manages to weave a tale that captures the mind and the heart, and is able to place you right in the scene. I love to travel the American west, and in particular Yellowstone National Park. His descriptions of these places is both beautiful and accurate. When he writes about the day-to-day life of a fur trapper, I could hear the ripples on the river and smell the greasy campfire smoke.

Real mountain men had a reputation for romanticising life and telling tale tales, I think this story that Vardis Fisher wrote would have pleased most mountain men. It certainly pleased me.½

It embodies a philosophy of self-reliance and self-fulfilment. The title (a career pathway I have considered if not for the impracticalness of it) and also the refernce in the title to the move that was inspired by this book, a movie that I thought was epic, made me select this book. AHS/RM

Don't be fooled by the cover of this 1961 Pyramid paperback edition. This novel, originally published 1947, is 4th in Vardis Fisher's Testament of Man series in which he explored the origins and evolution of modern humanity from the very beginnings of our species. Fisher rooted his novels firmly in the scholarship of his day and this novel explores the in that light the emergence of male subjugation of the female and the development of the notions of good and evil spirits which formed the basis of widespread cultic worship.

See Richard Andrews' discussion of Vardis Fisher and Earl Doherty's review of this and others in the Testament of Man series.

Rating 3.75

Arturo Bandini is a struggling writer in LA in the 30's. He has one short story that makes him a little cash but is struggling for ideas. He falls for a girl at a local bar. They have a very volatile relationship. There on again off again relationship last the whole story. On one of their off again times some drunk woman stumbles into his hotel room. Arturo is a gentleman about it and actually listens to all the craziness she talks.

Fante strings together characters and emotions of the rougher side of town. You feel the depression and overall despair of the people in the hotel.

Rating 3.75

Arturo Bandini is a struggling writer in LA in the 30's. He has one short story that makes him a little cash but is struggling for ideas. He falls for a girl at a local bar. They have a very volatile relationship. There on again off again relationship last the whole story. On one of their off again times some drunk woman stumbles into his hotel room. Arturo is a gentleman about it and actually listens to all the craziness she talks.

Fante strings together characters and emotions of the rougher side of town. You feel the depression and overall despair of the people in the hotel.