★★★★★ Wisdom in the wilderness

Hatchet

Gary Paulsen

I read Hatchet for the first time many years ago -- probably 1988, when it became a Newbery Honor book. Not all Newbery books are great, but this one was. Being reminded of it recently, I noticed that it is the first book of a series of five, most of which I have never read, so I decided to go back to it.

Hatchet is the story of thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson. Brian sets off as a passenger in a single-engine bush plane to visit his father in northern Canada. On the way, the pilot dies in a heart attack. Brian, whom the pilot had been showing how to fly the plane before his heart attack, manages to crash the plane in a lake in the forest. He survives the crash, but then has the problem of surviving until he is rescued. He DOES survive (not a spoiler, since the publisher's blurb tells us that this is a "story of survival").

You would naturally imagine this to be an action-packed story, but it really is not. There are a few exciting moments, most conspicuously the crash and the tornado (also mentioned in the blurb). But it is mostly about Brian figuring out how to survive -- how to feed himself and remain safe from danger. And survival, it turns out, depends on wisdom. Brian learns to see the wild world he inhabits and to know its meanings. I am tempted to say that Brian becomes wise, but I think that's unfair to him. Brian was wise, but his wisdom needed to be brought to the fore.

In an epilog, Gary Paulsen tells us that Brian is forever changed by this experience.

When the pilot rescued Brian he had been alone on the L-shaped lake for fifty-four days. During that time he had lost seventeen percent of his body weight. He later gained back six percent, but had virtually no body fat—his body had consumed all extra weight and he would remain lean and wiry for several years.
Many of the changes would prove to be permanent. Brian had gained immensely in his ability to observe what was happening and react to it; that would last him all his life. He had become more thoughtful as well, and from that time on he would think slowly about something before speaking.

When I read that, I felt oddly envious. I caught myself wishing that something like this could happen to me. Of course, I don't really. I don't want to be trapped in the forests of northern Ontario for 8 weeks all on my own. I'm happy here with my books and movies and grocery stores and microwave oven. But, let us just say, Hatchet shows me something of what those cost me.

Hatchet is brief -- about a two-hour read. And yes, there is indeed a hatchet involved. The story has a real feeling of authenticity.

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