Vardis Fisher (1895–1968)

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.… (altro)

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.… (altro)

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.… (altro)