If Disney movies like The Good Dinosaur were ever written in words, the writing would be exactly like The Bear. A beautiful story about parent relationships, growing up and adapting to the world, The Bear by Andrew Krivak is a heart warming tale about one girl’s journey to get back home. Take a look at the synopsis first.
In an Eden-like future, a girl and her father live close to the land in the shadow of a lone mountain. They own a few remnants of civilization: some books, a pane of glass, a set of flint and steel, a comb. The father teaches his daughter how to fish and hunt and the secrets of the seasons and the stars. He is preparing her for an adulthood in harmony with nature, for they are the last of humankind. But when the girl finds herself alone in an unknown landscape, it is a bear that will lead her back home through a vast wilderness that offers the greatest lessons of all, if she can learn to listen. A cautionary tale of human fragility, of love and loss, The Bear is a stunning tribute to the beauty of nature’s dominion.
Content Notes: Death.
Why I chose to read The Bear
This was one of my first NetGalley requests and time has flown by since that happened. This is book about a father and daughter, who are by themselves in the world. I have unique relationship with my father because I did not grow up with him, and books after such relationships always attract me.
Themes for Thought
Set in a time when only two humans exist in the world, a father and daughter, The Bear is the story of the girl coming of age. It has always been just the two of them for as long as she can remember. As the girl grows older and her father teaches her about life and surviving, she starts to ask harder questions like where her mother went. Through the girls’ questions and her father’s stories, we learn about the world as it is now, the significance of the mountain that they live by and the legend of the bear – the animal that provides wisdom and direction to people when they need it.
In her late teens, when the duo journey out to the ocean for the first time in the girl’s life, new friends and lessons await her.
On the World Setting
Focused on the characters, the girl, her father, and the bear, this book transported me to the setting in the wilderness where it takes place. With the characters, I saw the phases of moon, the deserted city, the breath-taking ocean, while at the same time, I felt their emotions. The Bear conveyed sentiments that move us when we are watching movies. The depiction of pain, loss, love and happiness are deep and true.
The world as we know it has ended but who cares how that end came to be? In the girl’s life, it is only her father. And though they live with the animals, they are each other’s true companions. The things that the father teaches the girl are practical, setting her up for success in the future. Andrew Krivak paints a vibrant forest, turbulent rivers and wise bears eloquently in words.
On the Power of Stories
Stories play an important role throughout this book, whether it is the stories that the father tells the girls, or the stories of their meeting that the bear will tell his descendants.
She told him his stories would remain with her for as long as she had memory and that if he dies, she would take him home to the mountain that stands alone and place him in the grave next to her mother, next to the stone that looked like a bear, and she would live there for as long as the seasons allowed.
The daughter to the father
In their oral culture, the two humans are bounded together by stories, and later, from the bear, we learn of the stories that have been passed on from his mother to him.
On Passion
I loved the wisdom and companionship that the bear offered to the girl in the times when she needed a friend. The bear has lived many years and while in sleep he finds calmness, he also know the value of the waking hour.
Be hungry for what you have yet to do while you’re awake.
The Bear
This line in particular stood out to me and offered me some inspiration in these times of self-isolation. There has to be something to look forward to every day, and until we find a purpose, something that only we can do and are driven to doing, waking up another day without any change in scenery will not manageable.
The girl and her father lived in isolation throughout their lives. They had each other and today, we have our family that we spending so much time with. Using the power of stories and memories, we can get through this.
The Bear is a beautiful tale, atmospheric, bound to transport you to another world altogether where the stars are bright and nature can be heard. This is not a very long read (~220 pages) and it will make you think about what it is like to live with someone, to deal with heart ache and loss, but to know that life will go on and stories will continue to be told.
Tell your loved ones a story from your past!
** The Bear is now out in stores so get a copy and let me know what you think! Let’s have a book-discussion! **
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
Many thanks to the publisher for providing me a review copy through NetGalley.
Cover image: Photo by Christopher Jolly on Unsplash
Sounds like a futuristic version of Clan of the Cave Bear! Adding it to my TBR! 👍
I love the small chart you’ve made made at the end of the blog The content was well weitten as always. It reminded me many little of the movie The Golden Compass, based on Philip Pullman’s first book in his The Amber Spyglass Trilogy. 🙈
I am glad it’s helpful. I am yet to read The Golden Compass 🙈