Lord Grizzly
by Frederick Manfred
Nomination: National Book Finalist 1955
Date Read: November 11, 2019
Lord Grizzly is not a fun book. To me, it's a survival book in that I survived reading it. Hugh Glass is, without a doubt, an incredible character full of grit, piss, steel bolts and razor wire. The life he leads is astounding in that he actually survives his life choices.
Hugh lives in early U.S. settlement days when the white man was actively stealing Indian land and paying the just price for these actions. In some situations there was peace and, often, in others there was violence. In an early expedition of Hugh's, he is attacked by a grizzly and left to die on the plains. His friends sew him together as best they can and flee. Hugh succeeds in crawling with his wounds and a broken leg back to his wife for care and recuperation He then spends the remainder of the novel seeking revenge for his friends who left him there to die.
What becomes quickly apparent is how much we are all a slave to the human condition. People during this time spent a great deal of energy on thinking, hunting, preparing and consuming food. Water is right there alongside food in terms of importance. Although I have always known this as a fact of life, Lord Grizzly put these fundamental needs in stark relief.
I tend to enjoy novels more focused on human relationships than man vs. nature scenarios. Manfred is clearly gifted in describing the landscape, human needs, conflicts and a way of life that no longer exists. This novel just wasn't for me.
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