Trask

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nlerud, January 27, 2009 (view all comments by nlerud)
This might be the great (largely unread) Oregon novel. It takes me back to Sophomore English, where we were taught (a bit simplistically - did anybody else get this hammered into them?) that all of literature can be divvied up into about four stories: man versus man, man versus nature, man versus God and man versus himself. I think those were the four. "Trask" has 'em all - and, just like the uber-masculine pattern outlined, women have basically nothing to do with this story (there is the long-suffering wife, but she disappears after the first third of the book.) "Trask" is a quest narrative, a buddy novel, a pretty fascinating first encounter story, and finally the death-grips struggle of one guy alone in the wilderness, and that last act (which, honestly, is not a subject that particularly interests me on paper) is absolutely riveting. The scene where Trask makes fire is one of the best things I've read in a long time, and the first time I've cried while reading a book since I was ten years old. I can't say enough about this book, even though it represents things I find totally suspect: all-male worlds, rugged individualism, and white guys writing about Native American spirituality (nearly always a bad idea). "Trask" makes it all work, somehow, with grace and beauty and a razor-sharp sense of place. I haven't loved a book like this in a while - it's nice to know there's still writing out there that can do this to you.

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rsb97229, March 20, 2008 (view all comments by rsb97229)
I have never written one of these reviews before, but this book is a true masterpiece and someone needs to say so. The story is based at least loosely in historical fact, and those familiar with the Oregon coast will recognize many of the landmarks of the story. The landscape itself plays an important role in this novel, though you need not know the land to appreciate it. The book is about Trask, a former mountain man who has married and settled in Northwest Oregon, west and south of Astoria. For reasons not fully explainable, he becomes restless and feels compelled to explore the Coast not far from his home by miles (maybe 25-50), but quite distant in other ways. He hires as his guide an Indian who knows the territory and also happens to have spirtual powers, but not in any unbelievable or new-age hokey sense. The new territory is inhabited by a tribe that has never lived with white men. Its chief is, like Trask and his guide, another remarkable character named Kilches, a large black Indian who is one of the most memorable ny fictional character in any genre. . Trask's encounter with the tribe heralds the beginning of the end of their largely untouched native civilization, and Kilches profoundly understands this from the get go. Trask is drawn to the new territory and asks permission to settle there, and in the course of being permitted to do so, ends up on a vision quest in the wilderness that is mystical in a way that is believable (even to a skeptic like myself). The culminating event is shocking and then very moving. Berry is (was) a very gifted writer. This is a novel of characters, ideas, and a suspensful plot line. Mr. Berry was a true master and I cannot wait to begin Moonstruck, the second book of the series. The new edition reveals that he attended Reed College with Gary Snyder and Philip Whalen, and had an interest in poetry and sculpting He was a young man when he wrote this book. I marvelled over the story, the language, the humor. It is one of the best books of fiction I have read in many years. It is a shame that Berry did not get the recognition that he deserved during his life. Hopefully, it will come posthumously.

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shiral5, June 11, 2007 (view all comments by shiral5)
I thought it was a very good descriptiion of the people who settled the wilds of the west,those that were aready here and the land they loved and lived in.

I did find the need of a map of the land would have improved my understanding of the terrain .

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780870710230

Author:

Berry, Don

Publisher:

Oregon State University Press

Location:

Corvallis

Subject:

Historical - General

Subject:

Historical fiction

Subject:

Authors, American

Subject:

Oregon

Subject:

Fur trade

Subject:

Trappers.

Subject:

Literature-A to Z

Copyright:

2004

Edition Number:

1st OSU Press ed.

Edition Description:

Paperback

Series Volume:

no. 5

Publication Date:

20040531

Binding:

TRADE PAPER

Language:

English

Pages:

xvii, 348 p.

Dimensions:

8.9 x 6 x 0.8 in