The Hunter (original 1999; edition 2001)

It's a beautiful story but it has a lot of vulgar language that isn't appropriate for teens. The movie changes a lot of things. ( )

I wanted to read this book mainly because it was about the thylacine. It is well written and I felt myself on a journey into the Tasmanian forest where I could almost smell, hear and feel my surroundings ..... ; So descriptive were the passages ... one could feel the beauty of the land which at the same time is harsh and dangerous. I had mixed feelings about M, the hunter who comes to this land to harvest the tiger. Parts of this book are quite disturbing. but it was an excellent read and is a book that I will remember, always. ( )

The Hunter is the story of a man, known only to the reader as "M", who is hired to kill and obtain genetic material from what is believed to be the last Tasmanian tiger. His base camp, such that it is, is a rented room from a family who lives on the very outskirts of the jungle. The man of that house, a naturalist, who claimed to a few that he had seen the tiger, never returned from his last excursion and is assumed long dead. "M" uses the name Martin David and claims also to be a naturalist.

The story follows M on his long excursions into the jungle in great detail. We are in this guy's head for nearly all 170 pages. There are some moments where I found myself completely mesmerized in this tale of obsession, survival — of predator-prey — and other times where I felt I was spending way too much time in this guy's head. But still, I kept on reading!

I think this would be a fascinating book club choice, but I suspect most book clubs might not be able to get past the cruder aspects of The Hunter (i.e the skinning of animal — in detail). It's a fascinating character study, and I try to imagine the same story with the hunter as a female. What would be different? See, I love a book that gets me thinking. . . ( )