The Wilding

3 generations-- a schoolteacher, his twelve year old son, and his aging, rugged father-- bonding on their last camping trip to Echo Canyon, Oregon, which is slated for construction of a new tourist development-- and nothing goes as they’d planned. There’s a pissed off local hick and rumors of a menace in the woods. And the wife who’s left at home is facing her own threat from the deranged Iraqi war veteran locksmith she calls for assistance when she locks herself out. All this makes for some fantastic tension and I couldn’t read it fast enough. The writing is excellent--the war veteran’s story is especially good. I love how the author explored the “wildness” inherent in each of us.

Percy's beautifully crafted novel is as thrilling and terrifying as the best kind of Stephen King, but also manages to be as weighty and searing as the best kind of literature with a capital L. He weaves a tale of marriage on the rocks and a camping trip gone wrong, a stalker in the night and a hungry bear, how a son can forgive his father and how a wife, on the verge of destroying her family, can take a look back at a life she once found lovely.

For about three quarters of this book, I would rank it as one of the best books I've read this year. The setting of Oregon is fascinating and the writing is jaw dropping good. Passages of this book will remain with you long after you finish it. The characters are all well developed and while not sympathetic, they are intriguing. However, about three quarters of the way through you realize the plot is not nearly as well developed as the rest of the ingredients. I'm not sure if the author was trying to write a expose on modern relationships, a book of progress vs the past, man against nature or just an old fashion adventure story. While in the end this book leaves me disappointed, the writing is of such quality that I would recommend it show more anyone. show less

Once I got two-thirds of the way in, I found it hard to put the book down. At the beginning, however, I was slowed down by the descriptive language. In several instances, the word choice and descriptions wowed me, but I felt like everything was given the same amount of detail, which made it difficult for me to focus on what's important. For example, every person gets at least a one paragraph description--I can picture them vividly when they are described, but then there is so much other distracting detail that I couldn't even tell you anything about what the protagonist looks like. Overall, the story and characters were interesting. I'd definitely recommend the book but probably wouldn't read it a second time.

Justin, an Oregon English teacher, has been bullied by his father since he was a boy, and his health-obsessive wife thinks he’s a wimp. Justin takes his son on a hunting trip with his father – to a wilderness area that’s about to be developed. They meet an angry backwoods local on the way. The requisite evil but weak developer makes a move on Justin’s wife while he’s gone. There’s a bear involved.

The characters are almost cookie-cutter except for Brian, an Iraq veteran and locksmith. He may be the most compelling one in the story, but his involvement never really pans out into anything substantial. The story has good moments, but will probably make a better film.

A manly book about men doing men things, and then whining about it. Not so much wild as wildly improbable -- may I never go on a camping trip this crazily eventful.

Good story of three generations of men who go out hunting one last time before their hunting spot is turned into a golf course and housing development. Meanwhile, a side story of an Iraq War veteran stalking one of the hunter's wives seems a little far-fetched but is still interesting.