Brian's Winter

Ok. This is the point in the series where we start to see really see the white-man-idolizes-pre-colonial-native-people-an-uncomfortable-amount thing that plagues the wilderness survival genre. Paulsen handles in better than a LOT of other authors have, that is for sure, but I still think it is important to point out and discuss. Still a book I love, still a beautiful meditation on isolation, survival, nature and its effects on the psyche.

What if?

What if Brian, lost in the northern wilderness in June, was not rescued by the time winter arrived? How could he survive the subzero cold, how could he eat, how could he stay warm?

Author Gary Paulsen has taken the main character of his book Hatchet, and has spun another tale of perseverance and determination. As with the other books in this series, the reader is drawn into Brian's world, and kept there by an excellent storyteller. And as before, I did not want to put down Brian's Winter until the conclusion. Recommended.

This book tells what would happen if Brian was never rescued by the plane from " The Hatchet'. Winter is coming, and Brian is severely unprepared. With the food from the plane gone, Brian realises that he must prepare for the harsh cold of the Canadian winter or else he won't survive. As Brian is hunting, he discovers a doe's corpse. The doe's lower half was ripped and tour by, what he assumed to be wolves, but the chest and head of the doe remand basically untouched. When Brian skinned it he found that, unlike rabbits skin, it stuck to the doe's flesh instead of falling right off. After finally skiing the deer, a skunk threatened to spray him until Brian threw her a piece of meat. This would cause the skunk to make this threat into a show more habit. When Brian finally cooked and tasted the meat, he realised that the doe's meat was much better than rabbit or bird meat. It made Brian remember how much he missed food like turkey, mashed potatoes, etc. When Brian went on his next hunt, he found a moose wandering around. As he expertly made his way to the moose he slowly pulled back his arrow, and shot the moose. The moose charged at Brian while Brian tried to reach for his lance. Just as his hand gripped the lance, the moose collided with him, knocking him out cold. When he woke up, he dragged the 500-700 pound moose to his shelter. As the days roll by, Brian decides to have a thanksgiving dinner since he believed that it was pretty close to the actual date. Brian wanted to cook some moose, but he also wanted some kind of sauce. So he went to find the berries he used to collect and eat. As Brian pick a handful, a bear attacked him. As Brian laid there staring at the face of the bear, he was convinced that he would die there. As he waited for the bear to kill him, a horrible stench filled the air. He then realised that his skunk friend had come to the rescue. Finally, Brian goes out hunting when he heard sounds that sounded suspiciously like gun shots. As he walks closer and closer to the source of the sounds, he discovers a man who claims that he had know that Brian was there for over three weeks. The reason the man didn't inform Brian that he was there was because the man didn't want to disturb him. The man offers to let Brian stay with him until a plane comes and picks them up. Brian, who is to shock to speak, decides to stay with the man.
I thought this book was amazing. Just like the first book, it had a unique way of writing and describing things. Gary Paulsen also described the way Brian thought in a way that change the reader's perspectives.The reason I gave the book this rating was because it separates itself from other books. It also includes even the tiniest details in every page. I loved this book and there was nothing that I thought needed to be improved. This is truly a 5 star story. show less

A really interesting walk through surviving in a northern winter. In the end, it almost felt like it was too easy to me; like the obstacles that Brian faced were almost too easily overcome. But it was enjoyable and I learned a lot.

I liked this alternate ending to Hatchet. Getting to see how Brian would have overcome surviving in the outdoors over the winter was interesting. I can't imagine being that aware or knowledgeable if I was in the same situation.

This is a direct continuation/alternate ending/retcon of Hatchet, the first book in the series. It changes the ending of Hatchet, so that Brian was still stuck in the wilderness as winter came. We therefore get to see how he applies his hard-earned survival experience and his wilderness-attuned mentality to get through the extreme cold and bad weather of winter.

I like this ending of the story better than the one in Hatched. Brian was ready for this extra challenge, so why deprive readers of the pleasure of seeing him cope with winter?

Once more, the writing is average and simplistic, but the survival and nature content still makes up for it. I'm giving it 3 stars instead of the 4 I gave to Hatchet, however, because I felt the show more storytelling was a bit by-the-numbers, as if Brian overcame the challenges too easily this time, so there was less conflict. It never felt like he might fail and die at any moment.

Still, this completes Brian's ordeal and coming-of-age nicely, and complements Hatchet as a life-changing experience for him.

One pet peeve: in the end, I would have liked more about what how Brian's family and the world in general reacted to his unexpected survival. I felt a bit cheated that this was not explored. show less

Brian’s Winter is a adventure novel written by Gary Paulsen. It was nominated in 1999 for a YRCA (youth division).

While Brian’s Winter can be read as a standalone novel, it is pretty much is a supplement to Gary Paulsen’s famous, three-time Newberry Award winning novel, Hatchet. The novel provides an alternative ending to Hatchet, whereby the protagonist Brian Robeson is not rescued after being stranded for 54 days in the Canadian wilderness, and must learn to survive the harsh Canadian winter. The real strength of the novel is the author’s masterful balance of quick-paced action and detailed descriptions. That being said, Brian’s Winter is an inferior novel compared to the more well-rounded Hatchet, especially in terms of show more character development. Therefore, I would recommend readers to read Hatchet first, before moving on to Brian’s Winter, for the “full experience”.

Overall, Brian’s Winter is must-read for any fan of Hatchet or adventure/survival fiction. It is a very enjoyable, fast-paced read at only 134 pages. show less