This book by Gary Paulsen entitled “Brian’s Hunt”, is the fifth and final book in his series. This is a book that I feel will catch the reader’s attention. It is about Brian, the main character, and his continued journey spending his time in the wild fishing and hunting. Brian previously survived on an island for 56 days where he learned how to survive by living off the land. After this life changing experience, Brian no longer feels that he can live in the current society. Brian starts thinking a lot about the Cree family that had rescued him, especially their daughter, Susan, who he never met but saw a picture of. They told him about her and that she was daring and very independent, which Brian finds intriguing. While Brian is sleeping, he hears a whimper and he finds an injured dog. He is able to stitch up the dog’s wounds and bring him back to health. The dog was very tame which led Brian to believe that she was someone’s pet. Brian begins to think that possibly her owners had been in danger. This makes him think about the Cree family and he decides he wants to go and check on them to make sure they were alright. Brian reaches an island that is very quiet and there doesn’t seem to be anyone around. He sees a cabin and the door is wide open but no one around. He is scared but knows he needs to go inside. Brian is horrified when he found Susan’s dad is dead. He started calling for her mom but no one answered. He started walking around and found her and three other dogs dead. He figures that a bear had killed them all. Brian goes down to the lakeshore to try and find Susan. He notices marks from a boat but the boat is gone. He eventually finds Susan in the boat. Brian informs her that a bear has killed her family. They went back to the cabin and he cleaned up while he let her rest. They called for help and Susan left with the park ranger who was taking her to her grandparents. Brian is determined to find the bear that killed her family. He set out with the dog to hunt the bear. While on their journey, the dog begins to growl and her fur sticks up. Brian can see bear paw prints and suddenly sees the bear. The bear attacks him and hurts his shoulder. Brian is able to fight back and stabs the bear twice with the arrows that he brought with. Brian is overcome from the fight and is awoken by the dog licking his face. The main character is Brian Roberson, a sixteen year old outdoorsman. He shows that he is very caring when he takes in the very injured dog and brings her back to good health. Even though he is scared he showed his determination and bravery when he tries hunting the bear that killed Susan’s family. Not many teens would be that brave. I enjoyed the book and found it exciting. It made me think when he found the dead bodies and what was going to happen next. It kept me in suspense and wanting to read more. I would recommend this book to any age group but I feel that this book would probably be read and liked by teens because he is a teen himself. I think this book would also be enjoyed by anyone who loves the outdoors because that is where the story takes place. I think males can relate more to the book because of him being a hunter and outdoorsman.
First off, note the title of this book. I didn’t realize until I was about 60 pages in or so why the book is called Brian’s Hunt.For myself, I’m an adult now. I read The Hatchet probably about 20 years ago, most likely when it was still a relatively new book. I was a real bookworm, but due to not having such things like internet and google, my only way of finding out if an author had new books was to go to my local bookstore or library and check.Therefore it wasn’t until a few years ago I realized Mr. Paulsen was continuing The Hatchet series. I found out about The River, but then learned of the alternative ending to The Hatchet in Brian’s Winter.The latter book is somewhat connected to this book. And to its predecessor, Brian’s Return.In this book Brian is continuing his journey to visit the trapper family that helped him in Brian’s Winter.I have to say I liked this one a little bit better than Brian’s Return. Okay, I admit it. It’s because Brian finds an injured sled dog, and I’m very partial to dogs.Anyway, with that being said, the finding of this injured animal is connected to everything else in the story, ultimately leading to…Brian’s hunt.I would caution any parents wanting to get this book for their children to read it first for themselves. Like The Hatchet, there’s nothing more gruesome than nature itself, however, the…situation that Brian finds himself might scare young children. I can’t say more or else it gives away the big climax at the end of the story.As for the story itself, I want to say, although I can’t be sure, that the writing is slightly different in this one than it was in previous books. I can’t really put my finger on it, except to say I think Mr. Paulsen perhaps interjected into his writing style a more contemporary feel. I shall give an example.At one point in the book, Brian contemplates shooting a deer. However, he opts not to do so. The dog, alongside him, looks over at him, as if to say, are you going to shoot or what?Something to this affect. I didn’t’ quote that verbatim, but one gets the idea. To my best recollection, this is first time Mr. Paulsen has done something like this in his books, and in my opinion, I like it very much. Before it seemed Brian was very serious and everything was no-nonsense. Which is as it should be, I suppose, considering his age and the fact that he’s alone in wilderness with just a bow and quiver of arrows. But the tinge of…personality to this unnamed dog was a good touch.I could say more, but being that it was such a short book I won’t. I will be curious to see if Mr. Paulsen continues Brian’s journey. At first he indicated he wouldn’t, but in this book he says he will stop saying that. So we shall see.
What do You think about Brian's Hunt (2005)?
I believe that the Gary Paulsen's main idea of Brian's Hunt was to show how a boy can overcome being in a plane crash and getting stranded on an island, and then two years later go back into the wilderness by himself. The book takes place in the wilderness, with Brian alone in the wilderness. This book is told in third person limited. Brian Roberson is the main character and he is in the wilderness for the first time by himself, just two years after he was in a plane crash. He is a little bit timid at first, but throughout the book he starts to enjoy the wilderness. Brian refers to his parents a lot in this book. Brian tries to think of ways to get his parents back together throughout the book, but every time he realizes that his parents will never get back together. Brian overcomes many of the obstacles that the wilderness brings and is very brave throughout the book.Brian tries to think of ways to get his parents back together throughout the book, but every time he realizes why his parents will never get back together. "He did not hate his parents. He loved them. He'd wanted to see if there was some way he could make the two worlds work together, but he could not; their world was ugly to him and was filled with awful tastes and smells." This shows that even though Brian could try to make his parents get back together, it would never work. Brian's Hunt made me think about and understand how brave a person has to be to go back into the wilderness by their self or go back into any scary place for that matter, just two years after you went trough something as bad as being in a plane crash and being lost in the wilderness by yourself. This book ok. I thought that it could have been better. One example of how the book could have been better was that Gary Paulsen could have made the book describe the title and make the title make sense. I would recommend this book to someone who likes adventure.
—Gus
Brian's Hunt is a good book. This time Brian is back in the wilderness, because there is something missing from his life. When he gets to the forest he finds a dog. He thinks the dog belongs to the Cree trapping family. The dog is hurt so Brian tries to take care of it. Brian doesn't know what did it so he thinks it was a bear,but doesn't know for shore so it could be anything. So Brian goes to the Crees house and every thing is torn up and Susans parents are dead. he wondered where she is but i cant tell you. you will have to find out it is the last book so it is really exciting. The theme of the book is survival. Brain has too hunt for food, build shelter, stay away from dangerous animals and much, much more. Don't be afraid is one of the authors meanings in the book, I mean he finds a dog that is practically shredded on one side and he wants to find out who or what did it that is pretty brave.A symbol of survival is the dog, the dog is basically falling apart and he survives the whole book. People should read this book because it is short (for those of you who like short books), it is a good book and there are some survival skills in the book.
—Rebecca
Book review Brians hunttBrians hunt by Gary Paulsen is a great story following the book Hatchet. Brians hunt is about a young boy who is sixteen named Brian. In the previous book hatchet Brian was fourteen and on his way to his fathers who lives in Canada and while flying his pilot dies and they crash into a remote canadian lake where he is forced to stay in the canadian wilderness by himself.tIn this book Brian is now older he is sixteen and ever since he has returned from the wilderness he can't focus. All he can think about is where he slept and what he had to do and how he survived, he also can't handle all the noises and the constant moving in the “real world”. So he finally convinces his parents to talk to the school and see if he can get out of school to go back to the remote wilderness by himself. So once he gets permission he orders stuff he will need to survive, a few things he orders is a rope (a rope would have many uses to survive), a wooden bow that someone is handcrafting for him and also with the bow he orders a few bow string (just in case some break), and lastly a few dozen arrows with broadheads(hunting tips) and field tips(for target shooting). One his bow comes in he practices with it for a long time.tWhen he gets to the wilderness he has his bow and arrows a few food items(he has to hunt all the rest of his food) and some other stuff, like a rope and a knife. He travels by canoe down rivers and lakes. When he comes to one big lake he paddles to shore and sets up a fire and cooks food then, he paddles out to the middle of the lake. When he gets out there he hears an animal crying on shore, at first he doesn't think anything of it but as he keeps hearing it he gets curious so he paddles back to shore to see what it could be.tWhen he gets there he spots the animal and it is wounded with a big gash in its leg. So Brian stitches it up and keeps an eye on it. But he's not going to let it stop him from getting to his destination of the cabin of the Cree family. So he packs up the animal and paddles down the river. And at the next stop Brian shoots a deer and gets the deer for him and the animal to eat. Then he packs the things and heads for the Crees cabin. But he or anyone will expect what he finds at the Cree cabin. But you will have to read to find out.
—Colan
