Canoes, Blueberries, Wildfire, Attempted Murder, etc.

The River by Peter Heller

This month, I read a book that I’m very excited to tell you about because it feels very different from a lot of what I’ve been reading lately. For reasons that I believe will become self-evident. It was recommended to me by one of my very favorite college professors. She is the one who told me that I would love regency romance novels, and she was right. Cristina!! Hi!

This book—The River by Peter Heller—is not a regency romance. In fact, it’s essentially devoid of the stuff (romance). Reason number one why it feels different from my usual fare.

This is the story of Jack and Wynn, college best friends since the moment they met at some outdoorsy orientation program their freshman year at Dartmouth. Smart boys. Jack is from Colorado, where he grew up on horseback, herding cattle, riding trails, hunting and camping. And fishing of course. Because Wynn grew up fishing as well in his home state Vermont. Along with all the other outdoorsy things. He’s the water sign to Jack’s earth, which I actually didn’t think about until just now but really fits astrologically speaking. I wish I knew their birthdays now.

They’re very different, the boys are. Jack is a bit more world-weathered & weary. He experienced a defining trauma in his youth—I shall not elaborate further—and he’s a bit hardened as a result. Wynn on the other hand believes in the good in the world. He’s extremely tall, but unimposing—a gentle giant. They fit together like puzzle pieces nonetheless. Or perhaps because of. And besides, they like the same books, music, philosophers, etc. And yes, activities of the outdoorsy varietal.

That’s how they end up in northern Canada, canoeing the Maskwa River. And all goes according to plan, paddling along in sync, eating blueberries and grilling fresh caught fish over the fire. Idyllic. Until one day they decide to climb a ridge and get a view of the surrounding area. What they get a view of instead is a massive wildfire, still in the distance, but moving towards them. And that’s when tension ratchets up and the clock starts ticking. And that’s on page one. Which is to say that the tension is high and the clock is ticking for the entirety of the novel.

They plan to hightail it out of there, down the river, as quickly as possible. They don’t have any way of contacting the outside world, so all they can do is get moving down the river. But then they hear a man and a woman fighting in the fog…followed by a couple of chance encounters, which kick off a rescue mission that impedes their ability to get moving and sets them down a very different, very dangerous path. Or should I say river. Ha ha.

Heller does an excellent job of creating a suspenseful atmosphere without making you feel like you’re reading any old suspense novel. A feat which I believe can be attributed to the nature writing sprinkled in throughout. Though sprinkled probably isn’t right. It’s the descriptions of the natural world that serve as the base, with everything else sprinkled in around it.

The descriptions of the fire, for one, were awe inspiring. I was totally captivated and able to visualize the whole thing, almost to feel the heat of it. A fire is an uncontrollable thing, a seemingly unconquerable foe, and Heller writes about it without being cheesy or pandering.

Aside from that, I particularly enjoyed the scenes where the boys were fly fishing, which was a funny surprise. I remember reading A River Runs Through It in high school and finding it so boring. Sorry! I’m sure I’d like it more if I read it now, but 17 year old me was having none of it. And that’s what I always think about when I think about fly fishing.

But the way that Heller writes it, and most importantly, the way that he describes each boy doing it, casting their lines (as I believe one would say) with their unique flare. These moments serve as the calm amidst the storm, particularly later on in the novel when the shit has well and truly hit the fan. I appreciated Heller’s ability to take the act of fishing—to write about it beautifully on the face of it—and also turn it into an opportunity for deeper character exposition.

Which leads me to the other thing I think Heller does very well. His characters don’t feel like pawns enacting a plot. They have real depth, particularly for a relatively short novel (~250 pages), where a lot is going on. In the days since I finished this book, I keep remembering new things—new little pieces of Jack and Wynn’s respective backstories. These things that were revealed between the action and the roiling river and raging fire. I keep thinking about how the things they did, when they did them made sense. Why they made sense and why they were tragic anyway.

It’s a feat of pacing to combine this deep exposition and this slower somewhat pensive natural description with the heart-racing, barreling drive for survival that fills in the in between spaces. Because this is a suspense novel. There is real danger, and not just from the fire. When that danger comes home to roost, it’s like a punch in the gut, so get ready!

And as a final take away, I’d like to say that I think I actually really enjoy wilderness survival stories. I’m ready to admit it! But it’s not a category of book that I read very often. So send your recs! And get in touch if you’ve read anything else by Heller that you think I should read (The Dog Stars anyone? Celine?). And actually, ALSO get in touch if you’ve read The River because I have many thoughts that I left out here in the name of avoiding any and all spoilers (a heroic effort on my part). Okay, love you, bye!

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