Into the Forest

Rating:
Summary: A riviting account of survival in a challenging future.
Review: Into the forest is a fascinating novel about two girls who are forced to learn to survive on their own skills after society as we know it collapses. It is not, however, a sci-fi novel. It is much more realist in tone. Nevertheless, Hegland's account of the future is incredibably powerful (and more probable than most techno. fantasies); I could not put it down once I started it and I looked at my own life and the world around me differently while I read it. I found myself several times looking in my cupboard wondering how long I could survive with only its contents and my own survival skills. Not as long or as wonderfully as the girls in Hegland's novel. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Well written, but ultimately lacking
Review: I liked the premise. I thought the author has a wonderful command of the language and constructed beautiful phrases, sentences, paragraphs. But.... How convenient that they would be so deeply cut off from the end-of-the-world experience thus permitting the author to escape from having to imagine much of it. A serious lack of character development, including even Eva. All we know of her is that she's totally obsessed with ballet. Who IS Eli beyond a blank slate, a device there simply to offer Nell a way out?

Some stuff was annoyingly first-novel -- too, too predictable that Eva would be the one to become pregnant; too unbelievable that the father would have taken off the chain brake given their circumstances; odd that he, a principal, would homeschool his kids. These examples, and so much more, just scream "device."

And the so-called lesbian scene -- sorry; didn't buy it. Having just been raped, might sexual contact -- let alone incest -- be far from one of Eva's first choices?

Perhaps a good book club selection as there is ultimately much to discuss, but I would never give it to someone and say, "You must read this."

Rating:
Summary: A hauntingly beautiful tale of surival and discovery.
Review: Despite its naive eco-feminist overtones, Into the Forest is a surprisingly powerful novel. The writing is lyrical and the plot engrossing. Hegland's basic premises about pre-industrial society are, I think, romantic and mistaken, but her evocation of Nell and Eva's awakening to the natural world is so convincing and so lovely, it hardly matters. Like any myth, Hegland's vision of loss and redemption has a seed of truth to it. It legitimately asks and hints at what we've lost in our pursuit of a safe and convenient technological civilization. Beyond that, this is simply a gripping narrative of survival, akin to Elizabeth Marshall Thomas's Reindeer Moon and even Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain. I couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: A thought-provoking modern look at "the end".
Review: Jean Hegland's first novel reads, well, like a first novel. Very interesting to focus less on the ideology that brings about the end and more on how the end influences people. Wonderful relationship between Eva and Nel, despite the paucity of characters. At times the story is a bit unrealistic: how filling can acorn mush and white tea be?; how did Nel learn about pig-carving so well, and where did that pig go? But it is a good read! And it works across the board, meaning that this is good juvenile fiction as well. Can't say that about Nineteen Eighty Four. More of a naturalist take than a feminist take. Eli and Father are not portrayed poorly. I think this book would make for good book group discussion as well.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome, enlightening
Review: A brilliant depiction of coming of age in the near-future. One of those books you can't put down. Erotic, innocent and endearing. A perfect book for Winter reading. Looking forward to the follow-up...

Rating:
Summary: Lesbian incest as ritual suicide ... "but well-crafted!"
Review: The novel is finely crafted, slashingly lacerating, endlessly delusional, and compellingly suicidal. Once they overcome the unbelievably bad education they got from their parents, the girls quickly teach each other to fear all contact with other humanity. Through a rather complicated substitution of lesbian incest for rape, they create an aura of procreation and survival without having to actually survive. In the end, they pull their hole in upon themselves, mouthing reassuring ignorances about primativist survival, and crawl off to feed themselves to the boars, the bears, and the bananna slugs.

Spectacular skills turned to dismal projects.

Rating:
Summary: beautiful
Review: This book was beautiful and thought provoking. The way that the author wived the dry encyclopidic definitions into the complex story was very memorable. A book everyone should read.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, Frightening, and Thought Provoking
Review: I travel often, and therefore experience many novels via books-on-tape that I would probably not locate while searching the bookshelves. This was one such novel. This story affected me so profoundly in the fact that I too, have sisters, and how would we react if we were forced into the same situation. The threat of our country's economy collapsing is such a real thing, that this book makes you really start to wonder if you could be prepared in any way in case of a similar occurence. One thing that did come as a result of this book is the desire to learn about native plants in my section of the country. I immediately went to the library and have started doing research, and have been amazed at the uses for plants that I have largely ignored or did not recognize for what they were. I would recommend this book for anyone who loves to read and experience books about survival, women who are independent and/or are dependent on each other, and to those persons who like to close the back cover and continue thinking about what they have just read.

Rating:
Summary: Realistic microcosmic look at an "interrupted" civilization
Review: I like this book because it gives the end of civilization story a realistic view from the little people who wouldn't know the reasons why things have shut down. As the world crumbles around them two girls have to grow up and take responsibilty for thier own survival.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect choice for a book group...
Review: With "Into the Forest", author Jean Heglund has written a first novel that is not without flaws, ( Where was her editor when she used the word "tang" over and over? )yet is insideously thought provoking, thanks to her strong premise.

This is a perfect choice for a book group, for it inspires a flurry of speculation, questioning, and soul searching. My book group just finished it, and we enjoyed the most passionate meeting, alive with discussion and emotion.

I would also recommend this novel to young adults, for the story line of the two young women, learning to cope and work toward self sufficiency is inspiring...no male hero rides in on his horse to rescue these two...they rescue themselves. And that, for me, was extremely appealing. We need more models of women who are capable, who dream big dreams, who risk, who survive, who choose to grow. And if you catagorize this desire as feminist, well, perhaps it is time to reevaluate that term. This story is about love, commitment and survival, and it speaks to every human being, male or female.