Facing the Hunter: Reflections on a Misunderstood Way of Life

by David Adams Richards

David Adams Richards takes us behind his gun and into the Canadian forest for his most powerful work of non-fiction yet.In his brilliant non-fiction, David Adams Richards - first and foremost one of Canada's greatest and best-beloved novelists - has been writing a kind of memoir by other means. Like his previous titles Lines On Water, about his pursuit of angling, and Hockey Dreams, about the game his disabled body prevented him from playing, Facing the Hunter explores the meaning of a sport and the way in which it touches lives, not least that of the author. And as with God Is, his recent book about his faith, it is also an impassioned defence of a set of values and a way of life that Richards believes are under attack.Lovers of David Adams Richards' novels will be fascinated and enlightened to note the interplay between his former life as a keen hunter - he hunts less and less these days, as he explains - and the narratives and characters of his fiction. But this is also a perfect starting point for anyone coming new to Richards. The storytelling in this book, the evocation of the Canadian wild and those who venture into it, the sheer power of the prose, show a great writer at the height of his powers.

Genres: Canada, Sports, Animals, Nonfiction

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 18, 2011

About the author

David Adams Richards (born 17 October 1950) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, screenwriter and poet.

Born in Newcastle, New Brunswick, Richards left St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, one course shy of completing a B.A. Richards has been a writer-in-residence at various universities and colleges across Canada, including the University of New Brunswick.

Richards has received numerous awards including 2 Gemini Awards for scriptwriting for Small Gifts and "For Those Who Hunt The Wounded Down", the Alden Nowlan Award for Excellence in the Arts, and the Canadian Authors Association Award for his novel Evening Snow Will Bring Such Peace. Richards is one of only three writers to have won in both the fiction and non-fiction categories of the Governor General's Award. He won the 1988 fiction award for Nights Below Station Street and the 1998 non-fiction award for Lines on the Water: A Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi. He was also a co-winner of the 2000 Giller Prize for Mercy Among the Children.

In 1971, he married the former Peggy MacIntyre. They have two sons, John Thomas and Anton Richards, and currently reside in Toronto.

John Thomas was born in 1989 in Saint John, New Brunswick.

The Writers' Federation of New Brunswick administers an annual David Adams Richards Award for Fiction.

Richards' papers are currently housed at the University of New Brunswick.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as I love Richards' lilting rhythm, it seems the decision was never made with this book as to whether it was an argument, a memoir, a collection of essays or a collection of nonfiction stories. Not that I'm necessarily against mixing genres, but the end result came across as "Here are a bunch of things that pissed me off about city slickers and Canadian writers over the past 20 years," which might have been enjoyable over a beer or a coffee out at Richards' camp, but it made for a tough read.

He makes a lot of valid points, but at times I feel it falls prey to his own criticisms of others (city people), ie he fails to understand where they are coming from.

The most compelling part of the book is his argument that the way of life he knew as a boy is dying out, and that it's a real loss, a heartbreaking one, and that what replaces it isn't necessarily an improvement. He makes that point well in the first third of the book.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started off really enjoying this book. Richards puts forward a number of quality arguments while simultaneously playing upon the romanticism I believe exists inside everyone regarding the wilderness. The only problem with this is that if you're going to make these remarks within the book's first forty pages you need to make sure by page two hundred or so that you're making new points without entirely repeating yourself.

There is some quality wisdom in this book, and the last two paragraphs definitely touched an emotional nerve within me, but I can't entirely say that this was an excellent book either.

[Dutch Leonard · Rating 2 out of 5]

As always, there are some excellent descriptions of rural New Brunswick.
One of Richards' strengths is the evocative way he handles landscapes, especially those in late autumn/early-winter.
Richards' main weakness here is his bitter ranting, which is sadly one of the few threads that hold this group of outdoor miscellany together. An unsatisfying read mostly due to Richards' sourness.

[Nutkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was like sitting around the woodstove at our camp and listening to my dad's generation & older telling stories about their hunts. The writing style is very conversational and a bit all over the place, as storytelling like this often is in real life.

[Dan Teed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting points wrapped in the grumbling nostalgia of a cantankerous old man. Like digging for coins in an old, crumb filled sofa.

[Chantale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me want to be out in the forest in New Brunswick enjoying nature and observing deer and moose from a safe distance. Although Richards suggests that all omnivores should hunt at least once, I wasn't convinced at the end of the book to pursue my hunting license. An interesting look at how hunting has evolved by sharing the hunting stories of family and friends over the years.

He makes you worry about how we are distancing ourselves from our food and how this affects what we eat today. I have added "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals" by Michael Pollan to my reading list so I can further pursue the sources of our food in North America.

[Dana Larose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part memoir, part defense of the rural, hunting lifestyle that the author grew up in. I'm guessing it was written (in a small part) in response to the long gun registry brouhaha and Richards felt people who hunted as part of their heritage were getting lumped in with criminals by urban snobs.

While I have zero interest in hunting, what I did really like about the book was the sense of place. Being a military brat, I don't have much connection to a particular place and my parents were not the type to relate stories about our family. Facing the Hunter is as much about tradition and family and storytelling as hunting.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love his wonderful prose. "The air had a sweet scent to it, of musk and rut trials, and there was a loneliness to it; and in all the world there is nothing that can measure the kind of solitude one feels from this peculiar scent in the woods at twilight - it is sanctifying..."

Love his honesty. "My neighbours do not understand me. That I am the fellow who devoted his life to writing books - they cannot seem to get their head around it. But their hearts are very much the same, and their love extends to me because of my wife, who grew up beside them and is related to many."

[Kevin Gallan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best nonfiction book i have read this year.David Adams Richards is one of Canada finest writers.i felt that we were sitting at my kitchen table and talking while having a beer.As i read i could smell the woods and was remembering hunting the places he talked about but you don't have to be a hunter to enjoy this book.Just to care about our wildlife and the wilderness that surrounds is enough.