For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down

by David Adams Richards

A suspenseful and moving novel which has at its centre one of Richards’ most memorable and haunting characters. It is the fall of 1989 in a small Miramichi mill town. Jerry Bines is acquitted of murder and returns home to his estranged wife and young son, with hopes for a new beginning. But when he learns that Gary Percy Rils has escaped from prison, he has good reason to fear for his own safety and that of others. In his attempts to protect his family from Rils by taking him under his wing, Bines sets in motion a series of events that ultimately leads to tragedy. The story of what happens unfolds piece by piece, as related by police reports, interviews, and by a man to a boy. Vivid in its sense of place, this penetrating chronicle of lives is both dark and redemptive, devastating and comic . This novel was made into a Gemini Award-winning film of the same name.

Genres: Canada, Fiction, Canadian Literature, Literary Fiction, Novels, School

240 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 1993

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

[John Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first DAR read, possibly surprising; because I live in New Brunswick. I heard him read last winter and was impressed with the old guy's prose so much I couldn't sluff him off any longer. I picked this thing up for $1 at a library sale. I have two more in my pile.

My first reaction: "are people serious about this man's greatness as a writer?" It read like something a middle schooler on serious drugs might write, telling vs. showing at its worst. I read a few pages then set it down for a day. In the meantime I discussed it with a friend who thought it was an outstanding novel and encouraged me to continue.

I decided the style of narrative was purposeful, that he used it to add to the flavor of the story. It felt like it was being told orally by an an illiterate old man from Mirimichi.

Once I accepted the style of prose, the story took off. DAR used lots of foreshadowing, different POVs, vivid and unusual descriptions, an apparently intentional overuse of repetition, and very quick shifts in scenery -- location, POV, and time, sometimes a few in the same short chapter.

The end result was simply WOW. Jerry Bines will remain with me forever - remain with me forever - yes he will - he will indeed.

[Kereesa · Rating 3 out of 5]

For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down was another novel we read in my seminar class this year, and was my first DAR (David Adams Richards) novel.

I KNOW. I don't know how I am Canadian, not to mention a Maritimer, and even worse a New Brunswicker and have not read anything by DAR, (though thankfully I'm not from the 'chi). I blame my French heritage.

(For those of you who don't know, DAR=pretty big deal here)

Anyway the novel basically revolves around the memories and statements of various people about this one guy: Jerry Bines, who may or may not been involved in a scheme involving a trailer tractor belonging to Bines's relative and ultimately resulting in his imprisonment. And throughout the novel the various characters debate and draw forth different ideas and images of who Bines was as a person.

In a way it reminded me a lot of my history research class (Exploring History) in my 2nd year at university. I know this sounds odd, but in that class we read a piece on an example of oral history. In this particular event a village believed that two separate events, the death of a young man and a revolution, were causes and effects of one another even though historical evidence suggested otherwise. The result was a communal memory that tainted the original events, and in many ways For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down reminded me of this event.

Because throughout the novel they are so many sides to Bines that never show us the real man, and instead are all part of this oral, communal memory of the man that is truth and not truth at the same time. And I mean, besides the fact this is definitely a different way of writing a novel, I really liked how DAR indirectly talked about the idea of memory and its fluidity, and how it shapes our own perception of our history as well as perception itself.

As a novel For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down is an interesting experiment revolving around the idea of memory, and is an easy read about the nature of humanity. One of the things I (and our class) had a problem with is the portrayal of feminism within the novel through one of the characters. The character, a mother deluded by what she believes was incestuous sexual abuse both on her person, and later her daughter, is a anti-violent feminist who rallies against her husband and uses Bines's relationship with his abusive and mentally unstable father in continuing to rally against violence. Her beliefs, both about the nature of her own relationship with her father as well as her daughter's with her husband, and Bines's with his, are sadly wrong and taken out of context, and thus allow DAR to make a statement about the institution she's representing. This is something, as a class, we had a problem with because it didn't allow for any positivity, and basically condemned the social aspects this woman was representing as being corrupted by her own delusions and perspectives.

On a personal level, I both enjoyed and didn't enjoy For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down. Its prose, as a result of being an oral piece, was confusing and for about 1/3 of the way not only did I have not idea what was going on, I really didn't care to know. The characters were probably my favorite part of the novel as DAR provides a well balanced and varied cast that even though he doesn't focus on them too much, are still fleshed out enough to feel real. The plot is fairly bare as the majority of the novel mostly deals with memories and switches between the past and present.

All in all, For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down was an interesting novel about the nature of identity and how it can become skewered through the memory of others. While negative in terms of its insights on the ideas of institutions, the novel as a whole is definitely something to be read, not only by Canadians, but for a global audience as well. At its core, after all, the novel is about people and how we shape the world we see around us. 3/5

[Shannon Latour · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book quickly. Maybe I bit too quick - because I feel like I should read it again.

The characters in this story are familiar to me. Familiar due to the area I live in... my Dad in particular comes to mind, as he dropped out of school in Grade 9 to help on the farm. We live in rural Ontario, but I'm sure it's not so different on the east coast. My generation most likely has us all sitting around listening to our Father's or Grandfather's as they rattle off stories about hunting 'k-yotes' or how they loved fishing in the 'crick'. These stories sometimes include getting the strap behind the shed for something their younger sibling did....

This story is for those who sit and judge the down-trodden, the desperate and those who have made questionable choices in the past. Those readers, like myself, need to stop and listen to the harsh realities that some have had to endure. Listen and learn, with compassion. There is a certain respect that comes to those with the resilience to endure. Like an isolated home in a blizzard, we are frozen in history. A history that is not really how we would write it, but shaped by how people see and talk about us behind our backs (they all have their own agenda).

I love how authentic Richards characters were in this story. I was half-tempted to Google the names and see if there was a Gils that committed murder in Sudbury in the 1980s. I also appreciate that Richards writes about folks that may not be as intelligent or successful as others, some being even mean or dangerous, but can still end up being the hero. Those same folks show no hesitation, doing what needs to be done, standing on thin ice to control events and sacrifice their lives, to protect the ones they love the most.

When I first started reading the story, it reminding me of the movie 'Slingblade'. If you didn't like that movie, then, unfortunately, you may not glean anything from this novel.

Personally, I found this to be one of the best stories I have read! It was powerful and suspenseful - I really needed to see how it would end. Like looking at my Dad aging, and the feelings of regret that comes with a life of intergenerational trauma and violence, it made me feel like I was standing on my own grave.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

“For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down” is one of David Adams Richards earlier works when in my estimation, though the critics disagree, he had not yet his full stride as a novelist. But it is still an interesting read.

The protagonist of the novel is Jerry Bines – a misfit character from the small mill town of Miramichi, New Brunswick. The residents of the town are never able to get entirely comfortable with Bines finding him oddly but awkwardly charismatic and also a man to be feared.

Acquitted of murder, Bines returns home to his estranged wife and young son hoping to restart his life. But he is fated for misfortune. His attempt to start over is threatened when Gary Percy Rils escapes from prison and comes looking for Jerry demanding his assistance. Jerry’s attempt to protect his family by taking Rils under his wing sets in motion a series of events that ultimately lead to tragedy.

[Jocelyn Rhindress · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up because I was curious about it being written in New Brunswick. Funny enough, once I got into it, the setting could have been anywhere rural. This town has shown up in two other books, and I think if I’d read those first, I might have had an easier time keeping the characters straight.

I read a fair bit, but this one was a little hard to follow in spots. That said, it definitely stirred real feelings — fear of a dangerous man, sadness for a tough childhood, and empathy for someone who never really fit in.

It left me wondering: is this about a good man who did something bad, or a bad man who sometimes did good things? I have a lot of compassion for Jerry Bines, but enough to know a respectful fear of him as well - as most who encountered him seemed to do.

[Eraserhead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written with stark and southern gothic prose. Definitely indebted to Faulkner without the fanciful prose style. A good book certainly, not necessarily great, but extremely powerful characters. My only downside is that at times the author's hand became obvious in his characterization, which seemed at times hellbent on creating an almost cloying anti-hero in the novel's central character. Still a greatly realized book and well worth the read. I enjoyed it greatly and will read more of Richards' work in the future.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars but rounded up rather than down due to it's significance to the trilogy.

I read the trilogy in order, but with gaps in between each read. I don't think this was the reason why I didn't love it, but it probably contributed.

I didn't care much about Jerry Bines. It was cool seeing how Vera, Ralphie and them turned out, but that was all.

[Nelleke Plouffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been trying to read more Canadian literature. So far, it has been a dark and depressing enterprise, and this book was probably the worst on my shelf so far. I did not enjoy it, but I don’t believe I was meant to. I do think it would benefit from a second reading…for the first half I felt lost, groping to make sense of the story, only beginning to grapple with the ideas.

[Darren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel reminds me of the time I stared at Lucy's chocolate chip cookie for a minute straight before it mysteriously disappeared. Now I sure as hell didn't take it, and no one ever said anything to me, but afterwards, every time I saw Lucy I knew she wanted to beat me up.

[David]

The basic review is with Evening Snow Will Bring Such Peace. Richards has a general formula, of which this is a good example. I still like his work, but the older I get the more easily I see why so many others don't.

[Salty Swift · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story that centers on beating up a social underdog. I’m really glad to be reading David Adams Richards again....

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the fall of 1989 in a small Miramichi mill town and you have to love Jerry Bines despite his flaws and the shortcomings of the society that he lives in.

[Mary Carr · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I was intrigued by the main character but this book, especially the ending, left me flat and wanting something more.

[Marion Malsbury · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled with this one. I found it a tad scattered and hard to follow the characters.

[Miss Meg Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a different type of writing for me, I struggled a bit with the language as it doesn’t flow super well but over all, a dark story. You can feel the back woods personality of the characters.

[Jeffrey Greening · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this author

[Diana Stevan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye opener. He writes with such compassion, taking you inside the world of those who for whatever reason are down on their luck. The characters are those who society often overlooks. Their pain and confusion over how to make it life is written with such understanding, I wonder if David Adams Richards has ever worked in the helping professions.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was thinking about this book this morning for some reason. I quite enjoyed it, with its clear climb to what could be its only conclusion. I may re-read this as it was a convenient length full of well developed characters and a lot of personality.

[Stephen Ring · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the seven novels read for my Maritime fiction course. David Adams Richards is a powerful New Brunswick author, and this is the third in his first Miramachi trilogy. For earlier background on many of the characters, Nights Below Station Street should be read. Each work is self-contained.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK book, trilogy was not best of his...

[Ibis3]

NCL.2006-10-01

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Both really good, and really not good. Full review to explain eventually.

2.5/5

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it hard to follow who was who, but, once again, Richards has nailed the characters and the voice of the area.

[Kelsey]

Interesting novel.

[Gayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing insight. Third in Mirimachi trilogy.

[Lindasp · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was a bit disjointed but focused on characters living in the Miramachi area who live sad lives with few expectations or hopes for a future.