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Ordinary Bear
Dark and humorous, literary but with the heart of a detective novel, Ordinary Bear weighs the burden of grief while exploring our boundless capacity for humanity, kindness, and hope. Winner of the Barry Award for Best First Mystery Novel and a Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine Best Debut Mystery/Crime Novel.
Farley stands out among his Iñupiat neighbors in the Alaska village he calls home, both white and enormous, like the hungry polar bears that wander its streets. Jovial and a little hapless, he works as an investigator for a North Slope oil company, passing the long Arctic winters drinking whiskey with the village’s preacher and playing in the weekly poker game hosted by its matriarch and mayor.
When his young daughter visits from thousands of miles away in Portland—where she lives with her mother, who despises him—a shocking moment of violence leaves her dead and Farley injured. Crippled by his wounds and hamstrung with guilt over his inability to save her, he goes home to Oregon to try to make amends.
There he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a single mother and her daughter. With their help, he begins the slow process of healing—until the girl goes missing. Faced with the opportunity to do what he couldn’t do for his own daughter, Farley sets out on a brutal odyssey through Portland’s quirky and dangerous underworld, using his wits and his fists to try to save her life along with the shattered remains of his own.
Farley stands out among his Iñupiat neighbors in the Alaska village he calls home, both white and enormous, like the hungry polar bears that wander its streets. Jovial and a little hapless, he works as an investigator for a North Slope oil company, passing the long Arctic winters drinking whiskey with the village’s preacher and playing in the weekly poker game hosted by its matriarch and mayor.
When his young daughter visits from thousands of miles away in Portland—where she lives with her mother, who despises him—a shocking moment of violence leaves her dead and Farley injured. Crippled by his wounds and hamstrung with guilt over his inability to save her, he goes home to Oregon to try to make amends.
There he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a single mother and her daughter. With their help, he begins the slow process of healing—until the girl goes missing. Faced with the opportunity to do what he couldn’t do for his own daughter, Farley sets out on a brutal odyssey through Portland’s quirky and dangerous underworld, using his wits and his fists to try to save her life along with the shattered remains of his own.
268 pages, Hardcover
Published April 16, 2024
24 people are currently reading
2906 people want to read
About the author
C.B. Bernard
4 books53 followersC.B. Bernard is the author of Ordinary Bear (Blackstone 2024), which won the Barry Award for Best First Mystery or Crime Novel; Small Animals Caught in Traps (Blackstone, April 2023); and Chasing Alaska: A Portrait of the Last Frontier Then and Now, a finalist for the Oregon Book Award, a Publishers Weekly Top 10 Travel Pick, and a National Geographic top travel choice. He lives on the Rhode Island coast.
Learn more at http://cbbernard.com
Learn more at http://cbbernard.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
April 5, 2024
Being both white and very large, Farley stands out among his Iñupiat neighbors in the Alaska village he calls home, like the hungry polar bears that wander its streets. Good-natured and a little hapless, he works as an investigator for a North Slope oil company.
I became interested in this book after I read a review by a Goodreads friend so I requested it from Netgalley a while back and just got approval a few days ago. Thanks to Kate O'Shea for posting her review.
The first few chapters had me chuckling and even laughing out loud but then, shockingly, everything changed and the story became very sad and yet heartwarming. The setting moved to Portland Oregon where we're introduced to a whole new cast of characters, besides Farley himself. The story was still good but I had hoped to spend more time in Alaska with the characters we met in the first few chapters. For a big man, poor Farley takes a lot of physical abuse. This is an unusual book, well written with intriguing characters and nice short chapters. I highlighted many aspects of Portland which are described and will be doing some research.
My thanks to Blackstone Publishing via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Published: April 2, 2024
I became interested in this book after I read a review by a Goodreads friend so I requested it from Netgalley a while back and just got approval a few days ago. Thanks to Kate O'Shea for posting her review.
The first few chapters had me chuckling and even laughing out loud but then, shockingly, everything changed and the story became very sad and yet heartwarming. The setting moved to Portland Oregon where we're introduced to a whole new cast of characters, besides Farley himself. The story was still good but I had hoped to spend more time in Alaska with the characters we met in the first few chapters. For a big man, poor Farley takes a lot of physical abuse. This is an unusual book, well written with intriguing characters and nice short chapters. I highlighted many aspects of Portland which are described and will be doing some research.
My thanks to Blackstone Publishing via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Published: April 2, 2024
June 15, 2025
‘Ordinary Bear’ is a gritty story about Farley, an investigator for an Alasan oil company. After a tragedy, Farley leaves Alaska and travels to Portland. He is so grief-stricken that, for a time, he lives in a homeless community. A single mother, Lissa, and her young daughter, Olive, come into Farley’s life through an incident with another homeless man. Olive doesn’t want Farley to be lonely, so she gives him her stuffed polar bear. Olive says, “Well, Farley is big. And he looks mean and scary. But he’s not. He’s an ordinary bear.”
Bernard uses bears to symbolize powerful, disruptive forces. Those forces can be channeled into positive endeavors by societal expectations, human connection, and love. Or they can tear down and destroy, leaving a path of carnage. Both kinds of bears figure into this story. Some are animals and some are human. Farley has to figure out what kind of bear he is and how to be comfortable in his bear skin.
The setting in Portland is dreary. The despair of the homeless and the weather reflect Farley’s emotional state. The camps made me feel a sense of hopelessness. The rain accentuates the heaviness of Farley’s grief. Some of the homeless are dealing with mental illness, others with bad luck, and still others with bad choices.
Bernard depicts Farley as a physically big, imposing man. He stands out in a crowd. If I were casting his part in a film, I’d cast someone like Hafpór Júlíus Björnsson, who played Gregor Clegane, also known as ‘The Mountain,’ in the popular TV series ‘Game of Thrones.” Imposing and threatening, yet the tragedy that happened in Alaska also left Farley physically impaired. Others see Farley’s physical debilitation and consider his weaknesses.
When Olive goes missing, Farley is determined not to fail at returning her to her mother. His stubborn resolve is worthy of a bear-man. If he can save Olive, maybe he can dissipate some of his guilt, achieve some measure of atonement for what happened in Alaska.
This story is challenging because of the heavy and turbulent emotions accompanying tragic events. Bernard softens the narrative with Farley’s deprecating sense of humor and witty lines. Chapters are short and have whimsical titles, like ‘A Long Shelf Life Is Highly Prized,’ and ‘John Spent the Money On Strippers.’ Fast paced and well-written, Bernard’s novel takes the form of a quest, one that Farley has set for himself, and one that, despite its heavy nature, I enjoyed reading. I was rooting for Farley all the way.
Bernard uses bears to symbolize powerful, disruptive forces. Those forces can be channeled into positive endeavors by societal expectations, human connection, and love. Or they can tear down and destroy, leaving a path of carnage. Both kinds of bears figure into this story. Some are animals and some are human. Farley has to figure out what kind of bear he is and how to be comfortable in his bear skin.
The setting in Portland is dreary. The despair of the homeless and the weather reflect Farley’s emotional state. The camps made me feel a sense of hopelessness. The rain accentuates the heaviness of Farley’s grief. Some of the homeless are dealing with mental illness, others with bad luck, and still others with bad choices.
Bernard depicts Farley as a physically big, imposing man. He stands out in a crowd. If I were casting his part in a film, I’d cast someone like Hafpór Júlíus Björnsson, who played Gregor Clegane, also known as ‘The Mountain,’ in the popular TV series ‘Game of Thrones.” Imposing and threatening, yet the tragedy that happened in Alaska also left Farley physically impaired. Others see Farley’s physical debilitation and consider his weaknesses.
When Olive goes missing, Farley is determined not to fail at returning her to her mother. His stubborn resolve is worthy of a bear-man. If he can save Olive, maybe he can dissipate some of his guilt, achieve some measure of atonement for what happened in Alaska.
This story is challenging because of the heavy and turbulent emotions accompanying tragic events. Bernard softens the narrative with Farley’s deprecating sense of humor and witty lines. Chapters are short and have whimsical titles, like ‘A Long Shelf Life Is Highly Prized,’ and ‘John Spent the Money On Strippers.’ Fast paced and well-written, Bernard’s novel takes the form of a quest, one that Farley has set for himself, and one that, despite its heavy nature, I enjoyed reading. I was rooting for Farley all the way.
February 26, 2024
Why do some books speak to you more loudly than others? I've never worked it out but Ordinary Bear is one of those books that I fell in love with despite the subject matter of loss and tragedy.
The story follows Farley who returns to Portland after the death of his daughter, April. He ends up the streets with the growing homeless population as a kind of penance for the wrongs he thinks he's committed. One day he saves a little girl and then befriends her and her mother. But the story is only just beginning as more tragedy is in store. The question is, can Farley find redemption?
The character of Farley is not one you'll forget soon and the beginning of this book made me gasp with shock. It is certainly one if the most shocking starts to a novel that I've ever read. It sets you up for what is a look into the way guilt works and how, even though there is sometimes nothing you have to repent for, that people need forgiveness.
There were a lot of tears reading this but it was funny too. Farley is an extremely likeable character and the descriptions of the Arctic, Portland and the homeless camps are crystal clear.
Not an easy read because of the subject matter but an excellent novel. CB Bernard is a new author to me but I want very much to read his first two books after this.
Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the advance review copy.
The story follows Farley who returns to Portland after the death of his daughter, April. He ends up the streets with the growing homeless population as a kind of penance for the wrongs he thinks he's committed. One day he saves a little girl and then befriends her and her mother. But the story is only just beginning as more tragedy is in store. The question is, can Farley find redemption?
The character of Farley is not one you'll forget soon and the beginning of this book made me gasp with shock. It is certainly one if the most shocking starts to a novel that I've ever read. It sets you up for what is a look into the way guilt works and how, even though there is sometimes nothing you have to repent for, that people need forgiveness.
There were a lot of tears reading this but it was funny too. Farley is an extremely likeable character and the descriptions of the Arctic, Portland and the homeless camps are crystal clear.
Not an easy read because of the subject matter but an excellent novel. CB Bernard is a new author to me but I want very much to read his first two books after this.
Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the advance review copy.
April 20, 2024
This was a moving read about a grief-stricken man who is also the survivor of a bear attack. Scarred both inside and out, he chooses to live among the homeless in Portland until an interaction with a woman and her young daughter forces him to rejoin society.
This is a story about second chances, found family, and the different meanings of home. It was tender, sad, and poignant and will stick with me for a long time.
This is a story about second chances, found family, and the different meanings of home. It was tender, sad, and poignant and will stick with me for a long time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 6, 2024
4.5 Stars
As the story opens, we’re introduced to Farley, a big bear of a man, living in a remote part of Alaska as an oil company investigator. The town has a lively mix of characters, and the story is full of humor. However, things turn tragic quickly when his young daughter comes up for a visit.
After months of recovery, Farley ventures back to Portland, Oregon to seek out his ex for closure. Without meaning to he ends up making a few friends as he works through his grief and injuries. When the daughter of his neighbor goes missing, Farley makes it his mission to get her back.
An Ordinary Bearwas a unique and captivating story! One that was hard to stop listening to! Sad, humorous and full of heart! A tale of redemption with interesting characters, bits of suspense and action as Farley tracks the down the little girl. You’d think with the subject matter it’d be a depressing story, but there was plenty of humor and sweetness to the story that made for an uplifting read.
I listened to an audio copy narrated by Phil Thron and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance of both male and female voices! Definitely enhanced and already wonderful story! I listened at my usual 1.5x normal speed.
A copy was kindly provided by Blackstone Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
As the story opens, we’re introduced to Farley, a big bear of a man, living in a remote part of Alaska as an oil company investigator. The town has a lively mix of characters, and the story is full of humor. However, things turn tragic quickly when his young daughter comes up for a visit.
After months of recovery, Farley ventures back to Portland, Oregon to seek out his ex for closure. Without meaning to he ends up making a few friends as he works through his grief and injuries. When the daughter of his neighbor goes missing, Farley makes it his mission to get her back.
An Ordinary Bearwas a unique and captivating story! One that was hard to stop listening to! Sad, humorous and full of heart! A tale of redemption with interesting characters, bits of suspense and action as Farley tracks the down the little girl. You’d think with the subject matter it’d be a depressing story, but there was plenty of humor and sweetness to the story that made for an uplifting read.
I listened to an audio copy narrated by Phil Thron and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance of both male and female voices! Definitely enhanced and already wonderful story! I listened at my usual 1.5x normal speed.
A copy was kindly provided by Blackstone Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
April 7, 2024
I was transfixed!
This tale crept up on me and wouldn’t let go. From Nanuqmiut Village in Alaska where a lonely giant of a man, Farley, lost all he cared about to a bear; to the darkside of Portland, Oregon, where the “under housed” are organizing and occupying space outside apartments. The apartment tenants have to run a gauntlet of harassment and more entering and leaving the building.
One tenant, Lissa nearly looses her daughter Olive after being menaced by a homeless man. Lissa is startled by his dog tied to the bus shelter. It’s raining and a domino effect ensues. Lissa bumps into Olive who falls into the watery gutter just as a truck’s coming. Olive is rescued by Farley. It’s the beginning of a new mission for Farley, not that he knows it at the time.
Olive goes missing, the police ignore Lissa’s pleas, and Farley takes up her cause.
The plot is relentless, empathetic and fascinating.
An unusual story that has attitude and compassion, along with some shocking moments.
A Blackstone ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)
This tale crept up on me and wouldn’t let go. From Nanuqmiut Village in Alaska where a lonely giant of a man, Farley, lost all he cared about to a bear; to the darkside of Portland, Oregon, where the “under housed” are organizing and occupying space outside apartments. The apartment tenants have to run a gauntlet of harassment and more entering and leaving the building.
One tenant, Lissa nearly looses her daughter Olive after being menaced by a homeless man. Lissa is startled by his dog tied to the bus shelter. It’s raining and a domino effect ensues. Lissa bumps into Olive who falls into the watery gutter just as a truck’s coming. Olive is rescued by Farley. It’s the beginning of a new mission for Farley, not that he knows it at the time.
Olive goes missing, the police ignore Lissa’s pleas, and Farley takes up her cause.
The plot is relentless, empathetic and fascinating.
An unusual story that has attitude and compassion, along with some shocking moments.
A Blackstone ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)
April 21, 2024
Part character study, part adventure, part mystery, part myth . . . an unforgettable story of man trying to atone for his self-perceived sins.
Ordinary Bear is one of those books that I really just don't want to review or write about. I loved it so much that I don't want to dilute my feelings and reactions. So the following thoughts may be a little disjointed.
Farley works as an investigator for an Arctic oil company and is one of the few white people in the Inupiat village. After a life-altering tragedy, he returns to his native Portland, Oregon to try to make amends for his failures. There he ends up helping a single mother after her young daughter disappears. Farley thinks he knows how to find the girl and thus starts out on a Odyssey-like journey that will take him through the darker parts of Portland.
The story grows and builds until it's almost impossible to stop reading. So well written. As he hunts for the girl, Farley meets various characters, learns more about the city, gets beaten up, gets help, gets waylaid, makes mistakes, has luck. It's tragic, it's happy, it's about a man, it's about Portland. I loved this book.
The ending! I need to think about it, and I need to talk about it. This book has a guaranteed spot on my top-ten reads of the year list.
I didn't realize until I finished the book that it's written by the same person who wrote Small Animals Caught in Traps, which I also loved. I can't wait to see what Bernard will write next.
Audiobook: I can't say enough good things about Phil Thorn's performance. He was fantastic, creating an immersive listening experience. Great tempo, perfect emotional impact.
Thanks to the publisher for review copies in various formats.
Ordinary Bear is one of those books that I really just don't want to review or write about. I loved it so much that I don't want to dilute my feelings and reactions. So the following thoughts may be a little disjointed.
Farley works as an investigator for an Arctic oil company and is one of the few white people in the Inupiat village. After a life-altering tragedy, he returns to his native Portland, Oregon to try to make amends for his failures. There he ends up helping a single mother after her young daughter disappears. Farley thinks he knows how to find the girl and thus starts out on a Odyssey-like journey that will take him through the darker parts of Portland.
The story grows and builds until it's almost impossible to stop reading. So well written. As he hunts for the girl, Farley meets various characters, learns more about the city, gets beaten up, gets help, gets waylaid, makes mistakes, has luck. It's tragic, it's happy, it's about a man, it's about Portland. I loved this book.
The ending! I need to think about it, and I need to talk about it. This book has a guaranteed spot on my top-ten reads of the year list.
I didn't realize until I finished the book that it's written by the same person who wrote Small Animals Caught in Traps, which I also loved. I can't wait to see what Bernard will write next.
Audiobook: I can't say enough good things about Phil Thorn's performance. He was fantastic, creating an immersive listening experience. Great tempo, perfect emotional impact.
Thanks to the publisher for review copies in various formats.
December 29, 2023
If any of Richard Russo’s characters had cracked ribs and chipped teeth, they’d be C.B. Bernard’s characters.
Bernard possesses a remarkable flair for writing characters with whom we’d travel to hell and back, which is great because that’s exactly where he sends them.
Also great is the sharp and precise prose that makes up every paragraph of this book. It’s written with a blend of wit, vulnerability, and danger that makes the experience of reading it as exhilarating as it is profound.
“Ordinary Bear" is a masterful tapestry of resilience and atonement, skillfully intertwining its characters' lives. It plunges the reader into the tumultuous sea of grief, its destructive force as surprising in its course as it is poignant in its impact. This book is as immediate, painful and tender as a fresh wound. It hurt to put it down.
Bernard possesses a remarkable flair for writing characters with whom we’d travel to hell and back, which is great because that’s exactly where he sends them.
Also great is the sharp and precise prose that makes up every paragraph of this book. It’s written with a blend of wit, vulnerability, and danger that makes the experience of reading it as exhilarating as it is profound.
“Ordinary Bear" is a masterful tapestry of resilience and atonement, skillfully intertwining its characters' lives. It plunges the reader into the tumultuous sea of grief, its destructive force as surprising in its course as it is poignant in its impact. This book is as immediate, painful and tender as a fresh wound. It hurt to put it down.
January 14, 2025
OMG, I loved this novel! Farley - a bear of a man - survives and suffers from a terrible tragedy in the cold of northern Alaska. Moving to Portland, he meets a single mom who needs his help to prevent another tragedy. Though there is sorrow here, there is also hope, humor, and redemption. I couldn't stop listening/reading. I had to know what would happen next. Heart pounding, heartbreaking and heartwarming - I can't recommend this enough. Highly recommend the audio!
January 18, 2024
One of the best books I've read in a while. It has all the action and personal interactions needed to keep you from putting the book down. The storyline is great, novel, and curious enough to make it interesting but still relatable. I understand it won't be out for a month or two but it might well make the bestsellers list. Love it and Farley may he live long.
Read
April 6, 2024Wonderfully written. Such a fantastic main character. Gritty and fast paced but with heart.
November 9, 2025
Such a good story, cinematic in the telling. And C.B. Bernard’s writing is so rich with memorable sentences and turns of phrase. Reading this was a lot like eating an ice cream at Benson’s in Boxford, Mass. The whole time I was resisting the urge to devour it, trying to make it last. My only gripe is that the book is only 265 pages. Also, that he’s only written two novels. Highly recommend to read for yourself - and as a gift for your friends!
July 17, 2024
So good. Great read to (hopefully) develop empathy.
October 23, 2024
This is a dark novel peppered with comic relief. Farley suffers a brutal bear attack while living in a remote Alaskan village. He survives but two others are killed. He returns to his hometown of Portland to recuperate and while adjusting to the immense changes there (homeless camps set up everywhere, skyrocketing housing prices, hipster bars and cafes) he meets single mom Lissa and her daughter Olive. When Olive goes missing Farley hits the streets of Portlands underbelly to try and find her, and hopefully redeem himself, to himself, in the process. This book breaks your heart and warms your heart in alternating turns. I was rooting for Farley from page 1.
December 1, 2024
Devastatingly Beautiful
Ordinary Bear was painful to read. I put the book down in chapter three because I knew what was coming, and I didn’t want to experience it. But I couldn’t stay away because I loved the characters, especially Farley. Truly loved them, as real people, not like how I love ice cream.
It didn’t get any easier to read. But redemption comes in many ways. And when it comes with lyrical writing and sweetness and humor, it’s worth the pain. I’ll read anything C. B. Bernard writes.
Ordinary Bear was painful to read. I put the book down in chapter three because I knew what was coming, and I didn’t want to experience it. But I couldn’t stay away because I loved the characters, especially Farley. Truly loved them, as real people, not like how I love ice cream.
It didn’t get any easier to read. But redemption comes in many ways. And when it comes with lyrical writing and sweetness and humor, it’s worth the pain. I’ll read anything C. B. Bernard writes.
April 7, 2024
Set half in Alaska and half in Portland, Oregon, Ordinary Bear weaves in and out of darkness, ultimately landing in the light. Employing simultaneously painful and beautiful representations of the human condition, Bernard’s vivid descriptions paint rich and layered imagery as a backdrop to this compelling story which resonates with one’s own struggles and joys on a deeply personal level.
April 9, 2024
This book gripped me from start to finish! I had no idea what it was about when I started reading which I'm happy about. The book had so many twists and turns. I didn't see them coming and was on the edge of my seat the entire time. This author wrote a truly amazing book! It makes you feel all the feelings!
May 7, 2024
I won this book as a Goodreads Giveaway and this is one of those books that pleasantly surprises you. It’s sad, heartbreaking and endearing all at the same time. A fantastic book that I didn’t want to put down.
January 1, 2025
This story was startling, shocking and tender. In some ways it reminds me of Ove, with the darkness amid the light. Only enhanced by Phil Thron's narration, I can't recall how it got on my radar, but I'm so glad it did.
May 13, 2025
What a fun read! Some very sad story content of course- but having lived in the Portland area for over 45 years it was enjoyable to actually be able to picture all the areas that were mentioned. Looking forward to checking out his other novel.
July 24, 2024
Well written and very original. Will try and get hold of his other books.
Read
March 10, 2025I know I am not in the majority for this book but I found it slow and really found it hard to stay interested. Didn’t finish book
May 7, 2025
Almost a 5*.
Really interesting book. Farley, the protagonist,moves pack to Portland, OR after a devastating loss and severe physical injuries while in a remote Alaskan Native village where he works as an investigator for Oil companies and the nearby oil fields.
Although the protagonist is deeply traumatized, there is some humor in the descriptions of Portland and the encampments of unhoused people and the city’s lack of response, plus roller derby and drag queens.
Really interesting book. Farley, the protagonist,moves pack to Portland, OR after a devastating loss and severe physical injuries while in a remote Alaskan Native village where he works as an investigator for Oil companies and the nearby oil fields.
Although the protagonist is deeply traumatized, there is some humor in the descriptions of Portland and the encampments of unhoused people and the city’s lack of response, plus roller derby and drag queens.
May 11, 2025
The writing was superb. The story was interesting to follow. Not a book that leaves you feeling good.Loved that it showed a different light on the house-less crisis in Portland, to an extent.
June 29, 2025
3.5 stars
The writing was fantastic, but I had issues with some of the plot points. I don't personally know what policing is like in Portland, but my god, I cannot imagine cops not caring when a child is missing. It's a heartbreaking story and one I won't forget anytime soon.
The writing was fantastic, but I had issues with some of the plot points. I don't personally know what policing is like in Portland, but my god, I cannot imagine cops not caring when a child is missing. It's a heartbreaking story and one I won't forget anytime soon.
April 4, 2024
Excellent second novel from writer C.B. Bernard. Deals with grief, tragedy and loss, sadness, survival, and finding ones way through life. Top-notch writing with nice echoes of other authors, such as William Kotzwinkle, Annie Proulx, John Irving. A writer to watch, and wait for more good novels.
August 7, 2025
An interesting book that felt like an Alaska/Oregon modern day version of Homer’s Odyssey complete with Sirens but in the form of roller derby women! Filled with angst, love, grief joy and redemption, this is a story about a bear of a man who loses his daughter in Alaska and then helps a woman in Oregon save her daughter.
June 9, 2024
This novel is unintentionally an anti-tourist campaign for Portland, highlighting the huge homeless problem there in glaring, gritting light. Blessedly, it also highlights the capacity for humans to step in and take care of each other when the need arises. I wanted a bit of a different ending, but I love the found family aspect of this book and the “ordinary bear” of a main character, Farley. This is a good one.
June 7, 2024
I was driving somewhere about three years ago (it was Target, who am I kidding, it’s always Target) when traffic came to a sudden stop. Something was blocking the road about fifty feet ahead of me, causing cars to make a wide arc into oncoming traffic, which had also stopped. When it was my time to go, I saw the obstacle was a goose, probably one that wandered over from the marshy field along the road that floods into a pond whenever it rains. Despite their reputations, geese hold a special place in my heart which is not part of the story here but does explain why the next few moments are forever seared into my memory. I slowed my car and made the same arc around the goose who was oblivious to the situation it was creating and was busily preening something from its wing. As I pulled my car back into the correct lane, I noticed the car behind me had not made the arc as I and the other drivers had. Instead, the two-ton vehicle drove forward and, as I watched in horror in my rear-view mirror, pinned the goose’s wing beneath its front tire. I looked away at that point, but not before catching a glimpse of the horror of the bird’s face as it flung its other wing out in a split-second attempt to escape before it was crushed. I don’t believe the driver even noticed, which is probably what stays with me after all this time. It was just another ordinary day for whoever was behind the wheel. Perhaps later there was a bit of feather pulled from the bumper, but otherwise, uneventful.
Ordinary Bear by C.B Bernard reminds me of this day and the reason why that dead goose will forever rot in the back of my mind—life is just so randomly cruel sometimes. Other times it’s boringly evil, or “banal” as Hannah Arendt, who wrote about the surprisingly normal people who murdered millions of Jews, gypsies, and homosexuals during WW2, might say. “Mindlessly violent,” though, is the phrase I think most accurately describes what happens in Bernard’s story. Throughout the novel I thought of the (thankfully few) times in my life when I felt utterly destroyed, but without anything to blame. No focus at which I might steer my rage. In the novel, Farley barely survives such a mindlessly violent event that strips him of everything he loves in life. But the worst part is that he did nothing wrong. In fact, no one involved did anything wrong, but his daughter is still dead, and he is still barely alive. (NOT a spoiler, this is on the back of the book. I would NEVER :) And as we all know, when rage has no outlet, it turns inward. The fires of blame and guilt nearly incinerate Farley as he limps through his life that he no longer wants. Bernard is not a fearful writer, and this portrait of Farley struggling to heal is painful to experience as a reader and unflinching in its attention to the assault a mind and body withstands under such devastating loss.
Read Ordinary Bear to experience, safely, one of life’s most ordinary and greatest nightmares—the death of a child. Read Ordinary Bear and know that it will probably stir up strong feelings in your own soul as you follow Farley on his journey to regain his. And read it knowing that depending on your own story, you might experience this book very differently from me, which is sort of the magical thing about stories, isn’t it?
Ordinary Bear by C.B Bernard reminds me of this day and the reason why that dead goose will forever rot in the back of my mind—life is just so randomly cruel sometimes. Other times it’s boringly evil, or “banal” as Hannah Arendt, who wrote about the surprisingly normal people who murdered millions of Jews, gypsies, and homosexuals during WW2, might say. “Mindlessly violent,” though, is the phrase I think most accurately describes what happens in Bernard’s story. Throughout the novel I thought of the (thankfully few) times in my life when I felt utterly destroyed, but without anything to blame. No focus at which I might steer my rage. In the novel, Farley barely survives such a mindlessly violent event that strips him of everything he loves in life. But the worst part is that he did nothing wrong. In fact, no one involved did anything wrong, but his daughter is still dead, and he is still barely alive. (NOT a spoiler, this is on the back of the book. I would NEVER :) And as we all know, when rage has no outlet, it turns inward. The fires of blame and guilt nearly incinerate Farley as he limps through his life that he no longer wants. Bernard is not a fearful writer, and this portrait of Farley struggling to heal is painful to experience as a reader and unflinching in its attention to the assault a mind and body withstands under such devastating loss.
Read Ordinary Bear to experience, safely, one of life’s most ordinary and greatest nightmares—the death of a child. Read Ordinary Bear and know that it will probably stir up strong feelings in your own soul as you follow Farley on his journey to regain his. And read it knowing that depending on your own story, you might experience this book very differently from me, which is sort of the magical thing about stories, isn’t it?
May 23, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for gifting me this arc, apologies for the delay!
This is a tale of a healing father after a tragic journey who goes on a mission to retrieve a kidnapped girl. If this were an action movie one could imagine Liam Neeson barging his way through gunfire and explosions behind him before he inevitably saves the day. But this wasn’t quite that, thankfully, this was a little more than your average revenge/healing father story.
Spoilers ahead 🫡
Farley is a complex yet incredibly kind character whose life was fogged over like opaque glass. Everything just “was” without much change to his day to day. That is until his daughter Abril is killed in a tragic accident. He himself is almost killed and the survivors guilt leads Farley onto a path of self sabotage until one day, all seems to be brightening up.
That is until the threat of another unneeded death plumes the air.
Whilst I loved the writing style and the majority of its characters, Ordinary Bear suffers from a strong start, a weak middle, and an ok end. It was a wave of action, which was definitely needed, but with the action came moments of still that made the pacing feel off at times.
I loved however, the descriptions of the surroundings. You could feel the cold, heat, the smell and so on. Just everything else felt a bit jumbled at times for me.
Overall a good book, but not entirely for me.
This is a tale of a healing father after a tragic journey who goes on a mission to retrieve a kidnapped girl. If this were an action movie one could imagine Liam Neeson barging his way through gunfire and explosions behind him before he inevitably saves the day. But this wasn’t quite that, thankfully, this was a little more than your average revenge/healing father story.
Spoilers ahead 🫡
Farley is a complex yet incredibly kind character whose life was fogged over like opaque glass. Everything just “was” without much change to his day to day. That is until his daughter Abril is killed in a tragic accident. He himself is almost killed and the survivors guilt leads Farley onto a path of self sabotage until one day, all seems to be brightening up.
That is until the threat of another unneeded death plumes the air.
Whilst I loved the writing style and the majority of its characters, Ordinary Bear suffers from a strong start, a weak middle, and an ok end. It was a wave of action, which was definitely needed, but with the action came moments of still that made the pacing feel off at times.
I loved however, the descriptions of the surroundings. You could feel the cold, heat, the smell and so on. Just everything else felt a bit jumbled at times for me.
Overall a good book, but not entirely for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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