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Wild Geese
Wild Geese caused a sensation when it was first published in 1925. To a generation bred on sentimental escapist literature, the idea of a heroine as wild as a bronco and as fiery as a tigress was nothing short of revolutionary. In the character of Judith Gare, Martha Ostenso had painted so naked and uncompromising a portrait of human passion and need that it crossed all bounds of propriety and convention.
Today, Wild Geese is widely recognized as a milestone in the development of modern realist fiction. Set on the windswept prairies, it is a story of love and tyranny, of destruction and survival, told with vigour and lyric beauty. It is also a poignant evocation of loneliness, which, like the call of the wild geese, is beyond human warmth, beyond tragedy, “an endless quest.”
From the Paperback edition.
Today, Wild Geese is widely recognized as a milestone in the development of modern realist fiction. Set on the windswept prairies, it is a story of love and tyranny, of destruction and survival, told with vigour and lyric beauty. It is also a poignant evocation of loneliness, which, like the call of the wild geese, is beyond human warmth, beyond tragedy, “an endless quest.”
From the Paperback edition.
338 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1925
27 people are currently reading
673 people want to read
About the author
Martha Ostenso
33 books5 followersMartha Ostenso was a Canadian novelist and screenwriter. She is probably best known for the award-winning novel Wild Geese.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
April 4, 2018
I would like to say that this has the resonance of a Greek tragedy. All the elements are present: a dead, romantic young regent; a controlling, cruel dictator; a captive spouse who is manipulated because of her past transgressions; a beautiful, strong-willed daughter who thinks of duty before happiness; a weak-hearted sister who is secretly jealous of the strong-willed elder daughter; a hapless prince-apparent who only wants to be happy and bestow happiness; an unruly younger child -- and an illegitmate son who is in danger of killing the cruel stepfather, unwittingly. If I put it that way to you, it's impossible that such a book should fail. But, while all these elements are true, this novel falls far short of a Greek tragedy and becomes something of a plain prairie tale, with neither morality or true redemption.
There are beautiful, captivating moments within this all-too common story of immigrant life on the Manitoba prairie but they are far too infrequent to leave you with a sense of satisfaction from something well-told. I puzzled through this book, wondering just what was not sitting right with me, and I think I may have found it in the author's biography.
While Martha Ostenso won a prize for this (a princely $13,500 in 1925!) it appears that she may have been more than a little bit disingenuous about its authenticity, for she had it "edited" by her mentor (later lover, and finally husband), Douglas Durkin, English professor at University of Manitoba and a professional writer in his own right. Ostenso admitted later in life that Wild Geese was "heavily edited" by Durkin. (Hmmm ...) Durkin and Ostenso went on to become courted in Hollywood, in fact, in the 1930s and '40s, and received "acclaim" for their screenwriting.
The other disingenous part about her story is that she is only marginally Canadian. (Maybe her elbow; maybe her left foot.) She is most often described as a Norwegian American writer -- who won a prize as a Canadian author because she spent a year teaching in Manitoba at a schoolhouse much like the one described in this book, and a year attending University of Manitoba. Most of her life was spent in Minnesota, New York, and California. [Her parents emigrated to Manitoba from Norway, like a glancing blow, but quickly re-settled in Minnesota and later North Dakota. I suppose therein lies the "authentic" Canadian Connection.]
All those biographical notations notwithstanding, she did seem to know the Canadian prairie (which is undoubtedly much like Minnesota, in any case, à la Laura Ingalls.) and writes convincingly of the prairie settlers' experience. With characters larger than life, combined with the immigrants' song, she paints a compelling Canadian landscape of hard scrabble life, deprivation and isolation. Her characters are driven by hard-work, determination and single-minded purpose; and her characters reflect what that single-minded purpose often engenders: mental and spiritual starvation.
There is cruelty here, to an incomprehensible degree, in the patriarch of the family; his wish to succeed economically above everything else in life is his motivating force. There is submission here, to an equally incomprehensible degree, in the matriarch -- which at best is a misnomer of position, as she abdicates everything to her husband's will. She fails to protect her children. More than failure to protect, it seems more like a refusal to protect. All the children are subjugated into obedience, at the worst cost; and yet, there is no need. Even when presented with choices for freedom, they remain. I rebelled most strongly at the mother's weakness for at best she was a will-o'-the-wisp, languid, spiritless sort: more vapour than solid, even before she met and married her husband. His controlling character only reinforced an already-weak character -- but then, that is undoubtedly how such men win: they marry those who will be controlled easily, who will accept the yoke willingly.
It is an ugly tale of breathless survival. Fresh air enters only when the winds blow in "from the south" -- a fresh young schoolmarm from away; a handsome young prince from "the towns". Redemption, which I hinted is missing, does come in a backward way, but it only comes through inertia and accident. The hapless immigrant's family prevails through no action of its own. Again hmmm... Is that really the quintessential Canadian pioneers' experience?
It is a mishmash tale, probably representative of the mishmash birth of this novel: a fresh young voice, painted over by an experienced hand, who hearkens back to the 19th century rather than look forward to the 20th. Therein lies the dilemma in the end: the novel was composed by two opposing voices and so the tension within the novel is always telling two disparate stories. It is indeed like someone who is building a Greek tragedy of epic scope, but who ultimately paints it a bit flat, like the landscape upon which it's built.
There are beautiful, captivating moments within this all-too common story of immigrant life on the Manitoba prairie but they are far too infrequent to leave you with a sense of satisfaction from something well-told. I puzzled through this book, wondering just what was not sitting right with me, and I think I may have found it in the author's biography.
While Martha Ostenso won a prize for this (a princely $13,500 in 1925!) it appears that she may have been more than a little bit disingenuous about its authenticity, for she had it "edited" by her mentor (later lover, and finally husband), Douglas Durkin, English professor at University of Manitoba and a professional writer in his own right. Ostenso admitted later in life that Wild Geese was "heavily edited" by Durkin. (Hmmm ...) Durkin and Ostenso went on to become courted in Hollywood, in fact, in the 1930s and '40s, and received "acclaim" for their screenwriting.
The other disingenous part about her story is that she is only marginally Canadian. (Maybe her elbow; maybe her left foot.) She is most often described as a Norwegian American writer -- who won a prize as a Canadian author because she spent a year teaching in Manitoba at a schoolhouse much like the one described in this book, and a year attending University of Manitoba. Most of her life was spent in Minnesota, New York, and California. [Her parents emigrated to Manitoba from Norway, like a glancing blow, but quickly re-settled in Minnesota and later North Dakota. I suppose therein lies the "authentic" Canadian Connection.]
All those biographical notations notwithstanding, she did seem to know the Canadian prairie (which is undoubtedly much like Minnesota, in any case, à la Laura Ingalls.) and writes convincingly of the prairie settlers' experience. With characters larger than life, combined with the immigrants' song, she paints a compelling Canadian landscape of hard scrabble life, deprivation and isolation. Her characters are driven by hard-work, determination and single-minded purpose; and her characters reflect what that single-minded purpose often engenders: mental and spiritual starvation.
There is cruelty here, to an incomprehensible degree, in the patriarch of the family; his wish to succeed economically above everything else in life is his motivating force. There is submission here, to an equally incomprehensible degree, in the matriarch -- which at best is a misnomer of position, as she abdicates everything to her husband's will. She fails to protect her children. More than failure to protect, it seems more like a refusal to protect. All the children are subjugated into obedience, at the worst cost; and yet, there is no need. Even when presented with choices for freedom, they remain. I rebelled most strongly at the mother's weakness for at best she was a will-o'-the-wisp, languid, spiritless sort: more vapour than solid, even before she met and married her husband. His controlling character only reinforced an already-weak character -- but then, that is undoubtedly how such men win: they marry those who will be controlled easily, who will accept the yoke willingly.
It is an ugly tale of breathless survival. Fresh air enters only when the winds blow in "from the south" -- a fresh young schoolmarm from away; a handsome young prince from "the towns". Redemption, which I hinted is missing, does come in a backward way, but it only comes through inertia and accident. The hapless immigrant's family prevails through no action of its own. Again hmmm... Is that really the quintessential Canadian pioneers' experience?
It is a mishmash tale, probably representative of the mishmash birth of this novel: a fresh young voice, painted over by an experienced hand, who hearkens back to the 19th century rather than look forward to the 20th. Therein lies the dilemma in the end: the novel was composed by two opposing voices and so the tension within the novel is always telling two disparate stories. It is indeed like someone who is building a Greek tragedy of epic scope, but who ultimately paints it a bit flat, like the landscape upon which it's built.
February 14, 2013
I just finished this last night. Whenever I ask someone if they'd heard of it, the answer is always no. I wonder why. It was truly wonderfully realistic and beatifully written. Her use of metaphors and similes was so original that I was able to visualize the landscapes as if I was watching a movie. The imagery was stunning.
I love many of her lines in the book, but one in particular stood out for me: "The dank, clinging smell of newly turned soil rose like a presence." Martha Ostenso has a special way with words; one that makes you smile while reading.
It was a story of tyranny, love, jealousy and most of all, the haunting call of the Wild Geese. An astounding Canadian novel. Not one to be overlooked!
I love many of her lines in the book, but one in particular stood out for me: "The dank, clinging smell of newly turned soil rose like a presence." Martha Ostenso has a special way with words; one that makes you smile while reading.
It was a story of tyranny, love, jealousy and most of all, the haunting call of the Wild Geese. An astounding Canadian novel. Not one to be overlooked!
January 24, 2022
Read for my Canadian and Indigenous lit class.
Best day of my life is being done this book. Been reading it for almost 2 months LOOL so boring and it’s all about an abusive father/husband, which made it even harder to read.
Best day of my life is being done this book. Been reading it for almost 2 months LOOL so boring and it’s all about an abusive father/husband, which made it even harder to read.
July 26, 2012
This book was really quite good. It was a gripping psychological suspense story, a little bit like say, Rebecca, though without any overt gothicism. There may be a touch of pathetic fallacy, but overall, the style is realistic and modern.
There's so much tension built up among the characters and we know it's going to break at the end, we just don't know how, and how much damage will be unleashed, how many innocents will be destroyed in the process.
Caleb Gare has been added to my list of cruel and evil characters, and his evil is less cartoonish than that of many (e.g. Quilp from The Old Curiosity Shop). He feels compelled to possess his wife, but never can because she loved and had a child with another man before marrying him. This inability causes him to become even more obsessed with controlling her and her children by him, and the land they live on, until he becomes an utter tyrant in as large a sphere as he can manage. He uses psychological manipulation and blackmail to turn his children into slaves and his neighbours into his pawns.
There's a lot of sexual energy infusing the narrative: Caleb's need for domination, Amelia's passionate memory for Mark Jordan's father, Lind's attraction to both Mark and Judith (the first romantic, the second on more of a physical level), Judith's mere animal presence and character that expresses itself not only in a desire for Sven, but an admiration for Lind, and a desperate need to escape her father's tyranny.
The descriptions of the landscape are evocative and often mirror the mental states of the characters: the bleak lake bed, the lush grain driven from the earth by Caleb's brutality, the ice blue lake, abounding with fish but forbidden to eat from until the bodies of two dead brothers are recovered.
There were times that I found the writing a tad repetitive, but that's a rather minor flaw.
There's so much tension built up among the characters and we know it's going to break at the end, we just don't know how, and how much damage will be unleashed, how many innocents will be destroyed in the process.
Caleb Gare has been added to my list of cruel and evil characters, and his evil is less cartoonish than that of many (e.g. Quilp from The Old Curiosity Shop). He feels compelled to possess his wife, but never can because she loved and had a child with another man before marrying him. This inability causes him to become even more obsessed with controlling her and her children by him, and the land they live on, until he becomes an utter tyrant in as large a sphere as he can manage. He uses psychological manipulation and blackmail to turn his children into slaves and his neighbours into his pawns.
There's a lot of sexual energy infusing the narrative: Caleb's need for domination, Amelia's passionate memory for Mark Jordan's father, Lind's attraction to both Mark and Judith (the first romantic, the second on more of a physical level), Judith's mere animal presence and character that expresses itself not only in a desire for Sven, but an admiration for Lind, and a desperate need to escape her father's tyranny.
The descriptions of the landscape are evocative and often mirror the mental states of the characters: the bleak lake bed, the lush grain driven from the earth by Caleb's brutality, the ice blue lake, abounding with fish but forbidden to eat from until the bodies of two dead brothers are recovered.
There were times that I found the writing a tad repetitive, but that's a rather minor flaw.
February 2, 2023
i’ve grown attached to the people in this book, i don’t want to leave them be. i’m scared i’ll forget what happened in this book (after a year or two i usually forget details about a book and i hate that). anyways this book makes me patriotic. our literature is usually a bore.
December 29, 2024
Book about 1900’s Manitoba farm lands? Gag me with a fork. Combine that with the fact that it’s a romance genre, I knew this book was NOT for me.
So imagine my surprise when 4-5 chapters in i’m not only HOOKED, but kicking my feet and blushing over the relationships in this book. Was giddy almost the entire read. Could not recommend more
So imagine my surprise when 4-5 chapters in i’m not only HOOKED, but kicking my feet and blushing over the relationships in this book. Was giddy almost the entire read. Could not recommend more
maybe
March 6, 2014to look into/to hunt down/look at reviews
December 20, 2023
"The Teacher was lonely, and even more conscious of the stark loneliness of Amelia, of Judith, of Ellen and Martin, each within himself. Work did not destroy the loneliness; work was only a fog in which they moved so that they might not see the loneliness of each other.”
Hello this is part two of Uni Kicked My Ass For Weeks On End So My Very Important Book Reviews Are Delayed As All Hell. Forgive me for the dryness.
Martha Ostenso’s 1925 novel Wild Geese places us in the early 20th century of rural Manitoba in the farming town of Oeland. Shiny new teacher Lind Archer is staying with the Gare family, and patriarch Caleb Gare holds a tight leash on his wife and children. Through the perspective of Lind and the incredibly overworked Gare children, we explore and are given insight into the nature of farm life, dysfunctional family dynamics, oppressive forces, and more oh my!!
This novel. This novelllllll I wish it did more. This wasn't a hard or necessarily boring read, but it could have been better. Okay I’ll start with some stuff I liked because I fear I have some more to say on why Wild Geese disappointed me sad face.
Ostenso’s description of the land and the natural world in general is very pretty and very visual, and I heavily dig the connection of the land to the characters. I’m a big fan of the significance of a novel’s setting as a means of contributing to the narrative as a whole, and Wild Geese is a pretty prime example of that. As I’ve lived in a Manitoban city my whole life, I found the depiction of the more rural parts of the province charming, and I just know it all feels like home to those who are familiar to the sort of landscape Ostenso depicts. The entire story takes place on the Gare farm and the atmosphere and setting are communicated very clearly (more on why this is later lol). Overall, Ostenso’s writing flows well and I found it easy to get right into the story from the beginning.
The idea of the plot is also very compelling, as someone who likes character-driven stories. You get family dynamics mixed with the involvement of a heavy, male, oppressive force that ultimately shapes the interactions within the family. From the synopsis on my edition of the book, I liked the emphasis on this power imbalance, especially with a strong female voice (multiple in this case) at the centre...
…But this wasn’t actually examined as much as I feel like it should have been, because the characters are well-written, yes, but they're not actually utilized well. Ostenso's characters are damn interesting; they've each got their own very clear motives and desires and struggles, every single one of them! While some characters do have more focus in the narrative, each of the Gares and even their fellow neighbours have very distinct roles and personalities, and there is so much that could be explored. Caleb's power over not just his family, but the community in general, is immense, and the result of his cruelty is what shapes the psychology of, in particular, the four Gare siblings and their mother (although, the youngest sibling fades into the background A LOT so he might as well not even exist anyway). But Ostenso fails to actually work with what she's given us. The novel is told in third-person perspective, so I suppose there's somewhat of a limit to how deep the narrator can dig into the characters' emotions and thoughts (actually, this shouldn’t affect character depth at all, this is more rhetorical), BUTTTTT that doesn't excuse the fact that these characters barely interact with each other. The quotation above is one I quite like, and it illustrates the really tragic and lonesome dynamic within the Gare family. Like yes, those people who sound like coworkers are actually family! So although their struggle to see each other's suffering is a very big part of their relationship with one another, that doesn't mean they suddenly treat each other like NPCs. These people DO NOT speak to each other!!! There is a SEVERE lack of dialogue between the members of the Gare family that don't involve Caleb starting the conversation to be degrading, patronizing, or manipulative. We're only given brief insight into their feelings toward one another when we're reading their perspective and their inner thoughts, but girl NO ONE actually says anything. They refer or consider each other in their own heads, and when there are moments where they do interact (the moments in question being a few words that mention they've done something together), it’s fleeting and inconsequential. I cannot emphasize how much I was STARVING for character interactions bro, like I don't even have siblings and yet I know the dynamic can't be like this. I can probably count on one hand how many conversations take place between any of the siblings or their mother. I respect that the mental and emotional abuse and cruelty they experience is a large influence in why they have such a hard time speaking and being open with one another, but the isolation doesn't feel like an intentional design of the narrative — it comes down to Ostenso's own priorities in what she wants to write about.
Lind is the outsider to this family, so naturally we get more of what she sees, but we also do spend sooo much time with the Gares, so there's no reason for them to feel as husk-like and underdeveloped as they are. We read about the same stuff over and over again as they work on the farm, and while I appreciate that the monotony of the writing is exactly what the work feels like for them, it doesn't change the fact that nothing happens for soooo long. Not much happens in an action sense, but neither does much happen in a character-building sense so…now what? You have all these fascinating unique characters and you're gonna have them do fuck all??? They have things happen to them, they react to it, they go back to work, they have a few thoughts here and there, they repeat the process day after day, and they don't say or do anything else? Especially to or with each other? Ostenso doesn't value the emotional, core, interpersonal relationships between characters as much as individual development, and the characters narratively suffer because of it! Like wait...you guys actually know each other and are aware of each other's individual personhood? You guys exist in the same place? You aren't just characters living alongside each other on this vast farmland?
I feel silly af saying that Wild Geese let me down, but fuck it I feel let down!! The start of the novel was good, the large middle chunk has a bit of a lull with some interesting tidbits here and there (some end up mattering later, some are never mentioned again), and then the last bit starts to pick up and feel like what the story should have been the whole time. There are character moments that are sort of awkwardly or, at worst, poorly written, particularly about Caleb. I also feel like most of the characters’ stories don’t go anywhere. It’s like Ostenso has done all this work of raking the yard and compiling this nice mound of leaves, only for her to leave it there and let the wind blow through it and scatter it all everywhere. Just so much stuff left unresolved, especially since the majority of our main characters are women! We have a teacher who is witnessing this crazy homesteading farming culture and this toxic family environment! We have a mother who barely sees her own children as her own! We have a young girl who wants to leave the damn farm and her tyrannical father! Caleb acts as the antagonist for all the Gares, but these three get a lot of screentime, and yet they’re kind of paid dust. Again, Ostenso sets up so much to work with, but she fumbles bro.
A 2.5 that I will round down I think, because the more I think about Wild Geese, the more I start (completely unfairly) getting frustrated. I just wish more was done rahhhhhh. This wasn’t strenuous to get through and I had an okay time reading it, but I was waiting for it to go deeper or for there to have payoff and it’s ultimately forgettable. I think I could say more, but after a month of sitting on my thoughts, this is all I can remember and coherently communicate. I also listened to farm asmr at some point reading and I highly recommend.
Hello this is part two of Uni Kicked My Ass For Weeks On End So My Very Important Book Reviews Are Delayed As All Hell. Forgive me for the dryness.
Martha Ostenso’s 1925 novel Wild Geese places us in the early 20th century of rural Manitoba in the farming town of Oeland. Shiny new teacher Lind Archer is staying with the Gare family, and patriarch Caleb Gare holds a tight leash on his wife and children. Through the perspective of Lind and the incredibly overworked Gare children, we explore and are given insight into the nature of farm life, dysfunctional family dynamics, oppressive forces, and more oh my!!
This novel. This novelllllll I wish it did more. This wasn't a hard or necessarily boring read, but it could have been better. Okay I’ll start with some stuff I liked because I fear I have some more to say on why Wild Geese disappointed me sad face.
Ostenso’s description of the land and the natural world in general is very pretty and very visual, and I heavily dig the connection of the land to the characters. I’m a big fan of the significance of a novel’s setting as a means of contributing to the narrative as a whole, and Wild Geese is a pretty prime example of that. As I’ve lived in a Manitoban city my whole life, I found the depiction of the more rural parts of the province charming, and I just know it all feels like home to those who are familiar to the sort of landscape Ostenso depicts. The entire story takes place on the Gare farm and the atmosphere and setting are communicated very clearly (more on why this is later lol). Overall, Ostenso’s writing flows well and I found it easy to get right into the story from the beginning.
The idea of the plot is also very compelling, as someone who likes character-driven stories. You get family dynamics mixed with the involvement of a heavy, male, oppressive force that ultimately shapes the interactions within the family. From the synopsis on my edition of the book, I liked the emphasis on this power imbalance, especially with a strong female voice (multiple in this case) at the centre...
…But this wasn’t actually examined as much as I feel like it should have been, because the characters are well-written, yes, but they're not actually utilized well. Ostenso's characters are damn interesting; they've each got their own very clear motives and desires and struggles, every single one of them! While some characters do have more focus in the narrative, each of the Gares and even their fellow neighbours have very distinct roles and personalities, and there is so much that could be explored. Caleb's power over not just his family, but the community in general, is immense, and the result of his cruelty is what shapes the psychology of, in particular, the four Gare siblings and their mother (although, the youngest sibling fades into the background A LOT so he might as well not even exist anyway). But Ostenso fails to actually work with what she's given us. The novel is told in third-person perspective, so I suppose there's somewhat of a limit to how deep the narrator can dig into the characters' emotions and thoughts (actually, this shouldn’t affect character depth at all, this is more rhetorical), BUTTTTT that doesn't excuse the fact that these characters barely interact with each other. The quotation above is one I quite like, and it illustrates the really tragic and lonesome dynamic within the Gare family. Like yes, those people who sound like coworkers are actually family! So although their struggle to see each other's suffering is a very big part of their relationship with one another, that doesn't mean they suddenly treat each other like NPCs. These people DO NOT speak to each other!!! There is a SEVERE lack of dialogue between the members of the Gare family that don't involve Caleb starting the conversation to be degrading, patronizing, or manipulative. We're only given brief insight into their feelings toward one another when we're reading their perspective and their inner thoughts, but girl NO ONE actually says anything. They refer or consider each other in their own heads, and when there are moments where they do interact (the moments in question being a few words that mention they've done something together), it’s fleeting and inconsequential. I cannot emphasize how much I was STARVING for character interactions bro, like I don't even have siblings and yet I know the dynamic can't be like this. I can probably count on one hand how many conversations take place between any of the siblings or their mother. I respect that the mental and emotional abuse and cruelty they experience is a large influence in why they have such a hard time speaking and being open with one another, but the isolation doesn't feel like an intentional design of the narrative — it comes down to Ostenso's own priorities in what she wants to write about.
Lind is the outsider to this family, so naturally we get more of what she sees, but we also do spend sooo much time with the Gares, so there's no reason for them to feel as husk-like and underdeveloped as they are. We read about the same stuff over and over again as they work on the farm, and while I appreciate that the monotony of the writing is exactly what the work feels like for them, it doesn't change the fact that nothing happens for soooo long. Not much happens in an action sense, but neither does much happen in a character-building sense so…now what? You have all these fascinating unique characters and you're gonna have them do fuck all??? They have things happen to them, they react to it, they go back to work, they have a few thoughts here and there, they repeat the process day after day, and they don't say or do anything else? Especially to or with each other? Ostenso doesn't value the emotional, core, interpersonal relationships between characters as much as individual development, and the characters narratively suffer because of it! Like wait...you guys actually know each other and are aware of each other's individual personhood? You guys exist in the same place? You aren't just characters living alongside each other on this vast farmland?
I feel silly af saying that Wild Geese let me down, but fuck it I feel let down!! The start of the novel was good, the large middle chunk has a bit of a lull with some interesting tidbits here and there (some end up mattering later, some are never mentioned again), and then the last bit starts to pick up and feel like what the story should have been the whole time. There are character moments that are sort of awkwardly or, at worst, poorly written, particularly about Caleb. I also feel like most of the characters’ stories don’t go anywhere. It’s like Ostenso has done all this work of raking the yard and compiling this nice mound of leaves, only for her to leave it there and let the wind blow through it and scatter it all everywhere. Just so much stuff left unresolved, especially since the majority of our main characters are women! We have a teacher who is witnessing this crazy homesteading farming culture and this toxic family environment! We have a mother who barely sees her own children as her own! We have a young girl who wants to leave the damn farm and her tyrannical father! Caleb acts as the antagonist for all the Gares, but these three get a lot of screentime, and yet they’re kind of paid dust. Again, Ostenso sets up so much to work with, but she fumbles bro.
A 2.5 that I will round down I think, because the more I think about Wild Geese, the more I start (completely unfairly) getting frustrated. I just wish more was done rahhhhhh. This wasn’t strenuous to get through and I had an okay time reading it, but I was waiting for it to go deeper or for there to have payoff and it’s ultimately forgettable. I think I could say more, but after a month of sitting on my thoughts, this is all I can remember and coherently communicate. I also listened to farm asmr at some point reading and I highly recommend.
May 8, 2018
“Wild Geese” is a novel of two protagonists. It is novel of the working out of a primal conflict between them. It is a novel that portrays the psyches of Caleb Gare and his daughter Judith and the inevitable conflict between them.
Caleb Gare is a man who is incapable of feeling anything for anybody but himself. For Caleb, there is nothing but his driving ambition that drives him acquire wealth in the form of the land that supports his farm. Those around him are either people whose land he can take by any stratagem or his family whose wills he can break and turn to his own purposes turning them into slaves to his ambition. Judith, his daughter, is subjected to his constant psychological torments. He uses the standard brainwashing technique. The only escape from the torments that he inflicts is to bend to his will. His wife and the rest of his family submit to this but his daughter Judith has a psyche which is incapable of submitting. There is an inner resolve which demands independence and self-will. She refuses to break and constantly and involuntarily attempts to escape internally and yearns for an escape from him in the external world. In the end, it is the land itself which destroys Caleb. He is trapped in the grasping muck of the muskeg and is pulled under and drowned. Judith escapes from him with her lover Sven and the remainder of the family is released from his psychological bondage.
“Wild Geese” is a novel of conflict within a family. The parent creates the child and tries to control her. In the end the child escapes and the parent is destroyed. I am no scholar, but this appears to me to be a working out of a classical trope. It is the trope from which I would suppose that the classical story of Oedipus comes. It is a compelling novel with strongly delineated characters. The conflict between them is a conflict that works out in different ways in many families and in many other situations. In that, it is a novel that explores important ideas. It is a novel that touches the inner emotions of the reader by exploring psychological conflicts that the reader has gone through. It is a novel worth reading.
Caleb Gare is a man who is incapable of feeling anything for anybody but himself. For Caleb, there is nothing but his driving ambition that drives him acquire wealth in the form of the land that supports his farm. Those around him are either people whose land he can take by any stratagem or his family whose wills he can break and turn to his own purposes turning them into slaves to his ambition. Judith, his daughter, is subjected to his constant psychological torments. He uses the standard brainwashing technique. The only escape from the torments that he inflicts is to bend to his will. His wife and the rest of his family submit to this but his daughter Judith has a psyche which is incapable of submitting. There is an inner resolve which demands independence and self-will. She refuses to break and constantly and involuntarily attempts to escape internally and yearns for an escape from him in the external world. In the end, it is the land itself which destroys Caleb. He is trapped in the grasping muck of the muskeg and is pulled under and drowned. Judith escapes from him with her lover Sven and the remainder of the family is released from his psychological bondage.
“Wild Geese” is a novel of conflict within a family. The parent creates the child and tries to control her. In the end the child escapes and the parent is destroyed. I am no scholar, but this appears to me to be a working out of a classical trope. It is the trope from which I would suppose that the classical story of Oedipus comes. It is a compelling novel with strongly delineated characters. The conflict between them is a conflict that works out in different ways in many families and in many other situations. In that, it is a novel that explores important ideas. It is a novel that touches the inner emotions of the reader by exploring psychological conflicts that the reader has gone through. It is a novel worth reading.
August 4, 2014
Ostenso's novel enacts conflict while its characters simultaneously shy away from it - by this I mean that the novel itself is both the source of conflict while it exploits the conflicts within to its own advantage. The novel is a living, breathing thing that influences the characters simply by documenting them. The characters consistently feel as though they're part of a story; that there is something moving beyond their control which they can only be influenced by rather than act upon. Caleb, as the main antagonist, takes it into his head that he can control the plot of the novel. The narrator, the fluid, moving voice that invades the head of every character we meet, knows he will ultimately fail and drops hints of this throughout the story. Lind, while she appears to be the main voice we hear, is dimly aware, or at least suspects, that Caleb will eventually get what is coming to him. What the narrating voice of the novel knows that she doesn't is the certainty of Caleb's demise. We may consider Grandmother Bjarnnasson to be the voice of the novel. On page 47 she reveals the end of the novel to Lind and to the reader.
"She says you will have a lover very soon," Lind was told. "There is a shadow of him. You will never know the secret of him. But you will be happy. That is all that is enough, she has told you."
After Lind's visit to the Bjarnnasson's, she (as well as the reader) has a dubious belief that Mark will never discover his own secret, just as Lind will also never know it. This means that Caleb will fail to ruin Mark's perception of himself, thus also failing to destroy Amelia, thus failing to break the rest of the Gare family.
The play between the novel as a conscious force and the characters as tools within it is interesting because it creates a feeling of inevitability and overwhelming resolution. When Caleb eventually dies, there seems to have been no other possible way to end the story. Both the novel and the characters know this and the reader knows this once he/she reads it that it couldn't have been different in any way.
"She says you will have a lover very soon," Lind was told. "There is a shadow of him. You will never know the secret of him. But you will be happy. That is all that is enough, she has told you."
After Lind's visit to the Bjarnnasson's, she (as well as the reader) has a dubious belief that Mark will never discover his own secret, just as Lind will also never know it. This means that Caleb will fail to ruin Mark's perception of himself, thus also failing to destroy Amelia, thus failing to break the rest of the Gare family.
The play between the novel as a conscious force and the characters as tools within it is interesting because it creates a feeling of inevitability and overwhelming resolution. When Caleb eventually dies, there seems to have been no other possible way to end the story. Both the novel and the characters know this and the reader knows this once he/she reads it that it couldn't have been different in any way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 9, 2016
I read about Wild Geese on my friend, Melanie's blog (roughingitinthebooks.ca) and she gifted me copy which sat on my bookshelf for 5 (6?) years until she wrote about it again here:
http://www.roughingitinthebooks.ca/?p...
Wild Geese is a story about isolation, and after I finished it I realized I read the entire thing believing it was set in Alberta. It's not, but really it could be set anywhere because it's about isolation and the rules we make up to cope with that isolation...
IT's really a beautiful book, at times the psychological drama had me reading late into the night and I carried Amelia's worries with me all the next day (What will become of poor Judith?). Such a great read, and it really does have all the feels.
I will be genuinely surprised if some rando cavalier film maker doesn't the film rights to it. Ryan Gosling as Mark Jordan, please thanks
Book 3/17 I WILL NOT LEND IT TO YOU BECAUSE YOU NEED YOUR OWN COPY
http://www.roughingitinthebooks.ca/?p...
Wild Geese is a story about isolation, and after I finished it I realized I read the entire thing believing it was set in Alberta. It's not, but really it could be set anywhere because it's about isolation and the rules we make up to cope with that isolation...
IT's really a beautiful book, at times the psychological drama had me reading late into the night and I carried Amelia's worries with me all the next day (What will become of poor Judith?). Such a great read, and it really does have all the feels.
I will be genuinely surprised if some rando cavalier film maker doesn't the film rights to it. Ryan Gosling as Mark Jordan, please thanks
Book 3/17 I WILL NOT LEND IT TO YOU BECAUSE YOU NEED YOUR OWN COPY
June 5, 2020
DH Lawrence in what I think is northern Manitoba (northern Canadian prairies, anyway). I enjoyed it, but I couldn't help but hear echoes of Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm all over the place, which rather punctured the intense seriousness of the whole thing.
March 22, 2012
Thinking of this book reminds me of the summer of 2004, when I was living by myself in Hamilton and (among other things) taking a summer course in Can Lit. I was a bit underwhelmed by the prof, but the classically Canadian feeling of vague dispair of this book stays with me.
June 15, 2025
Best high school English novel EVER!!
Want to read
September 8, 2023I HAVE THS ONE!!!
November 3, 2023
This book was a gift and the first chapter didn't impress me because I thought I was reading an ordinary book about an abusive father in Manitoba, Canada. By the second chapter, I was hooked and knew this was a beautifully written poetic book. What impressed me the most was the feminism that the author created in her heroines. This is one of my top-ten reads of the year.
November 19, 2010
This was an unexpectedly compelling and very satisfying novel. I hadn’t heard of it or the author when I purchased it from the library discard table. Caleb Gare is a cruel tyrant who wields the secret of his wife Amelia’s illegitimate child over her, and indirectly over their children. The children don’t know their mother’s secret but are cowed by the knowledge that any failure on their part to comply with their father’s wishes will be taken out on their mother. Caleb only cares for the land and his precious field of flax. He drives his family hard, well or ill, and he merely observes while they work the fields and tend the animals. He is miserly; they are ill-shod, Ellen goes without needed new glasses, Amelia has been waiting years for new teeth, and Martin can only dream of the new house he would like to build. Only beautiful, strong Judith shows open rebellion. The atmosphere in the household is oppressive and hateful; even Amelia appears prepared to sacrifice her children because they are Caleb’s. Caleb Gare does not limit his tyranny to his family; he is also not above blackmailing neighbours who own land which he desires. The setting is the northern Manitoba prairie of 1925. The novel opens with the arrival of a pretty new teacher, Lind Archer, who will board with the Gares. Caleb makes a point of ignoring her. Lind befriends Judith, and also meets and falls in love with Mark Jordan, who has arrived from the city to run the farm of a seriously ill neighbour. Mark is the illegitimate son of Amelia but unaware of his true parentage. Ellen is too afraid of her father to go off with the young man she loves but Judith secretly begins to meet Sven Sandbo until her father discovers them. This precipitates a confrontation that will have repercussions for all of them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2012
I found this book in the travel guide under Great Canadian Reads. Not only did the author’s description of the farms and the surrounding countryside take me there, but her characters were real and I felt their struggles too. I also have to say that I have never wished for the death of a character in a story as much as I did for the farmer/father/antagonist Caleb Gare. None of the characters mentioned homicidal thoughts, but it came through in the story. I was cheering on Lind, the new school teacher, in her encouragement of Judith and the rest of the family’s escape from his tyranny.
January 4, 2021
Thanks to Shawn Mooney for recommending this novel. I enjoyed the writing and character development . The novel was also very suspenseful, which made it an even greater pleasure the read. 5 stars for sure. Highly recommended.
August 10, 2024
A wonderful slice of (not so wonderful) prairie life. I haven’t hated a character this intensely for years! Caleb Gare is a complete ogre, dominating and controlling his wife and children, but there is a strong undercurrent of feminism as his daughter Judith rebels against him with the encouragement of the new local schoolteacher. This feels like one if those stories that is as old as time but is no less satisfactory, and even rather comforting, for that fact.
December 10, 2023
It wasn’t bad, I was just not in the right headspace to properly enjoy it. I’ll write a real review after I do a reread.
December 22, 2024
For a book with geese in the title, it didn't have as many geese as I hoped for
(Still a good book though, it simply could've utilised the potential and the characters better)
(Still a good book though, it simply could've utilised the potential and the characters better)
November 1, 2024
actually pretty good
November 30, 2022
so brilliant— such a revolutionary Canadian novel
November 23, 2023
-- NOV 13 2023--
Not even done this book yet I only made it to chapter 2 but I'll be done soon enough since I have stuff due for it but I'm just too burnt out no motivation to keep me going and honestly, THIS BOOK IS SO BORING!
--NOV 23 2023--
Update officially done this book AND IT WAS THE MOST BORINGEST (pardon my French) shit I have read. idk how to rate this like a 1 or 2 stars IDK but like when it got to CRAZY high parts like it got good AND THEN CRASHED into crazy low parts. Hella Hella slow book! and idk how to process the ending. glad I got it over with though:)
Not even done this book yet I only made it to chapter 2 but I'll be done soon enough since I have stuff due for it but I'm just too burnt out no motivation to keep me going and honestly, THIS BOOK IS SO BORING!
--NOV 23 2023--
Update officially done this book AND IT WAS THE MOST BORINGEST (pardon my French) shit I have read. idk how to rate this like a 1 or 2 stars IDK but like when it got to CRAZY high parts like it got good AND THEN CRASHED into crazy low parts. Hella Hella slow book! and idk how to process the ending. glad I got it over with though:)
February 14, 2009
Did NOT expect such a great book when I picked this up at a local library! Neither did I expect to find out later that its considered a classic Canadian novel that broke new ground with its printing. I'd never even heard of it before!
The tragic story of this family is one that I won't easily forget. Ostenso's writing truly brings you from the tight, closed in feeling of the Gare children, to the open freedom of Lind Archer's newfound love with Mark Jordan.
Almost from the first page, you learn to despise the patriarch and you can't wait until the final pages when he gets what he deserves, so to speak. On a cruel and sadistic level, I was sorry that the mother didn't get a bit more deserved punishment for her lazy role in the family life. I was SO offended by her attitude that her children could (and even SHOULD) suffer because of who their father is. She was willing to sacrifice them and their happiness for the happiness and safety of the other child she had out of wedlock with a man she truly loved. To me this demonstrated her deficiencies and I resented her terribly. Not to the point where I felt she deserved to be beaten, but I certainly felt she deserved to bare some of the burden of the sins she was guilty of.
I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and was happy with the well-deserved ending.
The tragic story of this family is one that I won't easily forget. Ostenso's writing truly brings you from the tight, closed in feeling of the Gare children, to the open freedom of Lind Archer's newfound love with Mark Jordan.
Almost from the first page, you learn to despise the patriarch and you can't wait until the final pages when he gets what he deserves, so to speak. On a cruel and sadistic level, I was sorry that the mother didn't get a bit more deserved punishment for her lazy role in the family life. I was SO offended by her attitude that her children could (and even SHOULD) suffer because of who their father is. She was willing to sacrifice them and their happiness for the happiness and safety of the other child she had out of wedlock with a man she truly loved. To me this demonstrated her deficiencies and I resented her terribly. Not to the point where I felt she deserved to be beaten, but I certainly felt she deserved to bare some of the burden of the sins she was guilty of.
I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and was happy with the well-deserved ending.
December 29, 2018
Found this in my stack of TBR books. What a surprise! It's set in northern Manitoba (actually in Interlake region) when new settlers were just moving into Can. The book was written in 1925. It reads like a modern novel, however, with an amazing use of language to create atmosphere, characters who are so real they seem to walk off the page, and a plot that grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. It deals with modern issues like spousal abuse, parental abuse, bullying, greed, and love. There are two Romeo and Juliet couples who are threatened with exposure and danger. The conflict is multi-faceted - physical, emotional, and psychological. Underlying it all is a strong sense of sensuality and repressed sexuality. The environment carries a sense of danger and foreboding as well as fecundity and growth. All very common in modern novels but apparently this caused a lot of controversy when the novel was first published. A strong book that made me think and feel.
October 13, 2018
The "mystery" at the heart of this book is revealed almost from the first page, yet it is more gripping than any mystery or thriller I have read in years, because the book's real mystery is the struggle between beauty and cruelty, freedom and resentment. It's a book that almost screams for an eco-feminist-Marxist reading, making it surprisingly pertinent to times in which insecure misogynists gas-light women and do every kind of outrage for more money.
Probably because of the prairie setting and bold character of Judith reminiscent of Hagar in The Stone Angel, this book kept reminding me of Margaret Laurence. Actually, Laurence is a later CanLit treasure, perhaps influenced by Ostenso. Ultimately, I think Laurence is a little more subtle and less "novelistic," so in comparison I would give this a 4.5 rating, but Wild Geese is a reminder of why I love literature and analysis. It would be a joy to teach, I think.
Probably because of the prairie setting and bold character of Judith reminiscent of Hagar in The Stone Angel, this book kept reminding me of Margaret Laurence. Actually, Laurence is a later CanLit treasure, perhaps influenced by Ostenso. Ultimately, I think Laurence is a little more subtle and less "novelistic," so in comparison I would give this a 4.5 rating, but Wild Geese is a reminder of why I love literature and analysis. It would be a joy to teach, I think.
May 26, 2014
Set in Northern Manitoba (a place I’ve never been to), on a farm (a place I’ve never worked), Wild Geese is like a window into a life I’ve only imagined. The descriptions of neverending farm life and the language the characters use, breathe life into the story which centers around the prosperous Gare family. The prosperity is tightly controlled by the farm’s patriarc, Caleb, and so is the family secret. Wild Geese shows how the truth can weave itself into people’s lives whether they know it or not, and how damaging it can be.
The female characters in the novel are strong for different reasons: Lind from due to her freedom to act being an outsider, Judith from her innate spirit, and Amelia from her love for her family.
Recommended for those who like female heroines, thrilling family secrets, and a story of people trying their hardest to follow their dreams no matter what.
The female characters in the novel are strong for different reasons: Lind from due to her freedom to act being an outsider, Judith from her innate spirit, and Amelia from her love for her family.
Recommended for those who like female heroines, thrilling family secrets, and a story of people trying their hardest to follow their dreams no matter what.
May 9, 2023
*rating edited up to 4 minimum after writing an essay on it
The beginning of this story gives Canadian Wuthering Heights, but sadly it doesn't live up to the literary perfection of Emily Brontë. Caleb and Amelia fell flat for me, and while there were many descriptions of the landscape, they didn't hit me as hard as other early Canadian writings have. There are many different ways to read this book, and I think that exploring it as a sapphic text could be the most interesting. Ostenso was both admonished and praised for the sexuality that she included in this text, but from a modern day lense, it is very clear that there are homosexual undertones to Jude and Lind's relationship that I'm not sure were noticed at the time.
The beginning of this story gives Canadian Wuthering Heights, but sadly it doesn't live up to the literary perfection of Emily Brontë. Caleb and Amelia fell flat for me, and while there were many descriptions of the landscape, they didn't hit me as hard as other early Canadian writings have. There are many different ways to read this book, and I think that exploring it as a sapphic text could be the most interesting. Ostenso was both admonished and praised for the sexuality that she included in this text, but from a modern day lense, it is very clear that there are homosexual undertones to Jude and Lind's relationship that I'm not sure were noticed at the time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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