Dark Bridwell

by Vardis Fisher

Apparently a softcover reissue in 1979 (by the author's widow, Opal Laurel Holmes--see inside front cover) of this 1931 hardcover novel from Houghton Mifflin, by Vardis Fisher. The book appears unread and is almost like-new, unopened and unmarked, with slight cover wear from shelf-rubbing. 376 pages. No ISBN.

Genres: Historical Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1931

About the author

Vardis Alvero Fisher was a writer best known for his popular historical novels of the Old West. He also wrote the monumental 12-volume Testament of Man (1943–1960) series of novels, depicting the history of humans from cave to civilization. It was considered controversial because of his portrayal of religion, especially the Judeo-Christian tradition, emphasis on sexuality, and conclusions about anthropology.

Reviews

[Stephan Naro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heart-wrenching. What a writer. One of the things about being a human being is that we can live with someone for many years, like a christian parent, and feel very isolated from them, without seeing any way of understanding the cause of the isolation, far less of overcoming it. The isolation depicted in this book is of a non-religious source, yet feels the same. I wonder if Fisher ever in any of his other books tries to elucidate what experiences might form a man like Charley. You might think that I am saying that my mother was like Charley. It is christianity that is like Charley: too lazy to do its own work, using the work of others, blocking attempts to stand on our own two feet free from it. And I have dealt with christians who have baffled me with their obstinate intellectual laziness.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is difficult to classify this novel, or to synopsize it. I could say that one theme is the devil finds work for idle hands. Charley doesn’t seem to be a bad man but his philosophy leaves him idle and that leads to his worst mistakes. Or maybe this quote from the Dalai Llama is a better characterization of Dark Birdwell: “All suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction.” Charley gets the fruits of the ignorance he bred in his family.

[Cathrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Bridwell is a phenomenal read and a gift to the world of literature. It's one of the best books I've ever read and totally unforgettable. Even after weeks have passed, the stories pop in and out of my mind as if they are part of my own past. I ran across the book just browsing through the kindle library and downloaded the sample. Before I finished reading the introduction, I was hooked. This book deserves a 5-star rating, but because parts of the book are so disturbing, I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending to everyone.

[Jocelyn Conway · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd story but good writing. Read this book in the top shack on Silverton Mountain.

[Miles Nilsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

At least 1CAtlas Shrugged 1D is famous and often actually read. Not so Vardis Fisher 19s 1CDark Bridwell, 1D which has been cited by at least one reputable critic as an overlooked classic. Unfortunately, it is now out of print and cannot be easily found. The virtues of the novel can be enumerated, although mere enumeration never does justice to a work of art. First, the reader is confronted with a lyrical description of the wild river valley where the story is set. Significantly, Fisher begins with the setting even before the arrival of the people who will be the central characters of his tale. This is because the environment is really the main character. Those who have read this novel and who are inclined toward environmentalism find this quality of Fisher 19s book illuminating because many of the human characters seem to be at war with nature in ways that show them to be foolishly destructive of the very aspects of their own environment that not only sustain them economically but which they claim to appreciate aesthetically.

In the late 1890s, Charlie Bridwell marries a woman more than ten years his junior and persuades her to go with him to a farm he has purchased in the Snake River Valley of Idaho. To call it a valley is misleading: the narrow gorge where the farm exists leaves nothing more than a small ledge with enough soil for planting. There are no real neighbors; the Bridwells see only a few other people during their years on this farm, and when they do see a gathering of other people at one point, it is only because they have traveled a long way to meet them. The consequent loneliness of the Bridwell farm is palpable and can only be overcome fleetingly by Charlie 19s attempts to keep his young family amused.

Charlie is a muscular but lazy man who regards subsistence farming as an easy way to get by in this world. For him, the farm only needs to be productive enough to support four people. Although he does sell a few things to make ends meet, he is not ambitious and has little interest in growing things to sell as a business that might raise his family above their relative poverty. Charlie is what, today, we would call a control freak. His worst fear is that his wife and his two sons will realize that the sacrifices they have made by isolating themselves from the wider world 14all to support his laziness 14are no longer tolerable to them. To keep them from wising up, he by turns distracts, cajoles, and bullies them into submission. In a memorable scene in which he distracts them, he picks up and hurls logs down a mountain slope, making great, explosive splashes in the lake below. It should be enough to make an environmentalist cringe as Charlie 19s stunt does potentially irreparable damage to the environment for no other purpose than to amuse his family.

Charlie 19s wife, Lila, suffers quietly for decades as she does most of the hard work that sustains her husband 19s life style, and their sons grow up cowed by his bullying and learning to take their anger out on each other and anybody or anything that crosses their paths. A most memorable part of the book is that in which Jed, the meaner of the two brothers, almost literally goes to war with nature, girding himself in home-made armor to battle with insects, setting traps and chasing pesky varmints with his rifle, and even fighting against the rocks and trees around him.

With characteristic self-deprecation, the author casts his own alter ego, Vridar Hunter (get it? Vardis Fisher=Vridar Hunter?), in the minor role of the boy who lives on the only other farm within many miles of the Bridwell place, and his only function is to be the butt of the Bridwell brothers 19 bullying.

Charlie gets his comeuppances at last. His wife rebels and leaves him, and his sons go their separate ways, only returning near the end to get even with their abusive father. As his world comes crashing down, though, Charlie ultimately proves to be an irrepressible type who seems to rebound as he resolves to lead a solitary wilderness life. He doesn 19t need anybody else, he thinks, even though he has spent decades using up the energies of those closest to him.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5* Not as good as Mountain Man, but still a very vivid picture of family life in the late 1800's.