Summary & Study Guide The River by Gary Paulsen

by BookRags

The River Study Guide contains comprehensive summaries and analysis of the book. This study guide includes a detailed Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Character Descriptions, Objects/Places, Themes, Styles, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion on The River by Gary Paulsen.

Genres: Fiction

24 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 20, 2011

Reviews

[Karen GoatKeeper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book in a series and should be read in order for these two.
In the first book Brian is in a plane crash and stranded in the Canadian wilderness for almost 2 months. His only tool was a hatchet. He learned to survive but was changed greatly by the experience.
For this second book government people who teach survival skills wan Brian to return to the wilderness and show them how to make their course better. Brian hesitates. The Time makes him uneasy yet lures him.
Brian and Derek are dropped off. They have knives but no other supplies. Derek has a radio and his briefcase to keep notes. They are doing fine until a storm hits.
Perhaps it is because I live out in the hills but I can relate to these books. The pages fly by. Between times when I can sit down and read, the book calls me, begging me to find an excuse to open it up.
The book is written for young teenage boys. All the survival skills are believable. It brings up ideas and values many of us hold and asks us to take a closer look at them. It presents the question of how prepared we are to face disaster and survive.

[Jack Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book “The river” by, Gary Paulsen is about a 14 year old named Brian was spoken to by the government about going back into the wilderness. Wanting him to stay there to document with Derek Holtzer, a government psychologist. his time there and it will help the military and astronauts if they were stranded. I think the book was thrilling to read and was keeping me on the edge of my seat. The book is one of my favorite to read and Hatchet. They are very good and make you want to read more and think “what would I do in that situation.”
My favorite part of the book is when the lightning strikes the tree and the bolt goes through the radio and into Derek. Many parts in this book keep you hooked to it and the suspense keeps rising till the end. To get Derek home safely he must go 100 miles to a trading post where he would get help. They eventually do make it to the trading post and Derek survives. In return Derek gets Brian a canoe called “The Raft.”

[Gustin Lechtenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

How long could you survive in the woods without help or supplies? The River, by Gary Paulsen is a fictional, action-packed must read. As a nineteen-year-old college student, it kept me thoroughly entertained and I really enjoyed reading it. I highly recommend this book and I give it five stars. If you enjoy learning about survival skills and overcoming adversity, then this is the perfect book for you because the two main characters, Brian and Dereck, do both. They are forced to survive in the woods when they make the decision to pursue a realistic survival experience. Although, the experience takes a drastic turn which places them in a fight for their lives. Another reason I liked this book is because the characters show how teamwork is the best strategy to use in tough situations. This relates to life in general because working with other people is a day-to-day experience for most of us. Teamwork is critical to success which this book highlights when Brian and Derek use teamwork in order to survive in the woods. In addition, I enjoyed this book because it was suspenseful and I didn’t want to put it down. Continual action and plot surprises peaked my interest throughout. This book is similar to Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson. Both books focus on survival and what it takes to stay alive in times of adversity. Once again, if you are a person who enjoys watching people push past adversity to achieve their goals, then this is the book for you.

[Anders Giardino · Rating 5 out of 5]

The River By Gary Paulsen
Book Review

Have you ever wondered what it takes to survive with only a knife in the woods? In this book you will experience how Brian Robenson, and Derek Holtzer manage to survive in the woods, eventually making it out alive. The River written by Gary Paulsen is a book in his survival series, it was published in June 1991. I would recommend reading the first book in the series called “The Hatchet,” to fully understand how Brian got to this point of going out into the wilderness again. This book depicts a survival expert and a young boy being placed in the woods so Derek Holtzer (the survival expert) can annotate everything that is going on with Brian, physically and mentally. Suddenly things take a twist when an unexpected rain storm leads to Derek being struck by lightning! I personally would recommend this book to others due to its very engaging storyline and plot. As well as being well written and a brilliant survival story. This book is great for everyone that is interested in nature and wants to experience what it takes to survive in the woods with only a pocket knife.

[Shalana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book "The River" is about a fourteen year old boy who survived in the wilderness for fifty four days. Once he returned the government wanted him to do it again so that other people could learn from him. The theme of this book is survival because throughout the whole book he was fighting for his life and his friends. I would recommend this book to people who like going on adventures and would like to know the experience of surviving in the woods. Readers should pick up this book because they could learn what it is like in the real world with out a phone or many supplies.

[MELISSA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fascinating story of survival and amazing strength of purpose as Brian Robeson, now 15 years old, is again in the wilderness and having to take an injured man to civilization. Author Paulsen vividly portrays Brian's struggles with the wilderness and with himself throughout his journey. Peter Coyote narrates with just the right amount of nuance for the character. This was an audio edition through Listening Library (not a Kindle edition as it appears in the above title as only this Kindle edition shows in GoodReads available titles).

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

the Hatchet books are a treasure collection. I have saved them and re read often, usually when I want to just slide into this bit of universe and see it again through Brian's eyes. I am saving these for my grandchildren as I am sure they will be long out of print and only findable in used book places.

[Carol Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. Probably not a surprise coming from someone who loves the outdoors and hikes on the Appalachian Trail, but his descriptions of flora, fauna, topography, etc. are amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed this tale.

[Addison Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's a good book really good, in fact it's almost better then the first book Hatchet. Also, this book is filled with quick action, it's easy to read and there are not too many characters. it's a simple adventure novel that almost any reader can easily enjoy.

[Ruben Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is Follow up to "Hatchet" but it's also a good book but not as good as the First one but it sure gets more interesting as it goes

[Mauser S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

still surprise he lives another day. However not better than hatchet but i still loved it

[Conner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good.

[Parker Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the book but not the study guide version.

[Mark Fuhrman · Rating 4 out of 5]

really good.

[August Anderson]

it was ok

[Noah Williams]

yay

[Kian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading the book, and I think the characters the book developed very well.

[Kian Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the book, and I think the author did a great job of showing action in the book.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

an exciting read about survival

[Chrismcdowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The setting of the story is taken place at a lake near the lake he had crashed before. It takes most of the book here and there are some parts in the book where it takes place at Brian's , the main character of the story, house. The book is a sequel to hatchet so what had happen n hatchet was he survived after a plane had crashed in a lake. So he survived and for a while everyone was very amazed that he survived in the woods with just a hatchet. Later on 3 men come to his house and ask him many questions but finally get to the point and, ask him to redo everything. The 3 men wanted him to do it so they could teach others how Brian did it if they get in a situation like Brian's. He and his family thought about it real good because he was risking his life again. In the end he decided to go on the trip and take someone that could take notes so then they could teach other people. They get to the lake where they were going to redo everything and start setting everything up. Although Brian agreed he really didn't feel that people where going to learn he said that you would have to bring every single one of them to teach them. For more go get the book yourself and read to see what really happens after they die or do they?
I really like the book due to the action and adventure in it and how the foreshadowing goes on in the book. The book was easy to connect to mainly because Brian was about the same age as me so I could relate to some things. The authors style used by the author was very fluid and easy to understand. I would recommend this book any day especially if your bored one day go and get it. I'm giving this book 5 stars because it was so good from the beginning to the end of the book. Honestly it was one of the best books I've ever read in my life time. Hope this book review can help you choose the book instead of any other bad books that will bore you.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

The River by Gary Paulsen, is a story about a fifteen year old teenager named Brian Roberson who is a survivor of a plane crash. Brian survived alone in the wilderness for fifty-four days. He is asked by the U.S. Government to go back into the wilderness to train astronauts and military personnel about survival techniques. This time however, he won't be alone. Derek Holtzer, a Government Psychologist, will go with him and record how Brian survives.

This book is a great book! I liked the fact that it was a continuation of the stories Hatchet and Brian's Winter. Brian Roberson is the ultimate survivalist and the books continue telling different stories of survival. This book talks about him helping astronauts and military personnel. This book would be hard to understand if this was the first book read in the series. The reader needs to read the books in the order they were written to fully understand the stories.

This book would be great for people who like series books and survival stories. The author continues to write about nature and the obstacles encountered in surviving in nature. This book is followed by two more books; Brian's Return and the finale, Brian's Hunt.

[Evan Mcgill · Rating 4 out of 5]

compared to the first book Hatchet, I think that the river might be better but I read Hatchet my 6th grade year so it has been a while. I think that It has immaculate detail on every single event almost like it happened to Gary as a teenager. If i were to recommend this book to someone it would have to be someone who likes wilderness books with lots of plot twists and details, also you would have to like adventurous books with a little bit of mystery. overall I gave the book a Four out of Five, because of the amount of detail he adds to every event.

[Miss Welsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this as much as I did Hatchet, but still a good book to read on a snow day.

[Kris Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok bryan should grow up and become a wilderness survivor teacher - but first he needs to take first aid! hatchet first book, river second and winter is third.

[Destiny Noelsaint]

good