Bruin: The Grand Bear Hunt

by Thomas Mayne Reid, Edward Dalziel, Johann Baptist Zwecker (Creator)

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406 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1861

About the author

"Captain" Reid wrote many adventure novels akin to those written by Frederick Marryat and Robert Louis Stevenson. He was a great admirer of Lord Byron. These novels contain action that takes place primarily in untamed settings: the American West, Mexico, South Africa, the Himalayas, and Jamaica.

Reviews

[Henry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok. There are a few things about this book I liked and disliked. Here are the few that I narrowed down to explain on this website. I liked the idea of incorporating the zoological studies of bears and other animal types in their environments. I also enjoyed hearing the various hunting techniques for bears around the world. These techniques are what kept me interested throughout the book; otherwise, it was a bit dull. The author did attempt humor at each bear hunt through the expense of the guide or their protector Mr. Pouchkin, but was pretty much just that, an attempt.

The primary thing I did not like was the horrifically irresponsible and wasteful hunting methods used on all of the animals throughout this book. I cannot support the shooting of perfectly edible animals just for the sport of skin. Killing and dumping the meat is especially true for endangered animals or the unnecessary indiscriminate killing of a mother with cubs. That being said, my viewpoint is from an entirely different lense of 2017 and not 1861. Unlike, most poorly educated youngins these days I can differentiate that era's mentality and what is written in a book versus my time in life.

Bottom line. Bruin is a moderately good book to garner interest in bears similarly to whales in Moby Dick. Just be prepared to white-knuckle yourself through the end.

[Cheryl]

Gutenberg.
For Siberia and 'balagan.'