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The Dark Heart of Every Wild Thing
Deep in the mountains of British Columbia, across an unforgiving landscape, one man’s pursuit of a fabled mountain lion leads him into the furthest reaches of himself. As he struggles to confront the wilderness surrounding him—from the baying hounds to the relentless northern snows—he journeys into his own haunted memories: a life of wild horses and ballet, fishing skiffs and blizzards, tropical seas and dolphins. Through wind, snow, and the depths of grief, he asks what price he is willing to exact on a world that ravages what we love, and whether redemption awaits those who learn to forgive.
A tender story of love and a modern-day parable, The Dark Heart of Every Wild Thing, the debut novel from acclaimed poet Joseph Fasano, guides us into the deepest territories of the human heart.
A tender story of love and a modern-day parable, The Dark Heart of Every Wild Thing, the debut novel from acclaimed poet Joseph Fasano, guides us into the deepest territories of the human heart.
272 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2020
10 people are currently reading
2779 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Fasano
12 books258 followersJoseph Fasano is the author of the novels The Swallows of Lunetto (Maudlin House, 2022) and The Dark Heart of Every Wild Thing (Platypus Press, 2020), which was named one of the "20 Best Small Press Books of 2020." His books of poetry include The Last Song of the World (BOA Editions, 2024), The Crossing (2018), Vincent (2015), Inheritance (2014), and Fugue for Other Hands (2013). His honors include the Cider Press Review Book Award, the Rattle Poetry Prize, and a nomination for the Poets' Prize, "awarded annually for the best book of verse published by a living American poet two years prior to the award year."
Fasano is an educator focusing on innovative learning strategies. He is the author of The Magic Words (TarcherPerigee, 2024), a collection of poetry prompts and educational tools that help unlock the creativity in people of all ages.
Fasano's writing has appeared in The Times Literary Supplement, The Yale Review, The Southern Review, The Missouri Review, Boston Review, Measure, Tin House, The Adroit Journal, Verse Daily, PEN Poetry Series, American Literary Review, American Poetry Journal, and the Academy of American Poets' poem-a-day program, among other publications. He is a Lecturer at Manhattanville University, and he hosts the Daily Poetry Thread on Twitter/X at @Joseph_Fasano_.
Fasano is an educator focusing on innovative learning strategies. He is the author of The Magic Words (TarcherPerigee, 2024), a collection of poetry prompts and educational tools that help unlock the creativity in people of all ages.
Fasano's writing has appeared in The Times Literary Supplement, The Yale Review, The Southern Review, The Missouri Review, Boston Review, Measure, Tin House, The Adroit Journal, Verse Daily, PEN Poetry Series, American Literary Review, American Poetry Journal, and the Academy of American Poets' poem-a-day program, among other publications. He is a Lecturer at Manhattanville University, and he hosts the Daily Poetry Thread on Twitter/X at @Joseph_Fasano_.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
July 25, 2020
What happened to me reading this novel was a magical experience I felt I had been missing — I feel we might all be missing in this global trauma... bringing ourselves to embrace places of tragic and painful reality, truly looking into ourselves, deepening the waters of our spirit and encountering the ghosts the man in this novel does. Fasano’s poetry is inseparable from him — that is evident here. His voice is true and wise and stable and consistent amongst his other works. As a first novel, I felt the assistance from voices of ancestry and the collective akasha. I felt he creates the possibility to reach the great masculine/feminine balance we all need and yearn for. I felt enriched after reading this book.
The main character’s search for this animal — this destroyer, this raging, unhinged natural entity, is the search this man needs to find the pieces of himself he had not been able to access until this part of his journey manifested. My favorite part of the novel is that the female character Fasano creates actually takes the lead role despite the male first person narration. Her consciousness dances across each page — he is she, and Fasano is both of them, and every dark wild heart he creates in these 270 pages. I recently became an admirer of Fasano’s work because he has reintroduced poetry to my life through the social media outreach he created during these difficult times.
I feel that if you too are searching, learning, on a journey — and of course, we all are — this book can touch you and move you and inspire you in the deepest, most profound and unconscious ways. If you read his poetry you know he is a master of his own psychology and ancestry, and his creative and intuitive balance between dark and light, color and texture, creates dialogue and prose that truly awakens your core, makes you wonder who you are and what you are made of.
I loved this novel and would recommend it to anyone looking to delve deeper into themselves and their hearts, their identity, humanity and true nature.
June 2, 2020
A father and his nine-year-old son trek into the high mountains to hunt a mountain lion. Generations have hunted the lion and failed. The father had sworn to bring one home.
They depart in late in autumn when the snow shows the lion's tracks. The father patiently teaches the child. At night the boy still dreams of his mother who died in an accident several years before.
Fasano creates a world that can be experienced with all the senses, the iron smell of blood and woodsmoke ingrained in a child's glove, the abrasiveness of dancing on asphalt, the sound of the silent forest and the hound's sharp snarl, the pain of brokenness in soul and body.
Granite and scree, chickweed and bracken, the velvet of antlers caught on branches, snow and iced-over water---and the snow-hushed pad of a predator's footfall.
There is beauty there.
And danger and suffering and pain.
But isn't life dangerous and painful? A bird flies into the room and a woman intuits a premonition. A pony splits its hoof and we end its suffering. We lose our most dearly beloved.
When tragedy strikes, the father seeks revenge, like Ahab hunting the white whale. But the father is also hunted.
Can revenge end our pain? Or is grace found in forgiveness?
I came across Joseph Fasano on Twitter. He was reading a poem a day during lockdown. Sometimes he read other poets, and I enjoyed his choices. He also read his own poetry, which I found very moving. Learning of his first novel, The Dark Heart of Every Wild Thing, I was eager to read it.
Fasano's brilliant use of language, unflinching exploration of suffering bodily and psychic, and the passions of grief and vengeance make this a memorable read. The startling resolution is one of hope that in the dark heart of every wild thing one can also find grace.
I was given a free ebook by the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
They depart in late in autumn when the snow shows the lion's tracks. The father patiently teaches the child. At night the boy still dreams of his mother who died in an accident several years before.
Fasano creates a world that can be experienced with all the senses, the iron smell of blood and woodsmoke ingrained in a child's glove, the abrasiveness of dancing on asphalt, the sound of the silent forest and the hound's sharp snarl, the pain of brokenness in soul and body.
Granite and scree, chickweed and bracken, the velvet of antlers caught on branches, snow and iced-over water---and the snow-hushed pad of a predator's footfall.
There is beauty there.
And danger and suffering and pain.
But isn't life dangerous and painful? A bird flies into the room and a woman intuits a premonition. A pony splits its hoof and we end its suffering. We lose our most dearly beloved.
When tragedy strikes, the father seeks revenge, like Ahab hunting the white whale. But the father is also hunted.
Can revenge end our pain? Or is grace found in forgiveness?
I came across Joseph Fasano on Twitter. He was reading a poem a day during lockdown. Sometimes he read other poets, and I enjoyed his choices. He also read his own poetry, which I found very moving. Learning of his first novel, The Dark Heart of Every Wild Thing, I was eager to read it.
Fasano's brilliant use of language, unflinching exploration of suffering bodily and psychic, and the passions of grief and vengeance make this a memorable read. The startling resolution is one of hope that in the dark heart of every wild thing one can also find grace.
I was given a free ebook by the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
August 10, 2020
Fasano is my new favorite writer. I usually prefer short stories to novels, and the novelists I love are pretty different from one another--Virginia Woolf, Cormac McCarthy, Michael Ontaatje, Willa Cather, Nabokov--but I think what those writers have in common is the innovative way they use language, breathing life into their characters with the idiosyncracies of their dialogue, creating a world with the music of the language itself. The title of this novel alone prepared you for the ferocious beauty of what's to come. "Make it different," one character says to another. And Fasano definitely does.
August 11, 2020
Joseph Fasano was my creative writing professor at Columbia and I've been so looking forward to this book. You can definitely tell from the prose that he's a poet, as well, and to me that's one of the strengths of the meditative / reflective passages. My favorite scene (and no I won't give away what happens) is the end. It's like the whole novel builds to this act that can only be described as an act of grace. It's triumphant. I recommend this to all.
November 21, 2020
Fasano perfectly captures the spirit of the wilderness, and the miracles of tenderness that can happen in it. I cried at the end.
July 21, 2020
It's so rare to find a writer who can tell a captivating story in beautiful prose, and Fasano is that writer. I've been a fan of his poetry for years, and this novel just blew me away. I hope to read more from him, and I hope to see this book made into a film. I can imagine the incredible imagery, landscapes, and human drama of it playing out on the screen. This is a must-read.
September 5, 2023
Pirmas sakinys: Visą savaitę mudu aptikdavome pėdsakus prie upės, pėdsakus, vedančius prie nuogriuvų, kur pavasarį nuo klano viršūnės plūsdavo tirpsmo vandenys.
Knyga sugundė poetišku pavadinimu ir melancholišku viršeliu. "Tamsi laukinio padaro širdis" – pirmasis Niujorke gyvenančio amerikiečių poeto Joseph Fasano romanas, todėl poezijos yra ne tik pavadinime, tačiau ir pačioje prozoje.
Kaip pastebėjo literatūros kritikė Eglė Baliutavičiūtė, "tokias knygas kaip "Tamsi laukinio padaro širdis" skaitome ne dėl siužeto novatoriškumo ar netikėtumų, nors ir jų yra, bet pirmiausia dėl paties pasakojimo, o tiksliau pasakojimo meistrystės, kalbos vingrumo ir grožio, kurie pažįstamą istoriją paverčia nauja ir netikėta.
Tai, kad Fasano pirmiausia yra poetas, skaitytojas pajus tikrai. Romanas itin sodrus, poetiškas ir ypač sensualus, priversiantis pajusti vėją, šakos prisilietimą, alkį, pamatyti gražiausius ir tamsiausius medžioklės vaizdus, užuosti kvapus ir prisimerkti nuo saulės blyksnio. O veikėjo sąmonės srautas nuo apčiuopiamo, juntamo, geliančio pasaulio kone nejučia nuneš į prisiminimų, impresijų ir vaizdinių. Vyriškas šiurkštumas ir užsispyrimas bus užlietas jautrumo ir intymumo. Kūrinys reikalauja lėto, atidaus skaitymo ir interpretacijos, o už tai skaitytojui dovanos ilgam įstrigsiančią psichologinę, alegorišką ir, linkėčiau, katarsį suteiksiančią istoriją."
Romanas "Tamsi laukinio padaro širdis" iš esmės kalba apie netektį, prarastą meilę ir skirtingus gedėjimo, psichologinio gijimo etapus. Joseph Fasano prisipažįsta, kad jį "labiausiai domina kalboje slypinti tyla. Kai rašau poeziją, galvoju apie nutylėjimus tarp žodžių ir žodžiuose, tarp eilučių ir eilutėse, tarp posmų ir posmuose. Kai rašau prozą, daugiausiai galvoju apie nutylėjimus tarp veikėjų ir pačių veikėjų viduje.
Nepaisant visų šių gražių idėjų ir žodžių, knygą skaičiau labai sunkiai: gamtos ir veikėjo vidinio pasaulio aprašymai buvo gražūs ir stiprūs, tačiau galiausiai pavargau – romanas pasirodė ištęstas, per daug nutylėjimų, susidarė įspūdis, kad autorius užsižaidžia žodžiais ir noru pademonstruoti meistrystę: tapyba žodžiais poezijoje ir prozoje skiriasi. Pagarba vertėjai Danguolei Žalytei-Steiblienei už atliktą darbą, tačiau kalbos vingrumas ir grožis nebūtinai reiškia pasakojimo meistrystę.
Knyga prailgo, nors ir nėra ilga (222 p.). Ironiška tai, kad siužeto joje ne tiek jau ir mažai (Įspėjimas – detalus siužeto atpasakojimas!), tačiau sunkus pagrindinio veikėjo pumos sekimas tampa tokiu pat sunkiu skverbimusi per puslapius.
Knyga sugundė poetišku pavadinimu ir melancholišku viršeliu. "Tamsi laukinio padaro širdis" – pirmasis Niujorke gyvenančio amerikiečių poeto Joseph Fasano romanas, todėl poezijos yra ne tik pavadinime, tačiau ir pačioje prozoje.
Kaip pastebėjo literatūros kritikė Eglė Baliutavičiūtė, "tokias knygas kaip "Tamsi laukinio padaro širdis" skaitome ne dėl siužeto novatoriškumo ar netikėtumų, nors ir jų yra, bet pirmiausia dėl paties pasakojimo, o tiksliau pasakojimo meistrystės, kalbos vingrumo ir grožio, kurie pažįstamą istoriją paverčia nauja ir netikėta.
Tai, kad Fasano pirmiausia yra poetas, skaitytojas pajus tikrai. Romanas itin sodrus, poetiškas ir ypač sensualus, priversiantis pajusti vėją, šakos prisilietimą, alkį, pamatyti gražiausius ir tamsiausius medžioklės vaizdus, užuosti kvapus ir prisimerkti nuo saulės blyksnio. O veikėjo sąmonės srautas nuo apčiuopiamo, juntamo, geliančio pasaulio kone nejučia nuneš į prisiminimų, impresijų ir vaizdinių. Vyriškas šiurkštumas ir užsispyrimas bus užlietas jautrumo ir intymumo. Kūrinys reikalauja lėto, atidaus skaitymo ir interpretacijos, o už tai skaitytojui dovanos ilgam įstrigsiančią psichologinę, alegorišką ir, linkėčiau, katarsį suteiksiančią istoriją."
Romanas "Tamsi laukinio padaro širdis" iš esmės kalba apie netektį, prarastą meilę ir skirtingus gedėjimo, psichologinio gijimo etapus. Joseph Fasano prisipažįsta, kad jį "labiausiai domina kalboje slypinti tyla. Kai rašau poeziją, galvoju apie nutylėjimus tarp žodžių ir žodžiuose, tarp eilučių ir eilutėse, tarp posmų ir posmuose. Kai rašau prozą, daugiausiai galvoju apie nutylėjimus tarp veikėjų ir pačių veikėjų viduje.
Nepaisant visų šių gražių idėjų ir žodžių, knygą skaičiau labai sunkiai: gamtos ir veikėjo vidinio pasaulio aprašymai buvo gražūs ir stiprūs, tačiau galiausiai pavargau – romanas pasirodė ištęstas, per daug nutylėjimų, susidarė įspūdis, kad autorius užsižaidžia žodžiais ir noru pademonstruoti meistrystę: tapyba žodžiais poezijoje ir prozoje skiriasi. Pagarba vertėjai Danguolei Žalytei-Steiblienei už atliktą darbą, tačiau kalbos vingrumas ir grožis nebūtinai reiškia pasakojimo meistrystę.
Knyga prailgo, nors ir nėra ilga (222 p.). Ironiška tai, kad siužeto joje ne tiek jau ir mažai (Įspėjimas – detalus siužeto atpasakojimas!), tačiau sunkus pagrindinio veikėjo pumos sekimas tampa tokiu pat sunkiu skverbimusi per puslapius.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2020
This is an outstanding work of literary fiction. In a world that would reduce us to easy moral categories--good and evil, this or that--this novel reminds us that we're all complex, stumbling creatures trying to find our way, trying to love and be loved, to redeem and be redeemed. My reading group recommended this to me because of my interest in philosophy, and I think they were right that this book has some profound reflections in it, but, to me, one of its virtues is that those reflections are made one with the physicality of the story, the characters, and the prose. It's that good.
August 16, 2020
Poets who turn their hands to fiction have done so with mixed results. Most recently, Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous was a tremendous success. Then, of course, there are the classics: Plath's The Bell Jar, James Dickey's Deliverance, and so on. Sometimes the results are disastrous (just think of Berryman's Recovery, all the more poignant in being an unfinished wreck of a book because of its subject matter and the fate of its author). I was won over by this one. I'd read mixed reviews about it from readers who were not so keen on literary fiction, but I knew Fasano was a poet, so I was fairly sure about what kind of world I was going to be stepping into. And I'm glad I did. It's hard to explain this novel. The story is fascinating, yet I didn't feel that was the only thing pulling me along. As with other "poet novels," the language compelled me, gave me pause, made me think, challenged me, and just moved me. I was glad to get lost in this book, and will again.
September 20, 2023
daug poezijos šitoj prozoj, pagarbaus atsidavimo gamtai, vidinės kelionės, turtingo žodyno;
daug lėtumo ir kantrybės, prisiminimų ir atkartojimų, pokalbio su savim;
dinamiškai yriaus: pamažėle, bang!, tuomet smalsiai, vėliau vėl tempas nuslūgo, kol gal prasmegau pusnynuos;
perskaičiau ir likau suglumęs.
daug lėtumo ir kantrybės, prisiminimų ir atkartojimų, pokalbio su savim;
dinamiškai yriaus: pamažėle, bang!, tuomet smalsiai, vėliau vėl tempas nuslūgo, kol gal prasmegau pusnynuos;
perskaičiau ir likau suglumęs.
March 5, 2021
Outstanding
A good story that reads like a prose poem.
This is a new author worth reading
I'll be looking for future books from this writer
A good story that reads like a prose poem.
This is a new author worth reading
I'll be looking for future books from this writer
November 8, 2023
Unassuming and beautiful. Hard to read only because I want to linger on every sentence. I love prose that is written like poetry, capturing moments and feelings in creative and relatable ways. Two ways Fasano writes about something so mundane, shoulders, different yet both capturing the reader’s imagination and bringing them into the scene:
“The night air smells of cedar, and when she turns back over the threshold he can see the moon caught in the openness of her shoulders, and she carries it back with her into the empty house, where her childhood is.”
“…when she slept I laid my hand in the small creek bed between his shoulders, and I asked, in the silence, where he was carrying us.”
I loved this book so much. If I could find my own copy of it (sadly the publisher went out of business) this is a book I’d read again and again.
“The night air smells of cedar, and when she turns back over the threshold he can see the moon caught in the openness of her shoulders, and she carries it back with her into the empty house, where her childhood is.”
“…when she slept I laid my hand in the small creek bed between his shoulders, and I asked, in the silence, where he was carrying us.”
I loved this book so much. If I could find my own copy of it (sadly the publisher went out of business) this is a book I’d read again and again.
July 17, 2023
Solid 3 stars I think. I feel like i should've liked this one more. The shifts in time between past and present were interesting. You can really get a sense of what kind of people the couple are, what's important to them and why, but everything is frustratingly vague. The boy's character was endearing, you really feel for the man for his loss, as stupid and preventable as it may seem at first. Things happen in the woods.
The prose is pretty, maybe too pretty and detailed. My eyes got tired from all the bird names by the end.
I understand what it was trying to say, I hope, but it did not quite reach the mark for me. Nevertheless, you can really feel the connection the man has with his family and how this whole revenge dragged on and affected him.
Personally though, I would've crawled home to reminisce in a hospital, tail between my legs, before I had to eat deer shit with a broken jaw in the woods, near winter.
The prose is pretty, maybe too pretty and detailed. My eyes got tired from all the bird names by the end.
I understand what it was trying to say, I hope, but it did not quite reach the mark for me. Nevertheless, you can really feel the connection the man has with his family and how this whole revenge dragged on and affected him.
Personally though, I would've crawled home to reminisce in a hospital, tail between my legs, before I had to eat deer shit with a broken jaw in the woods, near winter.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2021
What I love about this book is that it reads like a dream that becomes suddenly real. The writing is stunning, and I found myself pulled into both the love story and the narrative with the lion. It's hard to categorize this book, which, to me, is refreshing. The narrator is complex, living a story that slowly makes him realize his shortcomings, and that steadily makes us realize our own. Transformative.
August 13, 2023
“…however high the life aspires, so low the roots in the darkness. The more it tries to lift itself for the wishful sun, the gnarled dark of the savage soul grows deep.”
This book was a wild ride. It could be my interpretation but the last leg of the novel dragged on, and it felt similar to how grief also drags on until we make peace with it or whatever — the flashbacks of the past mixed with the bitterness of the present.
This book was a wild ride. It could be my interpretation but the last leg of the novel dragged on, and it felt similar to how grief also drags on until we make peace with it or whatever — the flashbacks of the past mixed with the bitterness of the present.
July 20, 2020
Another Canadian setting for this author (previously read his poem on Vince Li). This fails to hit the mark however as the overwrought imagery and poetic intonation becomes cloying and detracts from the narrative. Some definite beautiful passages, but overall not an enjoyable story -- which is why I chose a novel to read an not a poem.
August 10, 2020
I hadn't read Fasano's poetry before reading his novel, but a friend recommended it to me and i'm glad she did. I spend a lot of time in nature and this book has an incredible atmosphere, like a world I didn't want to leave. The story and language are heartbreakingly beautiful, and the ending...just wow. Didn't see that coming.
April 14, 2023
beautiful prose, at least 38% incomprehensible, and finally lost me when our protagonist (willingly!!!!) ate deer scat
November 24, 2024
Poetiška proza
Be poetiškumo taip pat labai patiko gamtai atidi akis: kas vienam žmogui žuvis, kitam - srovinė aukšlė. Atrodytų, knygai tai kaip ir neturėtų būti svarbu, bet, manau, visgi yra - čia visa gamta yra lyg dar vienas knygos veikėjas.
Iki 5/5 man pritrūko dviejų dalykų: aiškesnės praeities siužetinės linijos (laikau nesupratęs kai kurių detalių), ir labiau įtikinančios medžioklės linijos (atrodė, kad fizikos ir biologijos dėsniai pagrindiniam veikėjui ne visada galioja).
Be poetiškumo taip pat labai patiko gamtai atidi akis: kas vienam žmogui žuvis, kitam - srovinė aukšlė. Atrodytų, knygai tai kaip ir neturėtų būti svarbu, bet, manau, visgi yra - čia visa gamta yra lyg dar vienas knygos veikėjas.
Iki 5/5 man pritrūko dviejų dalykų: aiškesnės praeities siužetinės linijos (laikau nesupratęs kai kurių detalių), ir labiau įtikinančios medžioklės linijos (atrodė, kad fizikos ir biologijos dėsniai pagrindiniam veikėjui ne visada galioja).
January 2, 2021
Some of the descriptions of nature are quite powerful, and meditative, and beautiful. More than I can remember from any recent book, I had to go to the dictionary to look up so so many words, which I didn't mind. But the jumping back and forth from wilderness to the protagonist's relationship with his wife really killed the pace and power of the book for me. The vague ambiguity that Fasano uses to paint that relationship really irritated me. Oh well, it didn't quite work, but I'll certainly read the next think he writes since his writing can really be great at times.
August 13, 2020
I loved it. This novel is about tenderness and forgiveness as much as it's about the brutality of what we do to others and ourselves. The main character's relationship with his father is one of the things that interested me the most, even though it goes on mostly in the background of the story. That's how life is, isn't it: we're shaped by the things we barely see. For its sweeping scale and tender intimacy, I give this a resounding 5 stars. The ending left me breathless.
March 8, 2021
Dnf at 200 pages, but close enough that I’m marking it read. Didn’t enjoy the cutting back and forth from mountain scenes to past relationship. Wilderness descriptions became monotonous at times. Got tired of how drawn out everything felt.
February 27, 2024
Skaitant vis galvojau, kad labai aiškiai matosi, kuris rašytojas šiaip turi gerą idėją ir nori ją įgyvendinti, o kuris mokėsi rašymo meno. Nebūtinai turiu omenyje jį studijavo, bet praktikavosi ilgai ir kantriai, rašė ir perrašė, davė sau laiko išmokti, sužydėti.
Ši knyga yra kaip tik tokio rašytojo. Fasano dėsto kūrybinį rašymą, yra išleidęs poezijos knygas ir apdovanotas įvairiais prizais (Rattle Poetry gal labiausiai žinomas lietuviams). Ir jo kalba atspindi talento susijungimą su amatu: gilios, gražios ir jausmų visatą aprepiančios mintys, išsakytos poetiška kalba, per vieną metaforą - žvėries širdį. Išmąstyti ir parašyti visą knygą, kurioje įvykių nėra daug, bet jausmas beribis, ir padaryti ją įdomią skaitytojui, yra retas dalykas literatūroje, bet Fasano tai padarė 👌. Šita knyga bus klasika.
Mane labai paveikė pagrindinė tamsios, žvėriškos širdies metafora, žmogaus ir žvėries priešprieša, ir medžiotojo bei jo aukos rolių persipynimas tekste. Tuo pačiu keliami ir klausimai, ką tai reiškia gyventi ir išgyventi, būti žmogumi visatoje, viena neaprėpiamo jos kūno dalele, jaustis namie laukinėje tamsoje.
Tokią knygą reikia skaityti lėtai ir maloniai. Kiekvienas sakinys gali duoti daug, jei duosite laiko jam įsigerti į jūsų mintis.
Beje - sveikinimai vertėjai. Labai gerai darbą padarė.
Ši knyga yra kaip tik tokio rašytojo. Fasano dėsto kūrybinį rašymą, yra išleidęs poezijos knygas ir apdovanotas įvairiais prizais (Rattle Poetry gal labiausiai žinomas lietuviams). Ir jo kalba atspindi talento susijungimą su amatu: gilios, gražios ir jausmų visatą aprepiančios mintys, išsakytos poetiška kalba, per vieną metaforą - žvėries širdį. Išmąstyti ir parašyti visą knygą, kurioje įvykių nėra daug, bet jausmas beribis, ir padaryti ją įdomią skaitytojui, yra retas dalykas literatūroje, bet Fasano tai padarė 👌. Šita knyga bus klasika.
Mane labai paveikė pagrindinė tamsios, žvėriškos širdies metafora, žmogaus ir žvėries priešprieša, ir medžiotojo bei jo aukos rolių persipynimas tekste. Tuo pačiu keliami ir klausimai, ką tai reiškia gyventi ir išgyventi, būti žmogumi visatoje, viena neaprėpiamo jos kūno dalele, jaustis namie laukinėje tamsoje.
Tokią knygą reikia skaityti lėtai ir maloniai. Kiekvienas sakinys gali duoti daug, jei duosite laiko jam įsigerti į jūsų mintis.
Beje - sveikinimai vertėjai. Labai gerai darbą padarė.
August 16, 2020
This isn't what I would describe as the "typical" novel for my bookshelf, but that's probably what I loved about it most. The love story between the two main characters is so intense and gentle. And the dialogue between the father and son on their quest is really special, raw and tender. It's definitely a work of "literary fiction," in that it cares about both style and substance and sees them as inseparable. The only thing I wished for was more about the narrator's time in the Caribbean, but I liked the juxtaposition of that warm world of memory with the cold world of the mountains where the main story takes place. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
August 13, 2020
Long-time reader of Fasano's poetry. I was excited about him writing fiction when I heard about this book a few months ago. I read it in one sitting and am still feeling changed by what I read. I'm still processing it, but I know I will read it again, especially the flashback passages, which somehow made me feel both the tragedy and the beauty of the characters' relationship. I have a few favorite quotes so far, but one that particularly stands out is: "When you love the dead in someone, you're merciless." I'll be eagerly awaiting Fasano's next.
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July 4, 2021This book left me so frustrated, I really wanted to love it and enjoy the prose but couldn’t find a story to hang onto. I ended up skimming sections, then stopping at parts in the book - finding a sequence that was a dream, a hallucination or a memory - it was hard to tell if the book wasn’t just one long dreamlike text based in the wilderness.
I would very much like to get back to this book, I’d like to give it another go when I’m perhaps in a different mindset. I can tell there’s a treasure to be found in this book, but you have to give it time to find it.
I would very much like to get back to this book, I’d like to give it another go when I’m perhaps in a different mindset. I can tell there’s a treasure to be found in this book, but you have to give it time to find it.
August 19, 2020
When I saw a Kirkus review that called this "Ahab-like", I had to have a look, Melville being my favorite writer. The comparison is really more about the obsessive quest of the main character, not so much the style, which is poetic but very much its own thing. The writing and story are extraordinary. I'm recommending this to my book group.
October 14, 2020
This novel came to me at a time when I needed it most in my life, and I'm so grateful that it found me. I feel like at its heart this is a book about redemption, and we could all use that right now. Maybe always. 5 stars +
August 16, 2020
A triumph.
January 4, 2021
One of my new favorite books. Fasano understands how to use silence.
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