Wild Life by Molly Gloss

So I've just finished reading Wild Life by Molly Gloss and am feeling a little ambivalent about it.  On the one hand it is a well written and thought-provoking story with a wonderfully independent heroine (I like smart female characters who show a little moxie), but on the other I thought I would never finish the book (and it is quite short--about 250 pages).  It is the latest reading choice of the Slaves of Golconda, and I was very excited about the story.  One of the reasons I enjoy readalongs (though my track record of late with the Slaves has been a little spotty) is being able to widen my reading horizons and read books that may well be outside my normal comfort zone.  Wild Life is a novel that crosses genres as there is a sci-fi/fantasy slant to the story, and in this case it also deals with gender issues as well.  There is a certain amount of stretching of the imagination needed in the story, but I don't mind that really.  So, what's not to like right? 

The story is presented as a series of journal entries by Charlotte Bridger Drummond, a feminist and freethinking woman living with her five sons in the Pacific Northwest in the early years of the 20th century.  Charlotte's husband left one day on the ferry never to return.  She could avoid the stigma of being an abandoned wife by claiming one of the bodies that frequently washes ashore but prefers to think of her husband alive somewhere and happy rather than drowned and dead.  She doesn't manage too badly on her own, however, as she pens dimestore novels of spunky heroines who get caught up in wild adventures.  She likes to think she might be the natural successor to her idol Jules Verne, but she realizes her work crosses the line from serious to marketable. 

Charlotte spends most of her time, as much as she can anyway, either writing or reading, which is no easy task considering the number of literary and scientific journals that arrive on the ferry every month.  Not a fan of cooking or cleaning and with a rather elastic sense of motherly guidance she leaves the more mundane domestic duties up to her housekeeper, Melba.

"My personal belief if that a woman's worth doesn't lie in the cleanliness of her house; and at the commencement of each of Melba's absences I always am determined on principle, to let the housekeeping pile up.  It is Melba's belief, though, that a woman who neglects her home is unnatural, an abnormity more horrible than Frankenstein's monster, and on her return there is a particular look she will give me as she surveys the disorder."

When Melba's granddaughter goes missing from one of the logging camps her father very foolishly brought her to, Charlotte is determined to not only travel there to discover the circumstances of her disappearance (by the time word makes its way from wilderness to the town it is stretched completely out of shape and distorted) but also to give a hand in the search as well.  Charlotte isn't just determined but she is downright stubborn.  She is an unapologetic intellectual who is sure she can succeed where others have failed.  But several days into the search, she also gets separated from the group and even her trusty compass can't help her find her way back so completely turned around does she become.

At first she is sure she can catch up with the group of searchers, but as the days pass, her food runs out and she becomes cold and wet, her hope dwindles.  Alone and afraid she senses she is being watched and realizes she is not alone in the wilderness.  Literally at the end of her tether she latches on to a family of, I'm not sure what to call them--creatures that are much larger than humans but not too far removed from them either.  They have their own language, so are unable to communicate, and while they are somewhat wary of each other they eventually allow Charlotte to tag along until she becomes almost one of them.

Interspersed in the narrative/journal entries are snippets from Charlotte's writing, both her stories and feminist musings, as well as sketches of the various characters (both primary and secondary characters of the story) and also included are quotes from authors and Native American folk tales.  Taken together it creates a mosaic of sorts throwing light on different aspects of the story.  These diversions become meditations on 19th century life, not exclusively of the West but certainly particular to it.  She asks the reader (in however roundabout way) to consider many different things--the role of women in society, preservation versus the necessity of the logging industry, how animals are treated and what it means to be humane.

"I wonder if we might more easily become like animals than animals become like humans.  As a species, we human beings seem no longer fitted for life in the wilderness--have been weakened by centuries of civilized life--but there may yet be something inherent in our natures, some potentiality which wants only the right circumstance to return us to the raw edge of Wildness."

I feel like I should be in love with this story.  Charlotte is a remarkable, if fallible, woman.  She dresses like a man when she needs to, rides a bicycle and when asked if she needs a light (she smokes an occasional cigar) replies she never takes a light from a man.  She's smart and ever ready with a quick quip, which rolls smoothly off her tongue (there were loads of wonderful lines I could have shared!).  Gloss vividly describes the Pacific Northwest, making it sound lush and beautiful and creates an intriguing picture of a vast wilderness--one where you can walk for days and never see anyone else (do places like that still exist here outside of state parks?).  For the first two thirds of the story I was totally engaged and knowing that Charlotte would become lost in the wilderness I couldn't wait for that part of the story to arrive, but once it did I think I became frustrated by the many diversions and meanderings.  I like that she pushes boundaries and asks hard questions, but for me it also broke up the flow of the story making me feel like I was plodding along.

I'm still glad I read the book and think I will try The Jump-Off Creek by Gloss at some point, which is handily available at my library.  Wild Life won the 2000 James Tiptree, Jr. Award.  You can read more reviews of the book here or join in the discussion here.

Comments

[Rohan]

I didn't finish it (yet), which is a sign of my own ambivalence or worse. I agree about the vivid depictions of the region, though. The book made me think I'd like to reread Daphne Marlatt's Ana Historic, set in frontier BC, which is also very evocative about the setting but more experimental in its form.

[Danielle]

Rohan--It took me a long time to read this story--I think it was the many diversions, which were sometimes really interesting but in that latter section just slowed me completely down. Maybe I couldn't quite stretch my imagination for those creatures as much as I like to think I could. But I loved the descriptions--I've wanted to live in the Pacific Northwest for a long time now, so I could appreciate how vividly the sense of place stood out. I'll have to check out the Marlatt book--she is new to me.

[Caroline]

I've never heard of the book but my experience with readalongs, even my own, is that it can really be the wrong moment for a book.
I admire you for always looking for ways to expand your reading horizon.

[Stefanie]

I ended up liking the part where Charlotte was lost much better than the first half of the book. I didn't mind the scrapbook-like nature of the story's structure. I thought it broadened the story. You may have been ambivalent about the book but at least you liked it enough to want to read other books by Gloss :)

[Kathy Johnson]

This sounds like a fascinating book. I think I'll look for it and see how I feel about it. I know what you mean about thinking you should like a book better than you do, etc. I'm currently reading one that sounds on the surface to be right up my alley, and I'm finding it rather a struggle to get through. I'm just not connecting with the story and I contemplate tossing it aside, or maybe skimming the remainder, but somehow I keep reading. It's also fairly short, so I'll probably keep trudging along, hoping it gets better. I think there's some indefinable "connection" aspect with books--sometimes it's just not there.

[Rebecca H.]

Nice review! I agree with your comment about those creatures -- I sort of felt that they weren't even necessary to the story. They didn't really fit in, except thematically -- which is important, but the fantasy element felt kind of tacked on. She built up to it with lots of references to monsters, giants, etc., but it was a bit odd when they finally arrived. I cared more about Charlotte getting back home than about what happened to those creatures.

[Anbolyn]

I think this sounds really intriguing and I love reading anything about the history of the West.
I just read Possession which also has a lot of narrative disruption in the form of poems and letters, but I think if this is done well it can really add to the story. It certainly did in Possession!

[Danielle]

Caroline--I think I was so fidgety as I knew there were other books I was enjoying more and wanted to read those. This was a book I got through ILL so I really needed to finish it before the due date and I didn't read the last Slaves book so really wanted to make an effort with this one. I do like reading outside my comfort zone, but I am then always very ready to return back to it!

Stefanie--Jump Off Creek sounded more appealing to me--I liked the story--or parts of it so I'm willing to give her work another go. I did like the other writings, but at the same time it seemed to slow the main story down and that made it feel like it was plodding along. So, sort of a mixed bag of a read.

Kathy--I'm very curious to know what others think of it. And I did see on Amazon it received some very enthusiastic reviews so I think it just may appeal to some more than others--as is always the case with books, right?! I do know what you mean about continuing with a book that you are ambivalent about--thinking it will get better or click later on. Sometimes this happens, but not always. It is nice when there is a connection with a story on some level--those are always the most rewarding and satisfying for me.

Rebecca--She did really set the story up for the creatures to appear, but once they did I was sort of disappointed somehow. In some respects and I think others have touched on this, it almost seemed as though the author was trying too hard--or at least it appeared that way. It almost would have been enough for her to simply get lost, have to deal with the elements on her own and then connect up with society. It was kind of an odd story.

Anbolyn--I loved reading about the Pacific Northwest and life in the early 20th century--that alone would have been enough for me to be engaged in the story. I didn't mind some of the other texts that were woven into the story, but when it veered off it seemed to just get bogged down for me. I read Possession a long time ago and yes, that is a story that really does benefit from all the poems and disruptions--I agree. That is a book that I really do need to reread.

[litlove]

It's very interesting reading everyone's responses to this novel, and I'm sorry I managed my time so poorly last month that I didn't get to it (and indeed forgot about it altogether until it was too late). I'm really intrigued as to whether the philosophy and the story fit together - what happenes to her feminism alone in the woods with the creatures? Does the fantastic part teach her something or undermine her theories? I must pop over to the discussion to see what you are all saying there!

[Jennifer Dee]

I've just finished 'The Jump off Creek' by Molly Gloss and I thought it was brilliant; and quite unlike anything that I've read before. I don't like SF but I believe I will give one of her other books a try. She had been taught by Ursula le Guin (I don't think I've spelt that right), which is where she got her love of SF.

[Danielle]

Litlove--I've read a few reviews/responses and it is interesting to see what everyone thinks. I've not yet had a chance to check in on the discussion--this weekend I hope. You ask some really good questions that I hope you'll share on the forum. I've already returned my copy to the library but now I wish I could read those last few pages again. I hate to admit this but I think I was so happy to finally get to the end that I zipped through those last few pages. She was definitely changed--though it seemed as though it broadened her outlook on humanity mostly and maybe chastened her a little bit.

Jennifer Dee--I'm so glad you've left this comment. I think when I read the blurb about The Jump Off Creek it appealed to me more than Wild Life--so it seems as though it also has elements of sci fi to it? Not that I mind--just curious. I've not yet read Ursula le Guin--I had no idea that Gloss had been taught by her. My library has her other books so I'll be checking them out as well.