Enjoyed this exciting novel for the most part and the historical data and background information of the time, but I was a bit disappointed with the. Enjoyed this exciting novel for the most part and the historical data and background information of the time, but I was a bit disappointed with the somewhat abrupt ending wishing the author would have taken it to its conclusion as noted in his historical note.
On the other hand, now that I've read the book, I really can't wait to see the movie! The grizzly scene is more violent and longer than the book, and there is a brief non-graphic rape scene that is not in the book, but has much meaning in the movie. Hugh Glass has a Pawnee son in the movie that exacerbates the revenge issue, and the Indian fight seems much more gruesome. Overall, liked the movie better, particularly the ending, although not as true to historic events.
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The trappers of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company live a brutal frontier life. Hugh Glass is one of the most respected men in the company, an experienced frontiersman and an expert tracker. But when a scouting mission puts Glass face-to-face with a grizzly bear, he is viciously mauled and not expected to survive. Two men from the company are ordered to remain with him until his inevitable death. But, fearing an imminent attack, they abandon Glass, stripping him of his prized rifle and hatchet.
As Glass watches the men flee, he is driven to survive by one all-consuming desire: With shocking grit and determination, he sets out on a three-thousand-mile journey across the harsh American frontier, to seek revenge on the men who betrayed him. The Revenant is a remarkable tale of obsession and the lengths that one man will go to for retribution.
Hardcover , pages. Published January 6th by Picador first published June 20th Missouri River , United States. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Revenant , please sign up.
The Revenant review – gut-churningly brutal, beautiful storytelling
Just wondering if anyone knows about the novel Frederick Manfred published in , "Lord Grizzly"? Manfred's novel about the same topic, Hugh Glass's crawl driven by vengeance, was a runner-up for the National Book Award I believe. Brenda Adams I read it not long after it was published and was hooked! I thought it was a terrific book showcasing the indomitable will to live and the grit and …more I read it not long after it was published and was hooked!
I thought it was a terrific book showcasing the indomitable will to live and the grit and courage of the human spirit. Manfred was a prolific, wonderful author! Can anyone help me about this book? The Revenant, I really want to read it but I don't know how Buy borrow or steal the book. Read the first word. Read all of the rest of the words, in sequence. See all 7 questions about The Revenant…. Lists with This Book.
Fans of historical fiction, preppers, and hunters. I have a purely subjective hatred for Leonardo Decrapio. Favorite movie with him in it is The Departed because of the elevator scene. Titanic was also pretty good because douchecanoes don't float. Rose knew she had enough room on that door but why share space with the likes of Depoopio. I hate Leonardo like some people hate going to the dentist. Like people in Hell hate heaters. So when I saw the trailer for the film adaptation of this nov I have a purely subjective hatred for Leonardo Decrapio. So when I saw the trailer for the film adaptation of this novel, I became super excited.
Deshitio gets mauled by a fucking bear??? Oh hell the fuck yeah! Sign my fat ass up! Of course the book nerd in me, the geeky purest, wouldn't allow me to watch such a movie without reading the source material first. And I gotta say, I did not hate it. Didn't love it either. But again, my dislikes are subjective. By reading this book, you will learn how to make a fire, how to fight wolves, how to betray people and leave them to die, how to punch people until they're ugly ala Fight Club , how to feel guilty, how to explode a cannon, how to get facial scars, how to be cool with the cards life deals you, how not to play poker, and last but not least, how to fall asleep while reading.
The action in this book is superb. It's everything else I had a problem with. As long as people were getting killed, torn into kibble, or taking on the local flora and fauna, I was cool. It's when Punke digs into his research that I drifted off. You can tell dude studied his ass off.
Sadly, this is a novel, not the SATs. It was the oddest feeling being on the edge of my seat one moment and snoring the next. It's like chasing cocaine with heroin. Your body doesn't know how to react. Knowing what I know of the plot now, I believe the movie has been perfectly cast.
The Revenant by Michael Punke
Tom Hardy is going to nail Fitzpatrick I'm sure it will be a fantastic film and the first Dejizzio movie I actually enjoy from beginning to end. At least when I watch the movie I won't have to read whole chapters about some fucker trying to locate the old-west equivalent of a Big Mac. If you're a research whore, this should pay your bills. If you like your fiction fictionalized, you might become bored at times.
The action is exquisite, though. View all 42 comments. Jan 05, Lyn rated it really liked it. That was a good western. In the summer of , fur trapper Hugh Glass, an experienced frontiersman, lowers his guard for a moment and in true Jack London fashion, nature demonstrates how unforgiving a mistake can be, as Glass is viciously mauled by a grizzly bear.
His compatriots, already behind schedule and in danger from a rogue branch of a native Damn. His compatriots, already behind schedule and in danger from a rogue branch of a native American tribe, leave two trappers behind to bury Glass when he finally dies.
The Revenant
What he does have in generous supply is a will to survive and a murderous drive to pour a can of vengeful whoopass on the men who abandoned him. Punke has selected as his subject an early western tale, closer in time to Natty Bumpo than to Wyatt Earp. The western men who thrived in this era were as physically tough and resilient as the natives and it is this primal, atavistic element that is at the heart of his writing. Yet, Punke rises above a formulaic narrative by adding tragi-comic scenes and backstory histories to add depth and humanity to an already good story.
View all 25 comments. While reading this exciting western adventure, I was constantly reminded of how many things we take for granted today. Little things like blankets, lighters, automatic rifles, and those two words that kept running through my mind while reading: The book is based on the famous true story of Hugh Glass, the frontiersman working as a trapper for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in gathering beaver pelts along the Missouri River. Things go south fast when he gets ripped apart by a g While reading this exciting western adventure, I was constantly reminded of how many things we take for granted today.
Things go south fast when he gets ripped apart by a grizzly bear while hunting. It's almost a sure thing that Glass will croak, so he doesn't take it personally when his colleagues abandon him, but when they steal his beloved knife and rifle, AND his flint and steel? Now that's totally unforgivable!
Against all odds, Glass crawls across hundreds of miles of treacherous countryside to bring retribution to those that wronged him. I'd never heard of the story of Hugh Glass and I'm totally in awe of how much of a badass he was. The story is sometimes hard to believe; I mean damn the dude's throat was nearly severed and he couldn't walk! And with Michael Punke's well-conceived embellishments and dramatics, the story really rises to an even higher level of extraordinary.
It's not only a gripping tale of classic revenge, but it's also a story of survival literally against all odds and about the extent that one man's determination can go. It's well-researched and its great sense of place was very transportive. And Punke uses an omniscient POV that's great for historical fiction that really gives the reader more info about the world and more historical scope beyond the immediate story. I was not only entertained but I also learned a lot and I was inspired to jump on the Interwebs and learn even more.
And that's what historical fiction is all about, right?
The frustrating necessity of delay was like water on the hot iron of his determination—hardening it, making it unmalleable. He vowed to survive, if for no other reason than to visit vengeance on the men who betrayed him. View all 10 comments. Jan 10, Carol rated it really liked it Shelves: Enjoyed this exciting novel for the most part and the historical data and background information of the time, but I was a bit disappointed with the 3.
January 27, Oh boy View all 24 comments. My boyfriend was completely brilliant in this film. So I'm bumping this up on the list because I want more. View all 6 comments. The Revenant is a fictional tale based on the real life account of Hugh Glass, a trapper who was attacked by a grizzly bear and then left for dead by the men who had been left to care for him. This story is so gripping.
From the explosive opening moments until the very last page, the reader is practically swept up into the action. Not only are the men in The Revenant struggling with each other, but Nature herself has a huge role in this survival tale.
How historically accurate is The Revenant?
If the characters aren't freezing, they're st The Revenant is a fictional tale based on the real life account of Hugh Glass, a trapper who was attacked by a grizzly bear and then left for dead by the men who had been left to care for him. If the characters aren't freezing, they're starving or looking for a safe place to sleep. This is a particularly excellent read for a cold winter night with a cup of something hot to drink near your elbow.
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This would have been a five star read except for the ridiculously unsatisfying conclusion. I realize that it is a morality play the whole time, but with all the action and nail-biting tension, it doesn't "feel" like one until the ending- which I won't ruin for you, except to say that it was very lame. My husband read a version of this story called Lord Grizzly when he was in college so, while I was into this one, we were comparing notes on the differences between the two works.
Although varying in small details, the major arcs were the same. I felt as if The Revenant did a better job of building the tension than Lord Grizzly but we both agreed that the ending to the story in both books was a let-down. Though not based on a true story, it shares the traveling-through-the-wilderness feel and tension of this book. I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads.
View all 8 comments. Jan 11, Justin rated it really liked it. So the book kicks off with Leonardo DiCaprio getting mauled by a bear so that alone may be enough for you to wanna read this book. Actually, it's Hugh Glass who will be portrayed at the local drive-in cineplex moving picture show this week by D-Cap himself who gets stone cold stunnered outta nowhere by the bear. The bear attack will be in the movie. It's crucial to the story. Don't mess around with bears, man. Did I expect to really enjoy a book set in the early s about fur traders wandering So the book kicks off with Leonardo DiCaprio getting mauled by a bear so that alone may be enough for you to wanna read this book.
Did I expect to really enjoy a book set in the early s about fur traders wandering around trading fur and shooting guns and whatnot? No, I absolutely did not. In fact, I checked this out from the library because I knew about the movie, and then I let it sit around for a month or so before I picked it up. But, I'll be damned if this ain't one hell of an adventure! Punke is it Punk, Punky, Pun-Kay The settings be describes, the characters he develops, the dialogue He grabbed me by the neck and flung me back two hundred years ago like you would throw a Hot Pocket that you cooked too long in the microwave but didn't realize it until you bit into it and all the hot goo inside leaked out and burned your mouth.
In short, the guy did his homework. And this stuff really happened?! Are you kidding me?! Hugh Glass was a frontiersman working in the upper Missouri river area in the early years of the 19th century. On a fur trapping expedition in , he was attacked and mauled by a grizzly bear.
Hugh Glass Leonardo DiCaprio is one of a group of men finishing up a fur trapping expedition in the wilderness. They are attacked by Ree Arikara warriors. Someone gets impaled on a spear. Someone gets shot off his horse. A horse gets shot in the face. This scene is based on a real-life incident: In the film, 10 men get away. Glass is the goodie, because he loves his son who is half-Pawnee in a gruff, manly way that involves telling him off a lot. As the men make their way through a forest, Glass happens upon two bear cubs and their angry mama. If you felt wan after the face-smashing scene at the start, reach for the smelling salts.
Glass shoots the bear. Henry agrees, but is unable to pull the trigger; instead, he offers money for someone to stay with Glass and bury him after his death. When the only volunteers are Hawk and the young Jim Bridger , Fitzgerald agrees to stay for money, to recoup his losses from the abandoned pelts.
After the others leave, Fitzgerald attempts to smother Glass but is discovered by Hawk. Fitzgerald, concerned that Hawk's loud reaction to him attempting to kill Glass could alert the Arikara, stabs Hawk to death as Glass watches helplessly. The next morning, Fitzgerald convinces Bridger that the Arikara are approaching and they must abandon Glass. After they depart, Fitzgerald admits he lied. In spite of his guilt, Bridger is complicit in the lie. Glass begins an arduous journey through the wilderness.
He performs crude self-surgery and eludes the pursuing Arikara who are looking for the Chief Elk Dog's kidnapped daughter, Powaqa. Glass encounters Pawnee refugee Hikuc, who says that "revenge is in the Creator's hands. After a hallucinogenic experience, Glass discovers Hikuc hanged by French hunters. He infiltrates their camp and sees the leader raping Powaqa.
He frees her, kills two hunters, and recovers Hikuc's horse, leaving his canteen behind. The next morning, Glass is ambushed by the Arikara and driven over a cliff on his horse. He survives the stormy night by eviscerating the horse and sheltering inside its carcass. Believing it stolen, Henry organizes a search party.
The search party finds the exhausted Glass. Enraged, Henry orders Bridger arrested, but Glass vouches that Bridger was deceived and reveals that Fitzgerald murdered Hawk. Glass and Henry set out in pursuit of Fitzgerald. After the two split up, Fitzgerald ambushes and kills Henry. Glass uses Henry's corpse on his horse as a decoy and shoots Fitzgerald in the arm.
He pursues Fitzgerald to a riverbank where they engage in a brutal fight. Glass is about to kill Fitzgerald, but spots a band of Arikara downstream.
He remembers Hikuc's words and pushes Fitzgerald downstream into the hands of the Arikara. Elk Dog kills and scalps Fitzgerald and the Arikara spare Glass. Heavily wounded, Glass retreats into the mountains where he is visited by the spirit of his wife. Development of The Revenant began in August , with producer Akiva Goldsman acquiring the rights to Michael Punke 's then-unpublished manuscript. Jackson in mind to star. Park later left the project. Smith wrote a new adaptation of the novel for Steve Golin 's Anonymous Content. In May , Smith revealed that John Hillcoat was attached to direct the film and that Christian Bale was in negotiation to star the movie.
Filming took place in March Principal photography for The Revenant began in October Ultimately, principal photography wrapped in August The film was shot in twelve locations in three countries: Canada, the United States, and Argentina. While the initial plan was to film entirely in Canada, the weather was ultimately too warm, leading the filmmakers to locations near the Rio Olivia at the tip of Argentina with snow on the ground, to shoot the film's ending.
Crew members often complained about difficult shoots, with many quitting or being fired. Mary Parent was then brought in as a producer. Sakamoto conducted these sessions. Milan Records will release a vinyl pressing of the soundtrack in April The score by Sakamoto and Noto was ruled ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Original Score at the Oscars as it was deemed that it was "assembled from the music of more than one composer".
The film was accompanied by a minute documentary, named A World Unseen , highlighting the process of making the production. A World Unseen was released on January 21, , on YouTube ; both the date and medium of the documentary's release made it ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject in the same year as the film nomination. Dimock argues that the film re-interprets the concept of " half-breeds " from a derogatory idea that Cooper despised to an aesthetic way in which to see the world.
She compared both works' protagonists—Glass and Hawk-eye —as literary foils, with Glass living an inversion of the latter's biography and perspective. As for the ending, it has been changed in one significant way: Canadian actor Roy Dupuis was strongly critical of the movie for portraying French-Canadian voyageurs as murderous rapists. Dupuis was originally offered a role as a voyageur, but he rejected it due to perceptions of anti-French bias and historical inaccuracies.
The foundation of all this is so outrageous that it can easily be minimized as an SNL sketch, a mere entertainment, a joke I debated with myself, if I should bring up this uncomfortable subject tonight but in light of the constant and relentless xenophobic comments that have been expressed recently against my Mexican fellows, it is inevitable. However, in one scene, a Pawnee character rescuing Glass is accompanied by a voiceover in Inupiaq [ why?
The voiceover was a recording of Doreen Nutaaq Simmonds [57] reading a poem from a John Luther Adams recording; the words originally came from an Inuit woman named Uvavnuk , an angakkuq shaman and oral poet.