The River (A Yearling Book)
by Gary Paulsen
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Book Reviews of The River (A Yearling Book)
Book Review: The River
Summary: 5 Stars
"He saw the blueness, almost a ball of energy, the crack-flash of color that came from inside his mind, inside his life, and then he was back and down and saw nothing more." You may never know when there will be a day where your stranded on an Island with know where out, you have yourself and Mother Nature with you, that's it. The River is a book that has to do with survival; Brian Robeson was alone with Mother Nature itself for fifty-four days with a small hatchet from his mother. Luckily Brian overcame the wilderness and survived. The U.S Government has contacted Brian to help teach the military and astronauts to survive the way he did. The only problem is he has to go back and face the wilderness again like he did once before. Derek Holtzer a government psychologist will join Derek and take notes for survival skills during the trip.
The Government provides Brian and Derek with equipment for the trip. Brain knowing his instincts and survival skills threw all the equipment away except for the radio for emergency uses. Derek agreeing with Brian is struck by lightning one night as well as the radio Brian was holding. Brian healthy and up the following morning is troubled when he finds Derek in a coma and doesn't know what to do since the radio fried up during the storm. Brian doesn't have his hatchet beside him now, he's alone and he has to find help fast.
Hatchet one of the greatest books of all time has found a rival in my opinion. The River being adventurous and also being the sequel of Hatchet has had many controversies between my sister and me. I believe this book is on my top five greatest books ever read for me because the book delivers tips and strategies for surviving in the wild while keeping a story line thorough to make it interesting. My emotions were highly remarkable; I would go from relaxing and taking time off to read a book to reading vigorously without missing a single word. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars because the suspense of the book is so deep and intense you fall in to the book and feel as if you're experiencing every moment with Brian and Derek. Pick The River as your next book you'll never put it down.
Book Review: The River by Derek DeFrank
Summary: 4 Stars
Two years have gone by since Brian Robeson survived in the Canadian wilderness with only a hatchet, and now two men come knocking at Brian's door. They come in to tell Brian that the government wants him to try to survive in the wilderness again. The government is going to send Brian with a government psychologist, Derek Holtzer, to take notes. Derek will take notes so that when he returns he can teach survival skills in the wilderness to the Army, Boy Scouts, and anyone else who wants to know. After a long discussion with his mom, he decides that he needs to do it because he is the only one who knows how. Derek has never been camping in his life and is not much of an outdoorsman. Brian loves the outdoors but is not very talkative, which may make it hard for Derek to take notes.
So they take a plane to a lake deep in the Canadian wilderness, with a river going through it, surrounded by tall trees. After a few days a big lightning storm hits. Derek gets hit by lightning right next to Brian. "Derek, can you hear anything I'm saying?" said Brian frantically. Derek was lifeless and appeared to be dead. It took Brian a while, but he finally figured out that Derek was in a coma. Brian determined Derek only had about six days to live. So he decides to make a raft and paddle 119 miles down the river to Brannock Trading Post. The rest of the story is Brian's adventurous race against time.
The book is not as good as the Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings stories, but it is a great fictional quick read. Once you get into Brian riding down the river, you will not be able to put the book down. I like how Gary Paulsen uses objects to symbolize different things, like how the lightning symbolizes death. All of his books are non-stop action, including this book, which I really enjoyed. This book is similar to Huckleberry Finn, but The River is more of a non-stop adventure. I would recommend that you read Hatchet before you read this book. So if you like Gary Paulsen and his action-packed books, then The River is the book for you.
Book Review: The River
Summary: 3 Stars
This was my favorite book during the summer. The book I read was The River by Gary Paulsen. He is one of my favorite authors. I think it only had about 100 pages, but it kept my attention. If I were to rate it I would give it 3 out of 5, whitch is pretty good.Two years ago, Brian Robinson was lost and stranded in the wilderness for fifty days with nothing but a smalll hatchet (small ax). He survived. Now the goverment wants hem to do it again-to go back into the wilderness so theat the military can learn the survival techniques that keep him alive. This time he wont be alone, Derek Holtzer, a goverment psychologist, will accompay him. But during a storm, Derek is hit by a bolt of lightming and falls into a coma. Their radio transmitter is dead. Brians onlu hope is to build a raft and try o transport Derek 100 miles down river to a traiding post-if the map he has is accurate.
This is a very, very short book as I already mentioned in the 1st paragraph above. There is a good illustration, the picture of Brian on the raft and Derek on the floor of the raft, they are going down the steep and active rapid. There arnt many characters in the book so you wont get confused because there are only two main characters.
I recomend this book to anybody who has read the Hatchet(the prequel to The River. It is very easy to read with a big faunt. Anybody who likes survival situation should read this, or any other book writtern by Gary Paulsen. These are the shortest chapters as well. Each chapter is only five pages.
You would enjoy this book a lot more if you read Hatchet. So you know his personality better. If you read Hatchet and Brians Wineter what Ive done, is the best way to understand the book and what he has gone through, and how he huntes. Another interesting fact is that Brian Robinson has the same name as me (the auther who has just written theis butiful book review). I change my mind I give this book a 4 out of 5.
Book Review: Book Review: The River
Summary: 3 Stars
Book Review:
The River
By: Ricky Wilson
The story that I read was The River by Gary Paulsen. This book is one of the sequels to the book also written by Gary Paulsen called The Hatchet. In this book, a teenage boy named Brian Roberson goes back into the Canadian Wilderness where he was once lost in the first book, The Hatchet. The reason that he went back into the woods is because he was asked to return by a wilderness survival program so that they could write his techniques from certain specific situations down and teach them to students ranging from Army soldiers to special agents, etc.
But then, something horrible happens. The one man that is on the trip with him to record what is going on gets struck by lightning and leaves Brian all alone in the wilderness. Again. The man's name is Derrick, and it turns out that he has a coma. Then, in Derrick's suitcase, Brian finds a map that says that the closest civilization is at a trading post over a hundred miles away. So Brian has to build a raft and take Derrick down "The River" to the trading post.
In this story Brian of course is the main character and he is a teenager with very black hair. He likes being in the woods and/or in the wilderness more than the city. I think that that is one of the similarities that I share with him. There are a few other characters in this story also. There is Derrick and Brian's mother.
In my opinion this book was a pretty good book. I did like The Hatchet a lot more. So, the next time that you are looking for a good book to read, I suggest that you read The Hatchet. And if you have a lot more time on your hands and don't care what book you are going to read, then you might want to try to read The River. You might even like it more than The Hatchet.
Book Review: Lacks the punch of Hatchet.
Summary: 3 Stars
This book is the sequel to Paulsen's Newbery Medal-winning The Hatchet which I reviewed a few months ago. In this book, some men who run a government survival school want Brian to go back to the Canadian wilderness and show them how he survived. Derek Holtzer, the psychologist running the program, believes that the teaching will be much more successful if he's gone through the real thing.
After much talking with Brian's family, it's agreed that the young boy can go. When they reach the last leg of their journey, Brian puts his foot down: if Derek really wants to learn how to survive then the tents, food, guns, sleeping bags...everything must stay behind. If any of those items come along they will be used, and Derek won't be learning how to survive.
Derek knows that Brian is right and agrees to the plan, only bringing along communication gear. They don't even have time to set up camp properly when a rip-snorting storm blows through the lake area. Derek is struck by lightning; the communications are knocked out. The only thing Brian can do in an effort to save Derek's life is to build a raft and travel by river to a small trading post.
Brian is an exceptional character, and I enjoyed reading about him again. The problem with this book is that the premise is over within the span of five heartbeats. Zap! The lightning strikes. Bam! Derek is gravely injured. Pow! Brian builds the raft. Zowie! They're on the river. Oof! They're at the trading post. There's just not enough meat on the bone in which to sink your teeth.
Fortunately, this isn't the last book that Paulsen has written about Brian, so when I need a survival fix, I'll look up the other books in the series. This is a young character who has definitely gotten under my skin!