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Wilderness
Wilderness
Wilderness
Audiobook10 hours

Wilderness

Written by Lance Weller

Narrated by Richard Poe

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

Having earned his writing chops as an award-winning author of short fiction, Lance Weller delivers an unforgettable novel set in post-Civil War America. Abel Truman, maimed at the Battle of the Wilderness and beset with old age, lives on the rugged coast of Washington State. Resolving to attend to personal matters set in motion long ago, Truman and his be-loved dog embark on a harrowing journey over the treacherous Olympic Mountains - and along the way experience horrors all too reminiscent of war.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 9, 2012
ISBN9781464048340
Wilderness
Author

Lance Weller

Lance Weller has published short fiction in several literary journals. He won Glimmer Train's Short Story Award for New Writers and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. A Washington native, he has hiked and camped extensively in the landscape he describes. He lives in Gig Harbor, WA, with his wife and several dogs.

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Reviews for Wilderness

Rating: 3.9387756122448985 out of 5 stars
4/5

49 ratings8 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Lance Weller's descriptions throughout this book are outstanding. He almost lost me, though, up front with too much description and, it seemed, no story. But I kept reading, looking for story, and did find one that is mostly heartbreaking.The story I found wasn't quite what the book flap says, although that was probably because I misunderstood parts of it. That is too easy to do in WILDERNESS. I had to read many paragraphs more than once.The subject of WILDERNESS is Abel Truman. Chapters cover Abel as an old man in 1899 and as a Civil War soldier in 1864. The years not described are those between 1864 and 1899, when Abel lives in a shack in the woods with his dog. Those are years we just assume.My feeling is that in 1864, 1899, and the years between Abel is either dealing with or not dealing with the loss of his baby and wife. For me, that is the story.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I think this may be the most unusual novel I have read in a long time. This is due, not to the format, style, or subject, not due to many things, but to the dense melancholy beauty of it as a whole. WILDERNESS is an extraordinarily courageous historical novel that links the end of the Civil War in the east with the bleak settling of the Northwest not long after the end of that war. Author, Lance Weller, holds back nothing of the gritty reality of battle, particularly the last battles of that difficult war; and there is not one iota of romanticizing it. What is surprising is that the war period of the book is not even the saddest part of it; for throughout the story the wilderness ,whether in Spotsylvania or the Olympic peninsula, is the wilderness of the human heart. At times, the sadness of this book is almost unbearable but the reader stays with it because it is unbelievably beautifully written and because the desire to know how it ends and what it all amounts to is too great to put it aside. As much as WILDERNESS is not about the wild places of the country, it is no more about the Civil War; and although it seems to be about Man’s capacity for violence, it isn’t about that either. Although there are many scenes of great violence, there are also moments of mercy and grace. It is really about the human heart and about people, especially about those people who come along and, against all reason, help and heal. It seems to be about those with souls and those without souls and the fact that we can’t know who is redeemable and who is not. Thankfully, after all the pain and suffering, there is redemption for those who seek it most through a most unlikely little girl, and although she only appears at the very beginning and the very end of the story, she provides the bookends that hold this masterpiece together.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This is a debut novel by Lance Weller. I was attracted to it about a year ago when I saw a favorable mention in somebody's Best Books of 2012" The plot summary reminded me a bit of "Cold Mountain", a book that I enjoyed very much, so I thought I'd try it. "The Wilderness" (TW) tells the story of Abel Truman, a survivor of the Civil War and a survivor of Life thereafter. Abel, though born and raised in the north was in North Carolina when war broke out and hence became a Reb, which was OK with Abel. He survived countless battles, and managed to escape serious damage until the Wilderness Battle near Fredricksburg where he suffered a number of wounds. Most of the story flips back and forth between that battle and events in 1899 when Abel and his dog roamed the wilderness near the coastline of the northwest. Most of the story is narrative with very little dialog. The battle scenes are gruesome, but then so are many of the scenes in the wilderness post-Civil War. Abel is a guy who is content with going along. He is not very bright, and he often speaks without thinking, but generally he tries to do the right thing. He encounters some interesting folks but there were no moments nor relationships which particularly moved me. Some of the storyline was a bit confusing, perhaps purposefully unclear, but I didn't really care. I cannot remember the list I found it on and if I did I would probably not pay too much attention to their Best Books of 2013.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A harsh, brutal, beautiful story of the Civil War, the Pacific Northwest and the capability of mankind for both great evil and great kindness and bravery. Heartbreaking story, with rich, transporting writing in the style of Jeffrey Lent and Charles Frazier. At times very difficult to read for its brutality, but I was captivated by the story and characters and could not put it down until I reached the end.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Thirty years after the Battle of the Wolderness has left him permanently maimed, Abel Tubman feels he must come to terms with his past before the was. Haunted by the horror of the war and the tragic loss of his wife and child, he finds moments of unexpected kindness which saves his life.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Civil war veteran Abel Truman lives in a shack by the Pacific Ocean in Washington's Olympic Mountain range. Stern, anti-social, and living the life of a hermit, he knows life is winding down for him, and as it does so, he finds himself on an unexpected quest. He endures tremendous trials, as his memories and past hardships are slowly revealed to us.I loved this book! And it's a bit surprising how much I loved it, considering it is strongly narrative, and I am more of a dialogue-driven reader. But I used to live in this area, and I have hiked the Olympic Mountains (well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. I have hiked for a few hours at a time in those mountains). I used to look out at these mountains every day, and they are my favorite place on earth.Combine that with a character like Abel Truman, a gritty old war veteran, a widower, a loner, and you've got me hooked! But Abel isn't completely alone. He shares his little shack and quiet life with a dog that found him years before. This is the second story I've read in the last few months that is about a loner man and his bond with his dog. The last one, The Dog Stars by Peter Heller, became one of my favorite books of 2012, and this book surpasses that one.Abel seems pretty miserable. He is just enduring life rather than living it. And as you get glimpses into his past, you begin to understand why. You come to realize he has a bit of a death wish, and does not fear death at all; that he would, in fact, find death to be a relief.But then circumstances change, and he finds a mission to drive him, which then leads to another mission, and what will then become the defining moment in his life. Moments of the story can get quite emotional. Modest and restrained, this story is told in beautiful prose and descriptive text, and that is quite something said coming from someone who is not a fan of descriptive text!This provocative story starts out being narrated by an elderly woman in a nursing home, looking back on her life and that of her "second father" Abel. But soon after the story becomes solely Abel's story.I would give warning that there is a bit of offensive language and subject matter in this book. Abel was a civil war soldier, and he was a confederate soldier, fighting against freeing the slaves, and he speaks like a racist through much of the story. The "N word" is thrown around a fair bit, along with some other offensive terms. And there is death and rape and other violence. But that isn't the bulk of the story. And you wind up loving this man despite his shortcomings.My final word: This was story of real substance; a series of complex stories interwoven into poetic beauty and tragedy. Abel becomes a very human, flawed and reluctant hero, and you can't help but admire him. A truly beautiful story!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I received this electronic Advanced Reading Copy through NetGalley. The book is released in September 2012.Wilderness is a book you'll be hearing and reading a lot about in the coming months. It's just that sort of book, though in this case the buzz is well-deserved. I confess, I struggled with the first few chapters. It starts slowly, with excessive, almost purple descriptions. It also gave away the ending right away, which left me puzzled--shouldn't I be left wondering who survived?In this case, no. It's not a thriller, it's not just a "Can they escape the bad guys?" kind of book. It's a lot deeper than that. At heart, Wilderness is about the scars we carry with and within ourselves, the things that make us who we are. Abel Truman is physically scarred with his maimed arm and mottled chest, but the wounds within are far worse. This isn't a book that should be read by anyone coping with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The scenes of the Battle of the Wilderness are probably among the most beautifully written yet horrible descriptions of war I have ever read. Weller shows the humanity of war and what it does to people on both sides, as well as those caught in the middle. There are also women of strength and character, such as Hypatia the escaped slave, and in the 1899 storyline there is Ellen. Oh, Ellen. Some of her scenes made me want to cry or to grab a weapon as if I could come to her aid. Really, I was stunned by the intense emotional reactions this book caused in me. I read through some of the battle sequences with my jaw actually gaping, and a horrible knot in my stomach. Then when Ellen and her husband were together, I wished I could hug them both.The antagonists aren't quite as nuanced, but they aren't stock characters, either. Everyone in this book has suffered. Everyone has been altered by that suffering. Even the dogs, who Abel loves with fierce intensity, are not immune.The book may have started at a crawl, but once the Civil War scenes began, I was utterly hooked. It's a book about horrible things, but written with eloquence and sensitivity. I will look for Lance Weller's books in the future.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A rich, lyrical novel which reminded me a bit of Charles Frazier. Set in 1899 Washington State with flashbacks to the 1864 Battle of the Wilderness, this is a powerful story, well told.