Mark Israelyan / Staff reporter
As the comforts of modern society crumble, and communities turn to violence. A small community up north fights to survive and help each other make it through the relentless bone chilling winter.
Moon of the Crusted Snow written by Waubgeshig Rice is novel with countless positive reviews. It has themes that are seen throughout the story. While the story leaves much to be desired at some points. Adding to this the story ends on a cliff, while incentivizing the sequel Moon of the Turning Leaves.
Waubgeshig Rice is of Anishinaabe descent and grew up in the Wasauksing First Nation on the Georgian Bay. He has been a writer and journalist writing for over 2 decades. His to best selling novels Moon of the Crusted Snow, and Moon of the Turning Leaves both are set in an Anishinaabe community. They bring up many of the ideas and beliefs of the ancestors, and people that Waubgeshig grew up with.
The story is set primarily in Evan Whitesky’s, and his close family and friends’ point of view. The combination of the collapse of infrastructure, and plunge into a harsh Canadian winter results in death and havoc in the community. Without the delivery of essentials like food, and fuel the community must use what they have in prepared during the year.
Main part
In the beginning everything seems to only be temporary and many believe life would go back to what it was. The Anishinaabe community is in for a shock when they realize the truth. With the neighboring towns becoming a dangerous apocalyptic mess foreigner arrive in the community in order to seek shelter and protection from mother natures harsh torment.
Throughout the novel many themes come up, though the main theme present is assisting others in your community. Without this the community would have many more casualties and wouldn’t have survived the challenges thrown at them. The story exposes how people take comforts for granted and become heavily reliant on society. In the story those who weren’t prepared fell into panic. Raiding the store for everything. Only being saved by others in the community that have prepared. If it wasn’t for Evan, the ‘band’ and the preparation done by the community leaders. The same thing that happened in Gibson would have also occurred in the Anishinaabe community.
The story also has many Anishinaabe words, practices and beliefs. Through out the story there are many times were traditional Anishinaabe words are used. As well as many religious practices like preforming an offering and showing appreciation to their sources of food. Adding to this Evan’s children have Anishinaabe names and are taught their peoples’ words.
I believe this is a metaphor for the return of their traditional ways. As comforts that they have become accustomed to and partially dependent on fail, the only resort is living off the land and becoming a tighter community. In the story Evan mentioned that his parents had survived winters like this one without any modern comforts.
Review:
The best part of this book is the development that the characters go through. The reader is easily able to connect to Evan and the people around him. At many points you can imagine yourself in the situations that the characters go through. There are many points where even though their community struggles, Evan still enjoys himself and spends time with his family. While there are parts of the book that feel slow and lackluster I believe it deserves a strong 4.3/5.
The one thing that I mainly disliked is the lack of adventure and at some points I would have enjoyed a bit more struggle. Something to put me more on edge of my seat and curious for what would occur next. I noticed that there were many points where I wasn’t really interested in reading the book. While this can be attributed to personal preference.
This takes a sharp turn during the 2nd part of the book, where the true antagonist is clear. In this portion of the book, the reader is familiar with the characters and there is more action and mystery. In my opinion this is the most interesting part of the book.
Final recommendation:
While this book would be a great read for anyone. I believe that those who enjoy books with survival, and collaboration. Which are the main themes/points in this book. I believe that this book is good because of the knowledge that Waubgeshig has of the Anishinaabe people. As well as how well the author writes and describes the situations that the characters find themselves in.
I would really recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a book with first people’s connections. Being written by Waubgeshig Rice who grew up in an Anishinaabe community. This book contains some hidden metaphors that require thought. The antagonists in the story mention that where the community resides isn’t their traditional territory. Not the resource filled place down south where their ancestors grew up.
Sources:
Waub Home – Waubgeshig Rice Author Journalist Waub Home
Images:
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