![]() ![]() Proulx's inimitable genius is her creation of characters who are so vivid - in their greed, lust, vengefulness, or their simple compassion and hopethat we follow them with fierce attention. Over and over again, they seize what they can of a presumed infinite resource, leaving the modern-day characters face to face with possible ecological collapse. Proulx tells the stories of the descendants of Sel and Duquet over three hundred years - their travels across North America, to Europe, China, and New Zealand, under stunningly brutal conditions - the revenge of rivals, accidents, pestilence, Indian attacks, and cultural annihilation. But Duquet, crafty and ruthless, runs away from the seigneur, becomes a fur trader, then sets up a timber business. He is forced to marry a Mi'kmaw woman and their descendants live trapped between two inimical cultures. René suffers extraordinary hardship, oppressed by the forest he is charged with clearing. ![]() Bound to a feudal lord, a " seigneur," for three years in exchange for land, they become wood-cutters - barkskins. ![]() In the late seventeenth century two penniless young Frenchmen, René Sel and Charles Duquet, arrive in New France. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |