Hatchet

Terrific book, really surprising and well-written.

Sorry what happens to Brain but it was exciting to read how he overcome many challenges and survived. I could imagine the whole experiences Brain had…was like watching movie. I recommend this book definitely to kids.

This book’s author was very descriptive, and I could imagine everything

アメリカのティーンエイジャー向けに書かれた作品ですが、日本の大人が読んでも十分に楽しめる物語です。 １３歳の少年が、アメリカからカナダに向かう途上、なんとセスナ機のパイロットが突然の心臓麻痺で（運転中に）死亡してしまうというものすごい展開。 しかも不時着したカナディアン・ロッキーの森の中で、彼は初日から熊に遭遇したり、ムースに追いかけられたり、スカンクの強烈な一発を浴びたり。 彼が持っている文明の利器と言えば、一丁の手斧だけー。 彼はこれだけを手に、衣食住すべてのことを自分でまかなわなければなりません。 日本ではちょっと現実にはおこりそうもないハードな物語ですが、北米ではありえそうですし、それを信じさせる、乾いたリアリティのある文章が見事だと思います。 文章自体は難しくないので、英検２級以上の方なら読みこなせるはずです。 最後に、この本の中で一番印象的だった一文をー。“The most important rule of survival, which was that feeling sorry for yourself didn’t work=自分を憐れんでみることなど、サバイバルにおいては何の役にも立たない−アメリカ人らしいタフな言葉です。

13歳の少年が無人島でサバイバルするお話です。 助けが来るまでなんとか生き抜こうとする彼。やっと見えた飛行機は無情にも飛び去り、希望は断たれてしまいます。しかし、その後の彼に大きな変化が訪れます。 未来は自分で切り開くことができるという自分への信頼感が、生き続ける上でどれほどの糧になるのかを見せてくれる本でした。 どん底の状態からどうやって生き抜くのかという興味も相まって、苦労しつつも読み通すことができました。

ハりーポッターも良いけれど､男の子にはこの本がお薦めです。飛行機墜落によって､たった一人カナダの山奥に放り出された少年ブライアンが､飢えと渇き､野生動物から身を守りながら､救助を待つのですが、都会で暮らす私たちには、想像もつかない方法で､命を繋いでいきます。両親の離婚で心に深い傷を持つ１３歳の少年が、生と死のぎりぎりの境で逞しく変化する様子も私達に力を与えてくれます。 小学生高学年から中学生の特に男の子と親御さんにお薦めの一冊です。又、この本がお気に召したら、続編もあります。

児童文学賞を取っているだけあって、安心して読めるストーリーです。学校で使うことを前提に書かれているようですが、英語初心者にとっては、読みやすい小説で、説教くさくもなく、１８０ページくらいなので、ちょうどよいと思います。また、長編小説を読んだ後の気分転換にも良いのではないでしょうか。

内容については他のレビューアーの方々が詳細に述べられているので省きます。 洋書初心者の多読用テキストとしてこの本を考える場合、注意をしていただきたいことが。 用語や文法はやさしいのですが、同一の事象を何度も繰り返し、少しづつ表現を変えながらしつこく述べるような文体を多用しています。 巻末の手引きを読めばわかるのですが、学校の副読本として複数が章を区切って音読することを前提にした文章なんですね。 クセと言うよりも、詩などを考えれば当然なリフレインなのですが、黙読でファーストリーディングする場合はちょっとイライラさせられます。 主人公が自分のシッポを追いかけて同じところをグルグル回っている犬のような（エヴァの碇シンジのようなと言った方がわかりやすいか）性格なことも相乗効果になって、私には相当フラストレーションのたまる読書体験でした。

Seemingly unknown outside the US, 'Hatchet' by Gary Paulsen never appeared on my radar until recently. Beloved by millions, this youth novel tells the story of 13-year old Brian Ropeson, who is left on his own in the Canadian wilderness and has to rise to the occasion in hope of being rescued. Without giving too much away, the story starts with his mother driving him to a small airport in Hampton, New York, where he boards a Cessna 406 as its sole passenger on his way to visit his father, who works for a drilling company in the Canadian oil fields of the far north. His parents have recently divorced on his mother's behalf and Brian is still in the process of coping with this fact. Throughout the book, Paulsen regularly invokes this aspect of the character's background, going further into detail each time, implying infidelity of the mother as the reason. While his parents' separation is a plausible reason for him to be on such a delicate plane flying this exotic route, Paulsen never manages to weave a character-expanding purpose for it into the rest of the survival tale. Brian neither gains insight from it, nor do the unfolding events affect his perspective in being a divorce-child. Without this subplot, the main arc would literally remain unchanged–a chance unfortunately missed. The book kicks into full gear when the pilot suffers a heart-attack above the lush forest wilder lands of the big white north. Unable to successfully establish communication and with fuel running low, Brian aims for an L-shaped lake on the horizon, revealed in the light of the afternoon sun. The plane relentlessly dives into the concrete-like water of the lake, tearing all of the windows out, throwing him about, and finally sinking into the green-blue depths. Brian escapes to the shore, mostly unharmed, but severely bruised and overall physically weakened. Almost two days of regeneration follow, in which he slowly familiarises himself with the lake, the forest, and their inhabitants. This is when the title-giving hatchet takes centre stage in the story. Gifted to him by his mother before his departure, it becomes the life-saving foundation for all of his endeavours around the lake. A realisation the character also comes to closer to the books' ending, when he almost loses it on his quest to retrieve a survival kit from the re-emerged plane wrack. Without the hatchet, he couldn't have achieved anything; the hatchet is him. With this tool, he not only builds a shelter, crafts spears, bow and arrows for hunting, but also manages to make fire by catching sparks from hacking away at a rock. Drama comes in the form of wildlife encounters and environmental hazards. Since they are crucial to the narrative, I am hesitant to spoil them, but let me state that Paulsen deserves credit for some well-placed twists on the survival formula. There are some unexpected adversaries, but also obvious ones, who turn out to be as curious of the main character, as he is of them. In these passages, the author muses on nature itself. And as the weeks pass by, Brian draws more and more conclusions from his experiences. He becomes driven by hunger, just like all the animals of the forest are, for nature is not allowed to be lazy. Food is life. And even though this hostile environment repeatedly lashes out against him, he becomes part of its ecosystem, and rises through failure with new-found maturity. But Brian can't help but to marvel at the poetic beauty of the scenery. This is wilderness romanticism at its best, but Paulsen avoids meandering on it and manages to make these points by way of narrative. In the end, the book's shortness works to its advantage. A story this linear could've easily overstayed its welcome, but by keeping the chapters short and the word-count economic, the narrative breezily moves from checkpoint to checkpoint. Make no mistake, this is a coming of age novel set against the backdrop of the Canadian wilderness, constantly contrasting civilisation with nature. But I found the main character's arc much easier to digest this way; and with the usual schmaltz of other youth novels avoided, Paulsen delivers a swiftly-paced, captivating read for all ages.

A classic on survival. The book deals with the traumatic journey of a young boy who gets stranded in wilderness after a plane crash. How he survives, how he struggles and forages for food, how he has to use his wits and guts to battle the elements. And how through this harsh, brutal, churning, the boy ultimately mans up. Raw, gritty and uplifting.

I loved It

Very good

Hatchet is an excellent beginner read, especially for young readers or anyone just getting into adventure stories. The book follows thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson, who survives a plane crash and must learn to live alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but a small hatchet. Gary Paulsen’s writing is clear, straightforward, and easy to follow, making it perfect for readers who are still building confidence. The pacing is quick, the chapters are short, and the story stays exciting from start to finish. Paulsen does a great job showing Brian’s thoughts and problem-solving without overwhelming the reader with complicated descriptions or vocabulary. What makes Hatchet stand out is how it teaches survival skills, resilience, and self-reliance in a way that feels natural and engaging. Readers get to watch Brian grow, make mistakes, and learn from them, which keeps the story motivating and relatable. Overall, Hatchet is a fantastic beginner-friendly book—fast, gripping, inspiring, and easy to understand. It’s a great gateway into reading adventure novels and a classic that many readers remember long after finishing it.