Gun-Free Entertainment: Andrew Krivak's 'The Bear'

Also an entry for "Climate Novels"

I have read Andrew Krivak’s dazzling novel The Bear twice, and I am currently teaching it in a summer course. At just over 200 pages, the novel is a quick read and the pages are also small. I will do something different here: instead of writing a standard book review, I will give you “reasons to read this book now!” This book is dazzling, profound and deceptive in its simplicity, and Krivak will get your mind turning around all kinds of themes that intersect with issues that are important for both individuals and society writ large. 

Reasons you should read The Bear right now!

• In keeping with the spirit of this series...there are no guns! There are several bows and even more arrows, but The Bear quickly whisks you away from the world of gun violence.

• The Bear tells the story of the last two people on earth (a father and daughter) as well as that of the surrounding natural world. However, the tone avoids that of the a traditional dystopian or post-apocalyptic narrative. Deftly, Krivak makes the fact that we are spending time with the last humans seem of minor importance. He shifts the value to a focus on how they live and interact with each other and the world each day, regardless of where they fit in our chronology.

• What does it mean to be lonely? What does it mean to be alone? The Bear not only offers unexpected answers to such questions, but actually reframes them. Is to be alone to be without others of your kind? Or is to be alone to be mentally separated from the natural world?

• I promise you this novel will lead to discussions of what it means to “take something for granted,” while also offering readers examples of deep connection with others (“others” is broadly defined. No spoilers!).

• The Bear foregrounds storytelling and the oral tradition. If you are someone who reads novels, then you obviously find value in stories. The Bear presents a world where all communication is meaningful. In this world, small talk is big talk.

• Krivak brilliantly foregrounds the transmission of knowledge and the kinds knowledge we should see a valuable. This element of the novel is refreshing in our age of “the side hustle” and “Learn to code! AI! Content creation!” In many ways, I could argue this book is largely about learning.

• Krivak is no snob. The Bear marvelously undercuts the notion that “caveman” means inferior. Expect notions such as the “ growth mindset” or technological advancement being synonymous with human advancement to be challenged in ways that will send your hungry mind down productive paths of reflection.

• If you read this novel, ask yourself the following: how did human beings become so disconnected from the natural world? What if we interpreted “living” and “nature” as synonymous? What if we thought of our homes as not existing in the world, but that the world itself functions as that home.

• I situate this novel in the growing tradition of “climate fiction.” The mastery here is the absence of gloom and doom; there are no predictions of unmeasurable misery. The Bear simply puts its characters in this changed world in a way to show us that humans, regardless of their length of time on earth, can do wonderful things.

• Finally, you will cry. I promise you this will occur for all the right reasons. The relationship between parent and child is handled with such beauty and depth of emotion that you will leave this book pondering what it is about human relationships that makes them truly meaningful.

Thanks for listening. I highly recommend giving this book a chance.