The Half Life

by Jonathan Raymond

A dazzling debut novel about two friendships separated by generations but bound together by a dark mystery.

Cookie Figowitz is the cook for a party of volatile fur trappers trekking through the Oregon Territory in the 1820s, desperate to find their way to the newly created Hudson Bay Company before their meager supplies run out. As he forages for food one evening with the hopes of placating the increasingly restless men, Cookie stumbles over Henry Brown, a man on the run from violent Russians looking to settle an old score. Cookie takes Henry in, hiding him from the trappers, and the two begin an unlikely friendship that will take them from the virgin territory of the West all the way to China and back again.

Tina Plank is a teenager who has been unhappily transplanted to a Pacific Northwest commune in the 1980s. The only other girl her age within five miles is Trixie Volterra, whose troubled past only adds to her allure. Thrown together by circumstance, the two become fast friends, and are soon hard at work trying to make an elaborate movie on a shoestring budget. When, in the midst of filming, two skeletons are unearthed on the property, the lives of Cookie and Henry, Tina and Trixie converge in unexpected, startling ways.

With extraordinary power and grace, The Half-Life maps the complicated terrain of friendship, illuminating the odd pleasures and inevitable heartaches that bind us together.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Media Tie In, Novels

350 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Crowleybob Crowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book at the Telluride Film Festival because it is the novel on which Kelly Reichert loosely based her new film “First Cow.” (You haven’t yet seen First Cow because the film industry has been pretty much halted by the Covid-19 outbreak). I absolutely loved the film and I liked the book a lot. The parallel stories draw you in and the plot moves you along well. I was much more intrigued by the narrative that is set in the 1820s (and on which the film is focused); but upon completion, the two stories meld in ways I hadn’t expected. It has put me in a reflective mood and made me not quite ready to pick up another book.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book from Raymond I've read, but not my first exposure to his work. He's co-written the scripts to a bunch of Kelly Reichardt films, and given I consider Reichardt the greatest director working today, bar none, I was interested in seeing how much of that is down to the strength of the screenplays.

The book consists of two stories, with the narrative switching between them chapter to chapter. Separated by 160 years but linked by their shared Oregon setting, we follow the growth of two friendships, one between fur traders of the 1820s, and the other between teenaged girls living in a hippie commune in the 1980s. Both narratives are equally strong, and the fact I was always briefly disappointed to switch between them due to being so invested in whichever I was currently reading is a testament to this.

Where Raymond excels is in creating a sense of time and place. The way he establishes the setting is extremely evocative, and as such I was hugely impressed by the book early on as it took its time to establish the landscape for the story to play out in. Unfortunately, the narratives themselves are a bit more mundane. They're not bad by any stretch of the imagination, I still enjoyed them on the whole, they're just a bit too... normal, I guess.

What I was really hoping for was some of the same feeling I get from Reichardt's films. The depths she's able to find in small, seemingly insignificant moments in people's lives is phenomenal. There's a minimalist approach that I absolutely adore, which just isn't present here. The stories take much more usual paths, with stakes ramping up as they go, building to exciting conclusions, which works perfectly well, but doesn't scratch the itch I hoped the book would scratch.

Given the risk of this review devolving entirely into me gushing about how good Reichardt is, I can take a step back and appreciate the book for what it is rather than mourning what it isn't. There's still two excellent stories in here, and I'll definitely be checking out more of Raymond's work in the future.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just couldn't put this down. I wanted closure! The author takes you on two long and winding journeys, each in its own century. Although you think you know what will happen at the end, you really don't know. Exquisite, almost agonzing descriptions of every little detail throughout, but the language illuminates the story so well.

[Sarah]

Dear Author,

Why do you think ELM TREES grow in Oregon's natural forest? Sure they grow in cities (because they were planted there), but not in Oregon forests.
We're you thinking of a setting before the Dutch Elm Disease? Because that still doesn't work, as I said before Oregon forests don't have Elms growing, and they never have. Is this a subtle "Magical Realism"?

Have you ever picked up a book about trees of North America and flipped to Elm trees, noting where they grow? Do you even know what they look like? Do know what any of the trees you mentioned in this book look like? Do you even know what your mother looks like? Didn't you grow up here?

How did you win so many awards being such a terrible author?

Why is there so much self-congratulatory non-criticism criticism?

Please let me know.

P.S: This book fails about providing a sense of place. At page 20 I stopped reading. I'm not even going to go into the inaccuracy of I-5. A frustrating, disappointing, terrible book. Even Nabokov stressed the importance of knowing the trees of a place to provide a sense of place?! Do your F-ing research!!!

[Hank Stuever · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far from perfect, but a great idea for a story.

[n]

there’s no cow :(

[Zweegas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whenever I'm not quite sure how to rate a book, I usually round up. This book gets an extra star because I like the depiction of unique relationships. "If I could attach my flesh to your own so we could become each other, I would . . . It took a long time for me to recognize you for who you were . . . To understand that you were in fact a part of me . . . All these moments will be lost like tears in the rain." It's very sweet. However, just because the book doesn't discuss sex and just because it's partially set in rustic olden times doesn't make it high-brow or anything. A few of the main plot points are somewhat improbable and perfunctorily written. I always give praise to books for the virtue of brevity and this book could definitely benefit from some abridges. For instance, feel free to skip the movie plot which is 14 of 355 pages. Overall it's quite good.

[Blake Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books about Portland (Nicole George's INVINCIBLE SUMMER books being another). Really gives you that sense of where Portland's weirdness vibe actually originated, reinforcing the vague feeling that Portland is still a little outpost out in the woods.... Jon Raymond is also just a flat out great writer, ala Franzen, etc.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The movie, First Cow is loosely based on this book which led me to it. Both are very good, but I enjoyed the development of two stories in the book more. This is Jonathan Raymond's first novel and he has done a very good job.

[Neal · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is definitely a first book. A lot of ideas and passion, but is lacking in conflict - some heat to make this potion simmer.

[Zach Church · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet stories of the part of life where friendship is love. It plots the joy and creativity in entrepreneurship and partnership. The characters also confront and suffer the violence of the old west, even in other times and on other continents. In both, it is very much an American novel.

It is also a very self-aware and self-assured book about Oregon and Portland, so it should be interesting to anyone curious about that city. The film First Cow was based on characters in this book, but the actual events of the film don't take place in the book - so it's sort of a bonus if you've seen the movie (or the other way around).

[Marvin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I slogged through this, forgetting how much better a book could be until I started the next one. There are two parallel stories, both set in the same landscape near Portland, Oregon, one during the frontier period in the mid-nineteenth century, the other on a commnity of aging hippies in the 1980s. The first, by far the more interesting story, relates the friendship between two men, one a cook for trapping expeditions. They cook up a scheme to get rich by selling vials of a glandular extract from beavers in China. There "Cookie" is arrested, put in prison, & abandoned by his friend, who returns to America. Eventually Cookie befriends the Chinese prisoner in the next cell, brings him to American when they are released, only to encounter tragedy. In the other story, two teenaged girls become friends, smoke a lot of pot, & plan to make a film, before, again, tragedy occurs. In both friendships, the person of stronger character is thoroughly dominated by the one who is apparently stronger but fundamentally weaker. In that, the story had potential, but it didn't work very well. (The stories are loosely & ineffectively linked by an awkward story about finding two long abandoned bodies (both male, holding hands) on the property the girls are living on & a dispute over whether the bodies should be turned over to a forensic anthropologist or to local Indians.) The writer got carried away with descriptions, crossing the fine line, for me, between providing the details necessary to bring the characters & their attempts to life, or indulging oneself as a writer in displaying one's powers of description to no useful end. It was also a profane book, not just in the sense of being filled with profanity & drug use, but in that it sees life itself as tragic & unredeemable rather than, as Shakespeare & other great writers do, seeing that SOME people have tragic flaws that prevent them from reaping life's rewards.

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

I searched out this book because of the movie "The First Cow" which I enjoyed very much. The credits noted it was based on a novel "The Half Life." Unfortunately, the book is very different from the movie. There is no cow, first or otherwise in the novel. The book is divided into two time periods, contemporary and the early 1800's. The contemporary story is flat and it is understandable why the movie didn't include it. The book and the movie both include the gentle and sensitive Cookie who is the cook of a rough and tumble trapper group. He meets Henry who convinces Cookie that they should collect the oil from the glands of beaver and go to China to sell it make a fortune. The contemporary story starts with the very boring story of two teenagers and the discovery of two skeletons on the property where they are living. See the movie.

[Rowena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel consists of two stories, seemingly unrelated, but that intertwine around each other to create a rather unusual whole. One part takes place in the 1820s and the other in the 1970s in Oregon. At first, I thought there would be a more obvious connection between the two stories, but I came to realize that in the end, this novel is an exploration of how we define ourselves by others -- a startling and fascinating concept. Raymond isn't a particularly good writer (I felt like I was reading YA at certain points) but he certainly has a knack for unconventional storytelling.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this after watching "The First Cow," which intrigued me.
The Half-Life shares some characters, 2 skeletons, and locations with the movie, but the Cow story does not fit into Half-Life in any way.
Themes are very different.
So read it as separate stories entirely. Plural, because half the book is vaguely contemporary, and half roughly a century and a half earlier.
It is well-written and at least some of the characters are well fleshed out enough to care about them.

[Diana Stegall · Rating 3 out of 5]

First Cow was the best movie I saw in 2020, so I was thrilled to buy the book on which it was based. Unfortunately, this just doesn’t work. The two stories don’t have anything to say about one another, and the 20th century storyline is dull as dishwater. There are significant changes from the book to the screen, and almost all of them were for the better.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two stories taking place in Portland, OR are intertwined…one is the story of Cookie and Henry, trappers in the Oregon Territory in the 1800’s. The other is the story of Tina and Trixie, teenage girls living in a commune and trying to find meaning in life. Both stories focus on friendship.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

The part of the story with Cookie was good, but the other parts didn't grab me.

[Scott Trinkle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was very loosely adapted into the movie First Cow, which is fantastic.

Took me 6 months to read because I’ve been really busy and because it’s not very good.

[Deborah Adelman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this after seeing First Cow, which is a fabulous film. I found this novel interesting, way less so than the film, however, and I did not find anything special about the writing.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like other reviewers here, I first became aware of Raymond thru his work as a screenwriter for director Kelly Reichardt, one of America's leading independent filmmakers. Well, I was not disappointed. He is a very fine writer, and his fiction is its own thing, and does not come across like a novelization of the films. Although, like the movies, his writing has an elusive, elliptical quality. Oh, and confusingly he sometimes goes by Jon and other times by Jonathan, and there are other authors named Jonathan Raymond who write about education and business leadership, lol.

This novel follows 2 parallell relationships, separated by many decades, yet having some similar features. Cookie and Henry are young men in the Pacific Northwest during the Wild West days, maybe the 1850s? I don't recall seeing any dates. Cookie befriends the hungry, young maverick Henry during a trapping expedition in the Oregon wilderness, possibly saving his life, and the 2 become good friends and partners. They hatch a kooky scheme to crew on a sailing ship to China, bringing with them some castoreum oil (a quack medicine extracted from beavers) which they hope will bring them a great fortune. Henry is masculine and energetic, and Cookie is mellow and sweet, making for a yin and yang relationship.

Raymond cuts back and forth between this historical fiction and another friendship set in 1970s or 1980s Oregon, this one between two teenage girls, Trixie and Tina. They both live with their single moms in a lefty community in a semi-rural area. There is a similar dynamic as with the 2 young men: Trixie is adventurous and reckless, and Tina is more reserved and cautious. This is a nice depiction of 2 bright, creative teens forming a bond, having adventures, and making a little bubble around themselves. However, I often felt like I was reading about 2 teen boys more than 2 teen girls. Where were the conversations about boys, clothes, friends, and family relationships? They seem to mostly bond around their shared project of making a movie about a doctor in Philadelphia who pioneers how to do lobotomies. When this first came up, I thought a third story was making its appearance, but that is not how it turned out.

It seemed to me that 2 parallell tales of gay love, perhaps unrequited, were starting up. I won't give away the ending, but I found myself waiting a long time to learn more about what was going on in the characters' hearts. This was, I thought, a problem in the narrative. We are learning about the characters, spending time with them, but what are they feeling for each other, what are they looking for? It is hard to know.

Juxtaposed with these threads is the discovery, on the property of Neil, a leader among the Oregon lefties, the skeletons of a couple of men sunk deep in some mud. The reader naturally assumes these are the remains of Cookie and Henry, but it is impossible to know for sure. A local reporter breaks the story, and soon a media circus is underway. A local Indian tribe begins demanding to have the skeletons of what they assume are their ancestors, and a scientist says he must have them in the name of scientific knowledge. In the end, tragedies occur and the questions raised are mostly answered.

I really like Raymond's prose style, and I plan on reading more of his work. He writes colorful descriptions that are nevertheless easy to read. The pages keep turning, but there is some very nice prose. Here, for example, is a favorite: "He felt like things were coming into some kind of alignment again, like some pinhole was opening and he was starting to see light. He was almost giddy with optimism, like everything might float away at once, and converge somewhere high in the air, and everyone he had ever known would meet each other and fall in love. But then he always felt like that around this time of year. The late summer was his time of great optimism." Now, that is nice.

[Kathy Piselli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raymond has a way with nailing different relationships. He has the unequal friendship between Cookie and Harry, the push-and-pull of Tina and Trixie, and the final, perfect relationship of Cookie and King Lu, a relationship that starts with two people who don't know each other's language and cannot share the same space. For me, the Tina-Trixie one was the most fascinating - I especially liked where Tina feels like Trixie is in a store, and Tina is the store. But it's also Trixie who explains to Tina that it's the flaws that people love; they don't love people who never show weakness. The interweaving of the two stories was deftly done for the careful reader, and the writing was a joy to read. I liked the helicopter, "a brooch pinned to the fabric of the sky", the "half-primed cars" that "chugged on the blacktop, phlegmy coughs rattling deep in their engines", and the many, many descriptions of the natural world.

[Len · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading the Half-Life I feel the same way about the book as I did about the movie The First Cow that was based on this book. I enjoyed both but I'm not exactly sure why. The book has very little to do with the movie other than it tells two totally different stories that happened over a century apart that deal with two mysterious skeletons. Each of the stories deal with intimate relationships between two people and I guess this is where they have commonality. At times I felt the tale about the two young women got a little tedious in its descriptions of the environment but overall I thought the author showed great imagination and creativity in telling two very interesting stories.

[Lauren Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found out that the wonderful film First Cow (2019) was based on this book from Scarecrow Video's Sacrecrow Academy, "Visions of America on Film" talk. The film differs heavily from the book. It is so beautifully written. That ending poem made me sob and in the acknowledgements is credited to David Wojnarowicz, who I admire greatly for his art. This felt like such a right read for this moment. This book drives home the power of movies, friendship, love, food, and nature, so beautifully. An astounding read and I can't wait to see what my family book club has to say on it.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book more. As the basis for the film, First Cow, it was clear that the story of Cookie was truly special while the two other plots of the girls and the film and the debate of the bodies were lacking in interest. Still some beautiful writing and my favourite movie this year was found from this novel.

[Escape to Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw the movie 'The First Cow' first and I assume I saved this in my Goodreads after noticing it was based on a book.
It has some great depth with nature and meandering human monologue but I didn't really care for the added perspectives this added different from the movie. Honestly I found myself mostly comparing it to the parts in the movie more than anything.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting tale, to be sure. I read it years ago after finding it in the stacks at my local library. I'd forgotten all about it until I saw a review of a new movie, First Cow, upon which it was based.

[Sissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could relate to both tales, in different ways and enjoyed this book. I will probably think of Tina or Cookie in some sad way for years to come. I have also seen First Cow and felt the two works diverge in some details but the spirit remains.

[Cody Rodgers · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Abdul Wajid]

nice better