Barkskins

by Annie Proulx

how does Annie develop these theme: #1 JF: In reading Barkskins, I was struck by how use of landscape in North America emerges so much out of a Christian idea of God and the dominion the Bible promises over Nature. AP: You touched on something that nobody else has—the clue to the book is in the epigraph. Christianity is underneath our chopping of the forest and our doing what we feel we can do. Anything wild. Anything in the natural world. Wherever it is. Place has always been an interest of mine. I have a small library of books on place. #2 JF: I had always been aware that global trade was very old—that it existed even before the Dutch East India Company. But Barkskins makes a sharper point on that score: that the growth of capitalism has always depended on the destruction of the environment. AP: Yep. They are teammates. JF: Was that something you knew well before you started to write this book and the research for it or was it something you began to read more about the history? AP: I was well aware of it, believe me. JF: As, having lived the life you had, read the books you have? AP: I’m an observer. I was trained as a historian and landscape has been an interest for many years. You think, of course, “How did this get like this?” To look at paintings and landscape paintings of an early era—any place, Australia, the Hudson river, this part of the country—they weren’t making it up. That’s what they were seeing. And to think of what [the landscape] is now and how we got from point A to point X is rather terrifying. You could turn it into a story, which is essentially what happened there

can you see evidence of her research: I look at a lot of paintings. Paintings are very, very useful in thinking of landscape. I used paintings and other art frequently for getting the landscape right, getting the landscape somehow right. JF: What else do you do to understand the gulf of history that you’re crossing to go back to characters? I know it’s all imaginary on some level. AP: It’s not all imaginary. As I said, I was trained as a historian, so what I do is really try to immerse myself in the period—for the food, the clothing, the music, the language, the slang… JF: The songs… AP: Yes, and old letters, to get an idea of the flavor of back and forth. There were years of reading that went into this book before I even started to write. I do that for each section of time I’m dealing with. When it comes time to write I feel like I’ve been living there for a long time in the period, so it’s no problem

how does annie influence the reader: JF: But the deaths I feel in this book just as strongly are that of the trees. This book has completely changed the way I think I’ll look at forests. AP: Good, you see the stumps now.

why does Michel Sarrazine only exist for 1 paragraph?

author tells, doesn’t show for 2 paragraphs.

why is china in novel

why doesn’t Annie describe the costume

Theme of white man’s ownership of nature

feels odd to have sudden magic , with whale talking when there has been no hint of Magical realism.

Catawamkeag, is per https://www.hcn.org/issues/52-4/indigenous-affairs-education-land-grab-universities/, this is Rockland, ME

Despite hoopskirts she preferred to mix and singe and roast herself.

why 11 pages on dr. Mukhtar treating Beatrix? he doesn’t appear again. Beatrix dying could be done in a few paragraphs.

when does Author bring this in: JF: Did you always believe the American Revolution began in the forests? chapter 33, 6 pages in kindle. an interesting case. Author has several lumber owners discussing injustices of the crown against their livelihood e.g “The forest legislation the Crown has imposed on us has driven a wedge between colonists and England, has it not?” kinda boring.