Butcher's Crossing

I've been reading this book for way too long, and I've got a good reason for it. I couldn't handle more than 20-30 pages at once because I felt like I got so invested (once it got going around page 100~ or so) and all the misfortunes and bad decisions of the main cast got me too frustrated. If you want to witness the fallings of man's greed and a good man vs. nature story do give this book a try.

The story begins with an innocent city boy that wants to experience wilderness, a pretty basic motif and a decent setup for a coming of age story. But all that waits is disappointment after disappointment. Disaster after disaster. Just when you think things got good...

I have to say this book has one of the best denouements and endings I've seen in books. I feel like usually the last act and the ending tend to be the weakest part of the book. Like the writer always rushes it, or doesn't want it to end and you can see it in the story. Maybe they don't know how to end it so it ends on a flat note. I got used to this and as such I rarely expect an amazing ending. But the last act of this story had me gripped, it was the highest point of the story for me, narration wise. For some reason I found it so vivid and well done. The beginning of the ending was also straight up horror in the best way.

Lastly, I really like the (lack of) character interactions. Four men go on an 8 month trip, and they barely speak 5 pages worth of dialogue. Lmao.