Bear

Marian Engel

Aug 2009 · New Canadian Library

About this ebook

The winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, Marian Engel’s most famous – and most controversial – novel tells the unforgettable story of a woman transformed by a primal, erotic relationship. Lou is a lonely librarian who spends her days in the dusty archives of the Historical Institute. When an unusual field assignment comes her way, she jumps at the chance to travel to a remote island in northern Ontario, where she will spend the summer cataloguing a library that belonged to an eccentric nineteenth-century colonel. Eager to investigate the estate’s curious history, she is shocked to discover that the island has one other inhabitant: a bear. Lou’s imagination is soon overtaken by the island’s past occupants, whose deep fascination with bears gradually becomes her own. Irresistibly, Lou is led along a path of emotional and sexual self-awakening, as she explores the limits of her own animal nature. What she discovers will change her life forever. As provocative and powerful now as when it was first published. Includes a reading group guide.

Ratings and reviews

BOTTOM-LINE: Bestiality is a strange theme for an award-winner . PLOT OR PREMISE: A historical librarian gets a chance to catalog the books at a remote island home for a summer in Northern Ontario, and encounters locals, free time to figure out her life, and a pet bear. . WHAT I LIKED: This book was given to me back in my teens, a gift of quality literature as it had just won the Governor General's Award for fiction. I knew nothing about it as I started to read it. And I was relatively shocked to see "high literature" include bestiality and graphic descriptions of oral sex performed by the bear on the main character. The historical parts were awesome, as was the descriptions of the island and the passage of the summer. . WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I found the romanticization of the relationship with the bear a bit odd, as was the depersonalization of her other sexual partners during the summer. I also felt there were gaps in the ending -- we saw what she intended to do, not what she would do once she was back in Toronto. . DISCLOSURE: I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I was not personal friends with the author.

Very difficult to find the book I want to CONTINUE TO READ…the first book of the series Author… Mia Kent…I have enjoyed my read so far, BUT cannot find the book to continue to read it!! VERY FRUSTRATING…….

I got mauled by this stupid book. Worst book ever in history. Buy and burn!

About the author

Marian Engel was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1933. She grew up in the Ontario towns of Brantford, Galt, Hamilton, and Sarnia. She received her B.A. (1955) from McMaster University and her M.A. (1957) from McGill University, where she wrote her thesis, “The Canadian Novel, 1921-55,” under the supervision of Hugh MacLennan.

After living abroad and teaching in the United States and Europe, Engel returned to Canada in 1964 and settled in Toronto, which was to remain her home.

Her many novels and short stories explore the daily lives of her contemporaries, frequently reflecting upon the human condition from the perspective of women.

Engel was a founding member of the Writers’ Union of Canada and served as its first chairman in 1973-74.

Marian Engel died in Toronto in 1985.