Pemmican [Hardcover]

Vardis Fisher left a legacy of work. From historical research (Suicide or Murder) to insightfully penned novels from the depths of his own mind (Dark Bridwell) he did have a gift undeniable and I enjoyed everything I read. "Pemmican" was, in my opinion, not nearly as good as the rest, and there are several specific reasons why it didn't measure up.

It is entertaining enough, being a tale about a young mountain man, seeking his fortune and his adventure from employment with the Hudson's Bay Fur Company. There is a thread throughout that, in novelist's form, details the actual and historical strife and territorial jealousy between the major fur companies of the time. Pemmican, after which the story was named was the staple food of the natives, consisting of tallow for it's preserving properties, dried buffalo meat, chokecherries, other edibles ground together. It was all important, since it kept well, traveled well and the process itself lent itself efficiently to the lifestyle of the mountain traveler since fly specks or a little dirt or hair accidentally (or intentionally) finding its way into the mix soon vanished within its color and texture never to be noticed again as a foreign object. It also occurs to me that this "blend" of love, strife, conflict and discounted unimportance (fly specks) is the stuff necessary to life as we travel unknown pathways, and thus, Fisher subtly gives us the reason for the title of the book.

That part of it is important, but the real idea behind Fisher's story was a fantasy that the rest of it revolved around; the chance meeting of the mountain man, David MacDonald and a beautiful wild white girl (named Sunday) with mesmerizing blue eyes who had been captured by the natives long before and had been raised as one of their own. He is not only immediately smitten, but quickly obsessed by the discovery even though he is repulsed by her vermillion and grease bound hair; privately the reader suspects that it may have evolved from the author's own secret yearning for the wild, the beautiful, the initially unattainable, animal attraction that gives over to surrender in the end - so intense is the interest afforded it throughout the story.

But somehow, it didn't quite accomplish what Fisher obviously intended for it to do and there was an element of disrespect interspersed that was hard to understand, even though each reader knows different times spawn different attitudes. Perhaps it also was partly due to a fear of censorship since he wrote it an era with standards far different than today; but whatever the reason, it comes off slightly stilted; not quite complete, even though all the essential elements were there but left partially unfulfilled.

However, we take the writings of others for what they were, what it is, what we take from it and judge not too harshly if the overall body of work was sufficient. Vardis Fisher was definitely one of those.

"It's what you leave behind you when you go:...

Vardis Fisher came to maturity and productivity in an earlier era so he hadn't been schooled in the the modern "Don'ts" of writing a novel. "Don't give a lot of exposition," falls on its face in this book but the background, the history, and the rich setting are absolutely essential for without these expository touches the plot would fall apart. This book not only thrilled with the slow burning romance, but educated with a deep fulfilling drink of the culture and history of the Hudson Bay Company. Worth the price for this rare book.

Vardis Fisher's raw description of the full experience of primative life brings chills to my spine. (fireflys)

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