Books > Reviews

Wild Animus

The reviews on this book have been terrible, but I don't think it really deserve the venom directed at it. The book is essentially about a man with a prophetic spiritual vision and his quest to fulfill that vision. In pursuing a goal that he doesn't really understand (and certainly no one around him does), he abuses the people that care most for him. He believes that any sacrifice, including that of his own life, is fundamental to achieving his allusive goal.

It's difficult for the reader to sympathize with the main character, Ransom, because his intentions are difficult to comprehend. It doesn't help that the pursuit of his wild God is fueled by LSD and paid for by his girlfriend. She struggles with two jobs and sells everything she owns to pay for his drugs and equipment to frolic in the wilderness. Nonetheless, if you can accept that he believes that he IS on an important spiritual mission, then his actions are not so hard edged.

The most enjoyable aspect of this book is the picturesque writing that the author uses to describe Ransom's visions and the Alaskan wilderness. Unlike a lot of descriptive prose, I didn't feel it bogged down the narrative and at times it was even poetic.

I agree with previous reviewers who take the author to task for exposing the conclusion at the very beginning (very bad choice), that the setting didn't feel very much like the 1960s I've experienced vicariously through other media, and that his visions have very little similarity to an actual LSD trip.

However, if you find it interesting to read about passionate visionaries (whom history has recorded as everything from heroes to whackos to monsters), I would suggest you give Wild Animus a look.