Into the Forest: A Novel

As with many other reviewers, I have been reading post-apocalyptic fiction for several decades now, and I was drawn to "Into the Forest" precisely because of this interest. One of the most significant strengths of Hegland's book leads me to disagree in part with Mr. Toad: Western Civilization in "Into the Forest" does fall into barbarity and marauding sociopaths do roam the country feeding on the dregs of our society, e.g. when the girls and their father go into Redwood for the last time. The point is that Hegland does not focus her attention on these aspects of decay, as does Stirling or King in "The Stand" or even McCarthy in "The Road". Nor does she describe the communal reorganization of humanity in the post-apocalyptic world. "Into the Forest" is not the depiction of the opposing forces into which the remains of our society have evolved. Rather, the author leads the reader on a secondary path of the effects this decay will have on the individual who does not venture into the dying world. In other words, the chaos of apocalypse is brought into the quiet realm of domesticity.The characters could very well live in the same world as portrayed by Stirling or King but they transcend the apocalyptic clash of good versus evil because, most importantly, Hegland asks the question: "How does an individual cope with such an event?" To persist in their pre-disaster routine - studying for admittance to Harvard for Nell or dancing ballet for Eva - distances these still teenage girls from insanity. And even here, with a cast of only two, Hegland provides the reader with a realistic coexistence of the best and the worst humanity has to offer, through a litany of the cardinal sins: both sisters throughout the novel display lust and abstinence from sex, gluttony and restraint, greed and solidarity, sloth and industriousness, implacable wrath and intense serenity, envy and generosity, pride and humility. They each stand as the Everyman, or Everyperson if you will, coming of age while representing simultaneously female versions of Adam and Eve (see Nell's assumption of the role of breadwinner/protector and Eva's more evident femininity, not to mention her name), or perhaps of Cain and Abel.The novel is a beautifully written piece of prose and yet I cannot bring myself to give it five stars. Not because it is steeped in feminist theory, at times annoyingly so, to the point of misandry. For instance, the male characters are either comically inept (Robert), violent rapists (the drifter) or abandon their mates, literally, for the big city lights (Eli: another biblical name. There must be some meaning behind it but I am not a biblical scholar, so I cannot say for certain). Other feminist features are more subtle: the names of their chickens, Bathsheba and Lilith; the female black bear that scares off the intruder; the abandonment of the male built house for the redwood stump (where the girls played as wood nymphs as children); the indifferent forest, a word whose cognates in Romance Languages are all feminine, becoming provider of food, shelter and protection, thereby allowing communion not with nature but with natura, the feminine side of nature. Nor am I particularly disturbed/offended by the infamous incest "scene" which, for all the hullabaloo, occurs in the space of half a page.It is the final scene of Hegland's book that forces me to rate it four stars: there is never, under any circumstances, any justification for the burning of books. As an author, Hegland should have a particular sensitivity to this point. I suspect that the choice to have Nell - of all people - burn her books is connected to the pervasive feminist theory mentioned above and the foolishness of "herstory". The inclusion of a female perspective in literature and history is most certainly warranted yet not at the cost of destroying millennia's worth of literary heritage whose only fault is that of having been produced for the most part by men.

Jean Hegland gives us a provocative novel about a family who lived far on the out skirts of a northern California small town surrounded by second growth redwood forest. The two girls, Eva, 17, and Nell (the protagonist) 16, explored the forest in their younger years, heeding the many warnings of their mother to beware the many perils lurking in the woods. As they became older, their interest in playing in the forest waned, replaced by Eva's commitment to ballet and Nell's advanced self-education to prepare for matriculation to Harvard.Unfortunately, their mother's untimely death heralds the collapse of their society as they know it. Political and environmental catastrophies create anarchy on a local and grander scale.Deadly epidemics break out across the nation as modern age medical systems become obsolete without electricity to power the diagnostic equipment and refreigerate the medications and vaccines. Infections now resistant to antibiotics become more virulent and illnesses easily managed by surgery now prove lethal as hospitals close and physicians find themselves helpless without the ability to operate. The infrastructure to distribute drugs collapses as there is no way to procure or prescribe medication. There is not transportation system as there is no gasoline available and the freeways have become parking lots for abandoned cars. It is indeed a dismal picture of dread and doom. Literally everything that has been taken for granted in their lives has now failed them and their survival skills are newborn at best.The fascinating accounting of these girl's efforts to adapt is a rich and rewarding adventure. Left to themselves, they must now learn that everything they need is ultimately at their feet, but the path to understanding this is a difficult one. Their isolation in the house far away from town leaves them vulnerable. Their reliance on everything modern leaves them initially helpless and the loss of their parents leaves them emotionally wasted. It ultimately becomes quite obvious that no one will save them and their own survival will be up to them. Nell begins to research their environment and her studies prove to be their saving grace. Nell learns that generations of Indians before them survived hundreds of years in the very same forest they live in. Nell must now extract from the forest gifts they need to survive. Everything they need is at their feet in the forest. Herein is the unique survival story of Eva and Nell.My family consists of environmental biologists, wildlife biologists and nursing science. When I began this book, the concept so intrigued me that I gave a nightly summation to everyone while I prepared dinner. Soon, we were all involved in the story line while we projected a similar fate for ourselves and what issues would be important to us and the survival skills we would have to be proficient.It is abundantly clear that we have become a dependent and wasteful society. Our waste paper basket hold objects that Nell and Eva would have cherished. I found this book not one of fear and fatalism, nor did I find this to be a story without faith and morals, as one reader stated. I found many messages of faith and hope in the book and am frankly shocked that some readers could not understand them.I took away a powerful message to be more self reliant, conservative and environmentally sensitive. I do believe my garden will be a little larger this year!

It's sort of post apocalyptic, but the reasons are rarely referred to, and always with a sense of vagueness. There are wars in distant lands, outbreaks of various illnesses, but no one can ever put their finger on the reason for everything falling apart. The main character, Nell, and her sister, Eva, live remotely and never really find out what exactly went wrong. Without expressly stating it, the family live pretty much like hippies, not in a negative way, although some of the negatives are pointed out.As can be gathered from the blurb, this is the story of two sisters struggling to survive after whatever happened. There is quite a lot of domestic detail about how they achieve it, which I understand some readers may find tedious. I didn't, because it was like Nell telling us how the girls managed, especially after all the trials and tribulations they went through. This isn't a novel with a lot of action, despite some bad events, nothing is explicit and it's quite a gentle story. There are different shades, but Hegland is never over dramatic in her choices.I've subconsciously got into the habit of thinking about what rating I might give to a book while I'm still reading it. Into the Forest felt like a 3 of 4, hedging towards a 3. Some readers have complained about the ending, but I think it suited the story perfectly, and I got it. Although the novel didn't set my world on fire, I couldn't think of a single thing that I didn't like about it, so I settled on a 4. It's certainly different to the usual post apocalyptic novel.

This is an incredibly beautiful book. The perfect story really. Not in a very long time did I enjoy reading a novel so much. It probably was written for me! It might not be very thick but it feels like it covers eons. At first we have a regular family, father mother and two sisters, living in a house in the woods some 30 miles from the nearest town. Everything is then happy and perfect. But later the mother, an ex-ballerina, dies of cancer. With a heavy heart, the reduced family carries on at best. Eva wants to be a ballerina too and talented, she trains to join the San Francisco ballet. Nell is more academic and prepares her exams for Harvard. Then disaster strucks. We never know exactly what happens, nor do the characters, because life as we know it quickly falls apart. Wars, riots, famine, new flu disease (How prescient was this written in 1996!!) and soon the supplies are short and people dies. After the last ominous trip to a now ghost town where supplie are gone, father and daughters have to make do in their forest house as best as they can. There’s no more contact with the world, no electricity, no internet, no radio. Their only neighbours 10 miles away have gone and their house is left derelict. At first they manage well in their autonomy. The girls are 16 and 17 and the three of them survive well enough...But I won’t tell the story further as it is gripping and best left to discover.Reading it in a time of pandemic and threats to our world on all sides, it could not have been more topical but also offers a wonderful way out too.I cannot recommend this book enough and having seen the film version of it, can only say forget the film, read the book!

Set in the near-future, the US is gradually crumbling. The infrastructure is breaking down. We’re never told exactly why, but it is a scenario that is very convincing. We don’t know whether it is a global or local issue, but the way it happens is all too chillingly recognisable. The novel focuses on two teenaged sisters as they struggle to survive the collapse of their world. Left alone in their isolated home in the forest, the book examines how they cope, and how they gradually have to abandon all their hopes and aspirations, Nell to go to Harvard, and Eva to be a ballet dancer. Post-apocalyptic fiction is at its most frightening when firmly rooted in familiar reality, and Hegland uses trivial detail to great effect – just what it feels like when you get to your last tea bag, what that last chocolate actually tastes like. This is by no means a perfect book. There are a few incidents that seem both unnecessary and awkward, and readers will be divided on how realistic and effective the ending is. But overall, this is a compelling read, and one that would offer reading groups much to discuss and no doubt argue about. A positive addition both to the post-apocalyptic canon and to coming-of-age literature, it’s a book I’ve been delighted to discover.

The blurb on the cover compares this book to The Handmaid's Tale, but, written in 1996, Into The Forest it is much more similar to The Road, Cormac McCarthy's tale of the end of time, written much later, in 2006. In this scenario the main characters are two sisters: Nell, who narrates their story, and turns into someone I felt much empathy for, and Eva who fixated on becoming a dancer from a very early age. Their childhood was elegiac as they lived in the middle of a forested area of which their father owned eighty acres. Nell only resents that she is home-schooled and the highlight of her week is the Saturday night gathering of young people in and around the local school - there she meets Eli and they make a connection that is to be all-important to Nell.But this is the end of days. What use is a computer when you have no electricity, no gas for your car, not that there is much to buy anymore, and people are leaving, gravitating to the nearest metropolis, or going somewhere, anywhere, where there's a rumour that things are better. Over the years their parents die, their father by a horrific accident.Could you kill a hog? Could you survive near-starvation and give birth to a child with no modern medicine to help you? In a sense, the sisters are fortunate in their isolation, with only a few shocks and reverses to throw them into a panic or otherwise disturb their hard-working but independent lives. The sisters, are both very well-characterised and though they are often at loggerheads the tenderness and love between them is beautifully depicted. As the book picks up the main theme, which is survival by regression they are pioneers, in a sense, rediscovering how to plant vegetables, how to preserve them, how to get by with fewer and fewer of the modern necessities we rely on. It's a beautiful story and is only 239 pages long. I wished it were longer. It's one of the best `end of time' stories I've come across.

I saw the film and bought the book based on how interesting the film was. Obviously the film wisely omitted the incest scene which I was not impressed to stumble across. I should have read the reviews first. Lesson learned!