Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
In the late seventeenth century two penniless young Frenchmen, René Sel and Charles Duquet, arrive in New France. Bound to a feudal lord, a "seigneur," for three years in exchange for land, they become wood-cutters -- barkskins. René suffers extraordinary hardship, oppressed by the forest he is charged with clearing. He is forced to marry a Mi'kmaw woman and their descendants live trapped between two inimical cultures. But Duquet, crafty and ruthless, runs away from the seigneur, becomes a fur trader, then sets up a timber business. Proulx tells the stories of the descendants of Sel and Duquet over three hundred years -- their travels across North America, to Europe, China, and New Zealand, under stunningly brutal conditions -- the revenge of rivals, accidents, pestilence, Indian attacks, and cultural annihilation. Over and over again, they seize what they can of a presumed infinite resource, leaving the modern-day characters face to face with possible ecological collapse.
Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
Previews available in: English
Subjects
Families, Fiction, Lumber trade, Micmac Indians, Indentured servants, History, FICTION / Historical, FICTION / General, FICTION / Literary, Fiction, historical, Fiction, sagas, nyt:hardcover-fiction=2016-07-03, New York Times bestseller, New York Times reviewed, Fiction, historical, general, Familles, Romans, nouvelles, Histoire, FICTION, Historical, Literary, GeneralPlaces
North America, CanadaShowing 6 featured editions. View all 15 editions?
Edition | Availability |
---|---|
1 |
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
2 |
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
3 |
aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
4 |
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
5
Barkskins: a novel
2016, Scribner
in English
- First Scribner hardcover edition.
0743288785 9780743288781
|
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
6 |
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
Book Details
Edition Notes
Classifications
The Physical Object
ID Numbers
Source records
marc_openlibraries_sanfranciscopubliclibrary MARC recordBetter World Books record
Promise Item
Work Description
"Bark Skins open in New France in the late 18th century as Rene Sel, an illiterate woodsman makes his way from Northern France to the homeland to seek a living. Bound to a "seigneur" for three years in exchange for land, he suffers extraordinary hardship and violence, always in awe of the forest he is charged with clearing. In the course of this epic novel, Proulx tells the stories of Rene's children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, as well as the descendants of his friends and foes, as they travel back to Europe, to China, to New England, always in quest of a livelihood or fleeing stunningly brutal conditions--war, pestilence, Indian attacks, the revenge of rivals. Proulx's inimitable genius is her creation of characters who are so vivid--in their greed, lust, vengefulness, or their simple compassion and hope--that we follow them with fierce attention. This is Proulx's most ambitious novel ever, and her master work"--
Links outside Open Library
Community Reviews (0)
Feedback?October 27, 2023 | Edited by OnFrATa | Merge works (MRID: 90688) |
December 18, 2022 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
June 12, 2022 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
October 5, 2021 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
November 14, 2016 | Created by Ana Liesa Grima | Added new book. |